jphone, he was definitely a student of R’ Yehoshua ben Perachya. the story goes that oto ha’ish was walking with his Rebbe and he said hello to a woman walking on the street. R’ yehoshua gave him mussar, yelled at him, idk exactly, and refused to see him ever again. on his deathbed, when oto ha’ish came knocking begging for forgiveness, he still refused to see or forgive him, so oto ha’ish started his own “branch” of Judaism, which evolved into Christianity.
