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I. THE
JEWS AND THEIR TRADITION
A. General
Characteristics
1. People
of ritual; traditional practices
2. Legalistic
minds; straining at gnats
3. Extremely
nationalistic
a. Led
to constant uprisings
b. Led
to destruction of Jerusalem (70AD)
4. Special
privileges under the Roman empire
a. Given
complete liberty as compared to other peoples
b. Many
were allowed to become Roman citizens (Acts
21:39; 22:25-28)
c. Given
complete freedom of worship, including observance of Sabbaths and feast
days
d. Freed
from military service because they refused to march or fight on the
Sabbath
e. Not
obliged to appear in courts on holy days
5. Exclusive
attitude (Romans 2:17-20)
a. Separate
from other peoples; no intermarriage
b. Would
not join in the worship of the Roman gods or the Roman Emperor
c. Their
privileges plus attitude led to resentment from the general populace
d. Often
received blame for natural disasters
B. Political
Parties
1. Pharisees
(Matthew 23)
a. Considered
the spiritual leaders of the time
b. Extremely
legalistic in practice
c. Literal
in interpretation to the extent of believing in the resurrection and
angels
d. Traditionalists
who added to the word by accepting many traditions and writings as
authoritative in addition to scripture
e. Providential – believed
that God had a part in the affairs of men
f. Proud
(Luke 18:9-13)
g. Type
of Roman Catholics (Matthew 15:1-9)
(1) Transgressing
the word (v.3)
(2) Neutralizing
the word (v.6)
(3) Replacing
the word (v.9)
2. Saducees
(Acts 23:6-9)
a. Spiritual
modernists
b. Rejected
angels; resurrection (Matthew 22:23)
c. Practiced
free (not literal) interpretation
d. Aristocrats
e. Deistic – believed
that God existed but did not concern Himself with the affairs of mankind
f. Cooperated
with the Romans
g. Controlled
the high priesthood most of the time
3. Essenes
a. Lived
a communal, monastic life
b. Extremely
pious in their external life – emphasized brotherly love
c. Extremely
ascetic
d. Renounced
marriage
e. Denied
a physical resurrection
f. Rejected
animal sacrifice
g. Lived
in separate and isolated communities
h. Said
by some to have influenced John the Baptist and Christ. This
is false.
i. May
have influenced later monasticism
4. Zealots
a. Simon
called Zelotes (one of the twelve) probably came from this group (Luke
6:15)
b. Very
pro-Jewish
c. Hated
Roman control
d. Wanted
independence
e. Had
much to do with inciting the wars against Rome
(1) The
Great Revolt of the Jews (66-73AD) ended with the destruction of Jerusalem
by General Titus in 70AD and the taking of Masada in 73AD
(2) The
Revolt of Bar Kokhba (132-135AD) who claimed to be the Jewish Messiah
resulted in temporary decrees prohibiting circumcision and the teaching
of the Torah
5. Herodians
a. Found
in Matthew 22:16; Mark
3:6; 12:13
b. A
small group supportive of King Herod
c. Pro-government
and pro-Roman
6. Samaritans
a. Partial
Jews who were the result of intermarriage of the ten tribes with foreign
races after the captivity of Israel (2Kings
17:24-41)
b. Claimed
that Mt. Gerizim was the true sanctuary (John
4:19-22)
c. Accepted
only the Pentateuch as scripture
d. Not
recognized by the Jewish purists (John 4:9)
C. Institutions
1. Temple
a. The
Temple Ages
(1) First
Temple Age – Solomon’s Temple (2Samuel 7)
(2) Second
Temple Age
(a) Began
with Zerubbabel’s Temple (Ezekiel 6)
(b) Continued
through the rebuilding of the temple by Herod (Mark
13)
(c) Ended
with the destruction of the temple in 70AD
a. Pattern
for Roman Catholic services
(1) Sacrifice – the
Eucharist
(2) Mediator – the
priest
2. Synagogue
a. Mentioned
once in the Old Testament (Psalm 74:8)
but complete service seems to have developed in the time between the
testaments
b. Service
included:
(1) Singing
(2) Sermon
(3) Offering
(4) Prayer
(5) Scripture
reading (Luke 4:16-21)
c. Pattern
for church services
3. Sanhedrin
a. Scripturally
called the council (Mark 14:55; Acts
5:21; 23:1-10)
b. Jewish
supreme court of law
c. Higher
court had 71 members
d. Could
pronounce but could not impose the death penalty (John
18:31-32)
e. Appearance
before the council
(1) Christ
(John 19)
(2) Peter & John
(Acts 4-5)
(3) Stephen
(Acts 6-7)
(4) Paul
(Acts 23)
D. Jewish
Dispersion
1. Called
the diaspora (see James 1:1; 1Peter
1:1)
2. Major
causes
a. Captivities
(Assyrian & Babylonian)
b. Commercial
opportunities under Roman freedom
3. Jews
lived throughout the Roman Empire and beyond it toward the east
4. Largest
Jewish population was in Alexandria, Egypt (Jeremiah
43:4-7); Antioch, Syria also had a large population
E. Jewish
Literature
1. Philo
of Alexandria
a. Lived
from c.20BC to c.42AD
b. Famous
Jewish philosopher
c. Known
for his allegorical interpretation of scripture
d. Had
much influence on later Christian thought
2. Flavius
Josephus
a. Lived
from c.37 to c.100AD
b. Jewish
historian born in Jerusalem of a priestly family
c. Given
command of the army of Galilee in the Jewish revolt of 66AD
d. Captured
by the Romans and after a time of imprisonment was released and given
a role in trying to convince the rebellious Jews to make peace with
Rome—but to no avail
e. Works
include Jewish War and Antiquities of the Jews
3. Mishnah
a. Jewish
tradition teaches that at the time of Moses two laws were given to
him.
(1) The
written law or the Torah
(a) Five
Books of Moses
(b) Taught
to contain 613 specific laws or mitzvoth that are binding on the Jewish
people
(2) The
oral law
(a) This
was an extension of the written law observed in the traditions of the
Jews
(b) This
law was passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation
until recorded in the Mishna
b. Written
in about 200AD under the leadership of Rabbi Judah ha Nassi (the Prince)
c. Divided
into six orders and further subdivided into 63 tractates.
The orders are:
(1) Zera’im (Seeds)
deals with agricultural rules and produce offerings
(2) Mo’ed (Festivals)
deals with the keeping of the Sabbath and the annual feasts
(3) Nashim (Women)
deals with issues between the sexes including marriage and divorce
(4) Nezikin (Damages)
deals with Jewish civil and ceremonial law
(5) Kodashim (Sacred
Things) deals with the laws of sacrifice and ritual slaughter
(6) Taharot (Ritual
Purity) deals with the laws of purity and impurity
4. Talmud
a. The
Mishnah was written in a difficult and abbreviated form that needed
much interpretation
b. Commentary,
or text explaining the Mishnah, also became codified and took on the
name of Gemera
c. The
Mishnah with its commentary (Gemera) came to be known together as the
Talmud
d. Two
entirely different editions of the Talmud were written
(1) The
Jerusalem or Palestinian Talmud Was completed c.400AD
(2) The
Babylonian Talmud was completed c.500AD. This was the largest
Talmud and is the most used today
e. Two
types of material from the Talmud are given special names
(1) Halakah – refers
to legal rulings
(2) Aggadah – refers
to ethical and homiletic material
II. THE
ROMANS AND THEIR GOVERNMENT
A. General
Characteristics
1. People
of action
2. Practical
minds
3. Very
organized
4. Not
considered creative (in comparison to the Greeks)
5. Assimilated
the cultures of those they conquered
B. Rome’s
Unifying Factors
1. A
universal Roman law
2. An
extensive Roman army
a. Kept
order throughout the empire
b. Highly
respected; an army career was a distinguished career; consider the
honor given to centurions in the Bible
3. A
common Roman coinage
4. A
complete network of roads
a. Established
for the movement of armies
b. Aided
commerce
c. Aided
evangelism
5. A
universal language
a. Not
Latin, but Greek
b. Even
in Rome, one-half of the inhabitants spoke Greek; the church in Rome
spoke Greek until the third century
c. A
remaining influence of Greek civilization
C. Social
Conditions
1. Much
travel and trade
2. A
great deal of intermarriage
3. A
tendency to merge cultures
4. Frequent
wars
5. Frequent
suicides
6. Infidelity
was very common
7. Divorce
rate was very high
D. The
State Religion
1. Emperor
worship; the emperor was worshipped as a god
2. Explains
the origin of Caesar (Roman, Czar or Tsar (Russian) and Kaiser (German)
3. All
other religions were accepted in Rome as long as the other religions
accepted the emperor as god. NOTE: This is similar to the Roman
Catholic attitude toward the pope.
III. THE
GREEKS AND THEIR PHILOSOPHY
A. General
Characteristics
1. People
of thought (1Corinthians 1:21-24)
2. Speculative
minds; even their science was developed on mental speculation and not
on physical experimentation
3. Creative
4. Not
known for great organizational ability
5. Dominated
the culture, art, literature and thought of the Roman Empire even though
conquered by them
6. Major
cities of Greek influence
a. Athens – a
major city of philosophy
b. Alexandria – a
major city of philosophy and science; they actually broke the mold
and began experimenting (practiced vivisection on criminals)
c. Antioch – Greek
and oriental cultures merged here
B. Dominant
Greek Philosophies (Colossians 2:8)
1. Pythagoreanism
a. Founded
by Pythagoras (582-510BC)
b. Philosophy
of mathematics; based on the principles of numbers
c. Emphasized
harmony
d. Expressed
ethics in symbolic, numeric form
2. Socratic
Philosophy
a. Founded
by Socrates (471-399BC)
b. Philosophy
of ethics
c. All
vice is the result of ignorance
d. Virtue
is knowledge and is therefore capable of being taught
3. Platonism
a. Founded
by Plato (427-347BC)
b. Philosophy
of ideas
c. Only
the perfect idea is real: Idealism or nominalism
d. Virtue
is the perfect adaptation to one’s calling
e. Praised
by many “church fathers” as close to Christian theology
f. Many
faulty theological definitions are the result of incorporating Platonic
definitions into Christian theology; soul is one example
4. Aristotelianism
a. Founded
by Aristotle (384-322BC)
b. Philosophy
of science
c. Only
the thing itself is real: realism
d. Emphasized
formal logic and intricate systems
e. Followed
by the Catholic philosopher and theologian St. Thomas Aquinas (c.1225-1274AD)
in his Summa Theologiae
5. Stoicism
a. Founded
by Zeno (c.380BC)
b. Philosophy
of asceticism (self-denial)
c. Had
high moral tone; taught brotherhood of man
d. Pantheistic
in theology (God is everything)
e. Found
on Mars Hill (Acts 17:18)
6. Epicureanism
a. Founded
by Epicurus (341-270BC)
b. Philosophy
of pleasure
c. Identified
good with pleasure and the absence of pain (see Luke
12:19)
d. Found
on Mars Hill (Acts 17:18)
7. Skepticism
a. Philosophy
of doubt
b. Taught
that any premise is as true as its contradiction
c. Destroyed
the distinctions between true and false, right and wrong (See Isaiah
5:20)
IV. THE
ORIENTALS AND THEIR MYSTERY RELIGIONS
A. General
Characteristics
1. People
who sought a personal experience
2. Reflective,
meditative minds
B. The
Eastern Religions
1. From
Persia and Asia
2. Centered
around Babylon
3. Offered
man a spiritual release from death
4. Promised
eternal happiness
5. Required
initiations
6. Provided
a mediator between God and man
7. The
Babylonian Mystery Religions has a direct influence on Roman Catholicism
(Easter, the sacraments, etc.)
C. Babylonian
Mystery Religions
1. Orphic
Cult
a. Taught
dualism between good and evil. (Although this may sound proper at first,
eastern dualism tried to make a complete distinction between good and
evil. If the flesh was evil, then it had to be punished, etc.)
b. Taught
celibacy and abstention from meat and wine for priests
2. Magna
Mater
a. Means “the
Great Mother”
b. Baptism
required for membership: required to forgive sins; was in blood
c. Their
priests “were eunuchs who wore female garb, who kept their hair long
and perfumed with ointment, and who celebrated the goddess’ rites with
wild music and dancing until their frenzied excitement found its culmination
in self-scourging, self-laceration, or exhaustion.” –Encyclopedia Britannica
in the article on “Mystery Religions”
3. Mythraism
a. Taught
triumph of light over darkness
b. Taught
baptismal regeneration
c. Had
sacramental meal
4. Isis
Mysteries
a. Originated
in Egypt
b. Related
to Ishtar, Ashtaroth and Astarte
c. Centered
around mother (Isis) and her son
d. “The
Christian representations of the Madonna and child are clearly the
continuation of the representations of Isis and her son suckling the
breast.” –Encyclopedia Britannica
V. APOSTOLIC
EVANGELIZATION
A. The
Twelve
1. Their
commission (Matthew 28:16-20; Mark
16:15; Luke 24:47; Acts
1:8)
a. Its
content
(1) Salvation
(2) Baptism
(3) Teaching
b. Its
extent (Acts 1:8)
(1) Jerusalem
(2) Judaea
(3) Samaria
(4) Uttermost
part of the earth
2. Their
disobedience
a. Blessings
(Acts 2:41-47)
b. Contentment
(Acts 5:28; cp.17:6)
3. The
first major persecution