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February 15, 2018
many Jews understandably took verses 31-35—Daniel's famous “abomination of desolation”—to refer to Antiochus's desecration of the temple.
BC, but his son Judas, nicknamed Maccabeus
This crucial stage in the liberation of Israel from foreign rule is still celebrated today by Jews each December as Hanukkah (the Feast of “Dedication”).23
The Maccabean revolt, like the events that led up to it, intensified Jew-Gentile hatred to a degree not typically found in Old Testament times. This enmity, with its accompanying Jewish nationalism, is an important phenomenon for understanding New Testament events.
25 Hyrcanus also set the stage for the increased antagonism between Jews and Samaritans that carried over into New Testament times (John 4:9) as he destroyed a temple the Samaritans had built in their territory on Mount Gerizim.
Herod is the second personality surveyed in this chapter to whom historians have given the title “Great.”
29 His reign was marked by massive building projects funded by heavy taxation in addition to his ample private means.
razed. Although Herod's temple was completely destroyed by Roman armies in AD 70, the western retaining wall around the temple precincts was allowed to stand.
It became known as the “wailing wall,” where faithful Jews to this day go to pray.
Thus, although there is no independent confirmation of the story in Matt 2:16 of Herod ordering the massacre of the young children of Bethlehem, the account is entirely in keeping with his character and actions at the end of his time in office.32
The most famous of these today, because of his appearance in Scripture, was Pontius Pilate (AD 26-36).
The picture of Pilate in the Gospels as in some ways more weak than cruel does not conflict with Josephus's portrait. If Christ's crucifixion is dated to AD 33,
Until the Roman emperor Nero (54-68) instigated a short-lived but intense persecution of Christians in Italy in 64-68, the period of Roman rule over Israel and, indeed, over the rest of the empire was primarily
Third, a direct outgrowth of the first two points was the development of the most advanced transportation and communication systems of the ancient world,
Finally, Rome implemented perhaps the most enlightened and advanced judicial processes of antiquity.
We have already seen the temptations that Jews faced to give in to various unlawful Greco-Roman practices.
Intriguingly, almost every religious option of the first century has its counterpart in today's world; only the names have changed.
Mythology
By the Christian era, however, belief in the traditional mythology was seriously declining.
As scientific understanding developed, people realized, for example, that the sun was a fiery ball in the sky and not a god with a personality.
Although today we think of philosophy as distinct from religion, it was not so in antiquity. All the major philosophers articulated worldviews about correct behavior as well as belief.
spirit. Following Plato's famous allegory of the cave,11 the material world was viewed as a mere shadow of the unseen spiritual world of ideas.
Salvation produced a disembodied immortality of the soul, not a resurrection of the body.
Stoicism seems to have been the most popular of the Greco-Roman philosophies.
Seneca, Nero's tutor as a boy and later adviser to the adult emperor early in his reign.
If, from a Christian perspective, the “god” of Stoicism was too immanent, then the gods of Epicureanism were too transcendent.
Paul encountered Epicureans in Athens in conjunction with the Stoics (Acts 17:18) and agreed with them, against the Stoics, that God is distinct from his creation.
Diogenes of Sinope. Diogenes was called a “dog” (Gk. kuōn—hence the term “cynic”) by his detractors because of his vulgar, unkempt lifestyle.
A later Cynic writer summed up his creed this way: “Take care of your soul, but take care of the body only to the degree that necessity requires”
Skeptics did not absolutely deny God; that would have been inconsistent with their system.
wide variety of secret organizations or cults often largely unrelated to each other, but several common features can be observed.
Some of the mystery cults arose out of ancient tribal and even fertility rituals.
Several had periodic times of public pageantry, when the myths of their gods were reenacted. In addition, all had more regular, private meetings, with membership reserved for those who had gone through various initiatory rites.
Ritual practices could vary dramatically, from the serene to the grotesque.
Like the mystery cults, Gnosticism tended to be more charismatic and egalitarian than institutionalized forms of religion.
discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library in Egypt—a collection of more than sixty mostly Gnostic documents, many of them in Coptic, generally dating from the mid-second to mid-fifth centuries AD.
Jesus, supposedly given in private to different groups of his followers but articulating Gnostic thought.
Undoubtedly, the most significant find for studying the Gospels was the Coptic Gospel of Thomas.
Precedent for such practice could also be found in the deification of ancient Greek or Roman warriors (e.g., Hercules) or healers (e.g., Asclepius). In the eastern parts of the empire, where rulers had been deified for centuries, emperor worship was probably taken somewhat more seriously.
The study of ancient Jewish thought is both easier and harder than the study of Hellenistic religion. It is easier because in most cases we have far more primary source material available.
In addition to the works of Josephus, the apocrypha, and the pseudepigrapha (on which, see above, pp. 8-9), the vast corpus of rabbinic literature sheds much light on ancient Judaism.
The encyclopedic results were called Talmud
Rabbinic Judaism also produced detailed commentaries on a large number of the books of its Bible (the Christian Old Testament).
Finally, there is Philo of Alexandria. A voluminous writer, Philo was a Hellenistic
1. Perhaps as a result of Persian influence, there was a noticeable increase in interest in angelology and demonology.
2. A large quantity of poetry and wisdom literature emerged between the testaments—psalms, proverbs, and theodicies (reflections on the problem of evil).
3. An increasingly positive view of human nature began to develop.
Prayer and good works came to be viewed as an adequate substitute for animal sacrifice.
5. A massive interest in apocalyptic themes and literature developed.
6. Synagogue worship and study took on forms that became central in the development of the Christian church.
