Chapter Intro Video

Chapter Objectives

This chapter should enable the student to

• summarize the basic history of the Second Temple Period, which forms the background for the events and writings of the New Testament.

• identify basic characteristics of five Jewish groups in Palestine during the time of Jesus (Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots, Herodians) and likewise identify basic characteristics of the Samaritans and Gentiles who inhabited Palestine at this time.

• offer historical descriptions of four Roman rulers important to the New Testament (Herod the Great, Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate, Herod Agrippa I) and describe what life was like for Jews and Christians under Roman rule.

• describe the divergent influences of Hellenism on Jewish people in Palestine and in the Diaspora, with particular reference to the prominence of wisdom theology, dualism, and apocalypticism.

• describe a number of influential patterns of thought in the Roman world, including the major philosophical schools (Epicureanism, Stoicism, Cynicism), the mystery religions, and popular belief in animism, augury, and supernaturalism.

• identify major tenets of Gnosticism and explain why this perspective or religious movement is significant for understanding the New Testament and later Christianity.

• describe how people in the New Testament world tended to think about four social/cultural factors: wealth and poverty, purity and defilement, patronage and loyalty, and honor and shame.

Chapter Summary

The New Testament writings need to be understood within the historical context of the world in which they were produced: the world of the Roman Empire, with particular emphasis on the overlapping worlds of Roman Jews and Roman Christians.

In terms of Jewish history, the immediate background for the New Testament lies in what is called the Second Temple Period—an era that began with the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple at the end of the Babylonian exile (around 515 BCE) and concluded with destruction of that temple by the Romans in 70 CE. The history of the Second Temple Period spans the time between the Old and New Testaments since, with a few exceptions, most books of the Old Testament were written before this period and most books of the New Testament were written around the end of this period (a decade or two before or after 70 CE). The Second Temple Period may be subdivided into four eras (Persian, Hellenistic, Hasmonean, Roman).

Jesus lived as a Jewish man in Palestine and interacted with different groups of people in that area. The two major Jewish parties with which he had contact were the Pharisees and Sadducees. Other Jewish groups in Palestine at this time included the Essenes, Zealots, and Herodians. The population of Palestine also included Samaritans—whose relations with Jews were strained—and Gentiles. The latter become especially important in later portions of the New Testament where the focus shifts from Palestine to the Mediterranean world.

The ruling power of the Roman empire was centralized under Caesar in the capital city (Rome), but certain Roman rulers in Palestine are particularly important for understanding the story of Jesus and the early Christians: Herod the Great, Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate, and Herod Agrippa I. Jews and Christians benefitted from a measure of stability under Roman rulers, but they often regarded those rulers as tyrants and experienced life under Roman rule as oppressive.

Throughout the Roman Empire, Jews were inevitably influenced by Hellenism, the spread of Greek culture. Although the degree of influence varied, the effects of Hellenism can be seen in the production of the Septuagint (a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) and in the increasing prominence of wisdom theology, dualism, and apocalypticism. The Christian faith reflected in the New Testament would emerge out of this Hellenistic variety of Judaism. It would emerge, furthermore, within a pagan Roman context where many people were influenced by philosophical schools (Epicureanism, Stoicism, Cynicism), mystery religions, and such popular notions as animism, augury, and supernaturalism. By the second century of the Christian era, Gnosticism would represent a variety of the Christian faith heavily influenced by Greco-Roman culture in a way that what came to be called “orthodox Christianity” would reject.

Finally, the New Testament world also needs to be understood in light of prevailing social systems and cultural values. The Roman world was characterized by profound economic inequality, and Roman society often functioned via expectations regarding patronage, benefaction, and obligation appropriate to each person’s place on the social scale. Most adherents to Jewish faith held to notions of purity and defilement that set them apart from other peoples of the earth. Virtually everyone, Jewish or Gentile, considered honor and shame to be pivotal social values, such that the attainment of honor and avoidance of shame became closely connected with the purpose or goal of life.

Study Questions

1. Explain what is meant by the Second Temple Period and outline briefly the history of the Jewish people during that period. Identify four major eras that mark transitions for the Jewish people during this timeframe.

2. Compare and contrast the Pharisees and the Sadducees. List at least half a dozen distinctive characteristics of each group.

3. Who were the Samaritans and why was there so much hostility between Jews and Samaritans at the time of Jesus?

4. Indicate the role that each of the following Roman rulers plays in writings of the New Testament: Herod the Great, Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate, Herod Agrippa I.

5. List five ways in which Jewish religion was affected by Hellenism during the Second Temple Period.

6. Identify the key differences between the following three philosophical schools: Epicureanism, Stoicism, and Cynicism. List at least one feature of each school that would not be true of the other two schools.

7. What were the mystery religions and why is it difficult for us to know much about them today?

8. Describe key tenets of the religious movement known as Gnosticism. Indicate why some knowledge of this movement may be important for understanding the New Testament.

9. Explain how the majority of people in New Testament times would have understood their status or role in the world in terms of one of the following two dynamics: the theory of “limited good” or the concept of “patronage and loyalty.”

10. Explain how most of Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries in Palestine would have tried to live in terms of one of the following two dynamics: concern for purity and defilement or concern for honor and shame.

Gallery: The Dead Sea Scrolls

Gallery: The Jerusalem Temple

Gallery: Roman Engineering

Video: Timeline of New Testament Chronology

Video: Were the NT Authors Christians?

Video: Temple Mount Today with Overlay

(Courtesy of Dr. James C. Martin)

Widget: The Roman Empire Then and Now

Click to compare the Roman Empire with the region today.