Religious Backgrounds

in

Description

Class: 
Introduction to the New Testament: Gospel and Acts
Lecture label: 
NT511-2

Ancient philosophies and religious movements had a significant influence on peoples' beliefs and behavior in the first century. The influence of Rome and Greece was evident throughout the world. Religious groups like the Pharisees and Sadducees, and teachings of contemporary Judaism about the Messiah affected Jesus' teaching and ministry.

INTERACT WITH OTHERS IN THE FORUM FOR THIS CLASS.

Outline

Backgrounds

Part 2

II. Religious Backgrounds

A. The Most Pervasive Philosophies

1. Neo-Platonism

2. Stoics

3. Epicureans

4. Cynics

B. Non-Christian Religious Options in the First Century

1. Mysteries and Magic

2. Gnosticism

3. Philosophies

4. Imperial Cults

5. Mythology

C. A Gnostic Creation Myth

D. Languages and Bibles in Israel and Beyond

1. Persian Period - Aramaic lingua franca

2. Hellenistic Period - Koine Greek Lingua franca

3. Roman Period

E. Non-Christian Religious Options in the First Century

1. Jewish World

2. Greco-Roman World

F. Solutions to the Problem of "Exile"

1. Pharisees: Obey God's Law better and help others to do so as well ("fence around Torah")

2. Sadducees: Accommodate to Rome

3. Essenes: Even stricter obedience than that of Pharisees needed. Thus:

4. Zealots: Revolt! Remember the Maccabees!

5. Am-ha-Aretz: Too busy staying alive to join in

6. Jesus: The exile is over!

G. Trends in Judaism in Jesus' Day

1. Three "Badges of National Righteousness"

a. Dietary laws

b. Sabbath

c. Circumcision

2. Three Symbols of National Identify

a. Torah

b. Land

c. Temple

3. The Theological Framework: Covenantal Nomism

4. The Common Narrative and the Problem

H. Sadducees, Pharisees, etc.

1. Sadducees in world and of world

2. Pharisees in world but not of world

3. Zealots not in world but of world

4. Essenes not in world not of world

I. Jesus vs. Judaism

1. God involving Jesus and Spirit

2. God's people = Jesus' followers

3. Salvation more spiritual than political

4. Messiah must die

5. Two stages to Messianic era

Transcript

No transcript data available for this lecture.

Embed

Copy and paste the following HTML code into your web page or blog post to embed our Flash audio player for this lecture into your site.

Reference materials

Help

Instructions for listening to this lecture:

Along the left side of the window are all the files you can download for this lecture. (You need to be logged into you user account to see these links.) This includes a link to download the lecture in high quality or in fast download, and any handouts we have available. If the link does not appear, then we do not have the material.

If you want to listen to the lecture on the computer, you can click the right arrow on the Listen now player (the free Flash player is required). Be patient as it can take some time to start playing if your connection to the internet is not fast.  

Check out the tabs on the page. They show you the outline and transcription for the lecture (if they are available). You can also click on Reference Materials and search BibleGateway for helpful information. If you copy the code under the Embed tab and paste it into your own website, blog, etc, then people can click on your link and listen to the lecture without leaving your site. (If you are not familiar with web technology, your webmaster may need to do this for you.)

Bookmark/Search this page with