Political Situation under Rome: Palestine Herod the Great 374 BCE - PDF document

Tuesdays with Mark Deacon Gary Notes from Presentation Slides, Week One week one • the New Testament World • the New Testament Writings • Gospels • Jesus • the Gospel of Mark The New Testament World First-century Palestine • Roman rule • 63 BCE to 70+ CE • Peace and taxation • Jewish residents • History of foreign rule • Hellenized culture .. Aramaic spoken • Christ followers • “God-fearing” Gentiles from Judaism • Jews who followed Christ and Torah • Pharisees ....... Torah teachers • Sadducees ...... Temple priests • Essenes ......... Flee city for desert • Zealots ........... Seek political freedom • Herodians ....... Have political power • Samaritans • Gentiles

Political Situation under Rome: Palestine • Herod the Great • 37–4 BCE • Idumean (from coastal people; not fully Jewish) • Politically astute (plays all sides) • Initiated building programs • Creating jobs • Feeding people • O ff ending some by celebrating Greek culture • Enlarged Jerusalem Temple Empire-wide • Emperor’s Pax Romana • Public building programs • Aqueducts • Roads (facilitate trade and movement of armies) • Gymnasiums and Spas • Crime reduction on roads and seas • Protects trade routes and pleases merchant class • High taxes • Peasant farmers pay for public works program • Impoverished people become slaves Judaism and Christianity under Rome • Rome permitted innocuous religions • Rome condemned all social unrest • i.e., prophets seeking social change • thieves, traitors, insurgents • 60 CE Emperor Nero purged Rome 
 64–70 CE War in Palestine-Jerusalem

• 110 CE Jerusalem closed to Jews 
 112 CE Christianity becomes a crime • “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach • 136 CE Bar Kochba Revolt Hellenism: Greek Culture under Roman Rule Hellenism in Palestine • “Reclining” at tables (rather than sitting up) • Surgical operations to reverse male circumcision • Aramaic spoken (Hebrew for ceremony) • And Roman syncretism in Judaism • Wisdom theology • Dualism .....Good vs. Evil • Apocalypticism (Deterministic view of history, God is in charge) Hellenism in Diaspora • Jews left Palestine over hundreds of years • For business and trade • Fleeing war or changes in political climate • Synagogues over Jerusalem Temple • Houses of prayer; not sacrificial rites • • Rabbis over priests • Torah over sacrifices • Greek spoken over Hebrew or Aramaic • Septuagint writings over Hebrew Roman Philosophies and Religion • Epicureans • Free Will • Tranquility • • Stoicism • Virtue is highest calling • Logic and reason control emotion

• Cynicism • Radical authenticity • Extreme independence • Mystery religions • Secret societies • Honour of the Emperor • Worship or patriotism? • Animism • Belief in spirit world • Augury • Oracles • Fortune/future tellers • Supernaturalism • Miracles • Divine men Gnosticism • 2nd–4th century phenomenon • Worldview • Anything material = evil • Spirit = good • Soma sema—a Greek refrain meaning “the body is a tomb” • Syncretistic—mixes with any religion • Gnostic Christianity (after first century) 
 • Christ the spiritual redeemer brings secret knowledge • View 1 • Liberate spirit from flesh—renounce (ignore or harm) body • View 2 • Spirit is already free of flesh, bodily excess won’t hurt spirit

The New Testament Writings - God’s new covenant with God’s people • 27 Writings • 4 Gospels • Acts of the Apostles • 9 letters from Paul to churches • 4 letters from Paul to specific people and their communities • Hebrews • 7 letters by other people (“catholic letters”) • Revelation Organization of the Writings • Not ordered chronologically • Titles do not necessarily indicate authorship, but tradition and trajectory • Luke-Acts = two volumes by one author • Letters ordered from longest to shortest • “Apocalypse” is the Greek word for “Revelation” Development of the “Canon” • Leader writes a letter or gospel • Community reads aloud in worship together with Torah, prophets, and psalms • Communities copy and share writings with other churches • More churches copy and share writings • Churches begin to collect some writings to read together with Torah, etc. • Leaders begin to list important writings • Lists expand and contract over time Basic Trends in the Development of the Christian Canon


 • Oral to written • Expansion: add to what exists • Copy writings • Augment writings • Edit writings (combine oral and written) • Write new writings (in names of early apostles) • Contraction: condense what exists • Leaders prefer “known” apostolic writings • Leaders list writings connected to earlier traditions Critical Methods of Study (tools used by biblical scholars) • Text criticism • Archeology • Sociological criticism • Cultural anthropology • Historical criticism • Source criticism • Form criticism • Redaction criticism • Narrative criticism • Rhetorical criticism • Reader-Response criticism • Ideological criticism • Deconstruction

The Earthly Jesus • Ministry • Itinerant • Rural • Jewish • Preaches God’s kingdom (now and future) • Absolute allegiance to God • Forgiveness reconciles sinners and outcasts • Reassessment of legal interpretations • Radical “love ethic” • Reversal of social values (poor over the rich; meek over the powerful) • Teaches about himself • “Son of Man” • Messiah and Son of God • Mediates God’s presence • Parables and prophetic acts • Healing • Exorcisms • Demonstration of God’s presence and power • Conflict with religious leaders New Testament Study of the Earthly Jesus • Focus: the unique presentation of Jesus in each NT Gospel • Aim: understanding presentation of “Jesus” in each Gospel • Faith and theology aim at Christian belief • Ask di ff erent questions; supply di ff erent answers • Interpret each Gospel on its own terms • Do not import information from one Gospel to another

Historical Study of Jesus • Focus: historically verifiable evidence 
 Aim: to describe “the person who emerges from an analysis of sources in accord with generally accepted principles of historical science” • A skeptical science • only accepts “facts” • tests sources against one another • Uninterested in the unique perspective of Gospelsà seeks Jesus “behind” Gospels The Exalted Jesus (of NT faith) • Abides with believers; believers abide in Jesus • Communicates with believers • Present at baptism of believer • Answers prayer • Will return again • Receives believers’ devotion • Equal to God and subject to God The Gospels - Four pictures of Jesus • 1. “gospel” = (1) early Christian preaching (2) written life of Jesus • Written like ancient biography • Portrays “the essential character of the person” • Encourages emulation of the person • Has little concern for chronology • Includes multiple genres

• Influenced by Jewish literature • “Fictive” (story-like) style of narration • Overtly evangelistic (“that you may believe”) • Types of Material in Gospels • Parables • Figurative stories that convey spiritual truth • Miracle stories • Demonstrations of exceptional “power” or “signs” • Pronouncement stories • Anecdote that preserves “the memory of something Jesus said” • Individual sayings • Passion and resurrection narratives The Synoptic Puzzle • Synoptic = “seeing together” • Matthew, Luke, and Mark appear to be seeing Jesus together —from a similar view • Overlapping material 
 Parallel structures, style, perspectives, and tone • Also each have unique material • Matthew contains 90% of material in Mark but is twice as long • This raises the question: How are these three Gospels related? • (Majority) Two-source Hypothesis • Mark written first • Matthew and Luke use Mark as a written source • Matthew and Luke use a second (hypothetical) source of Jesus’ sayings = Q • Matthew and Luke, independently, used their own oral sources to complement written sources (M and L)

• (Minority) Two-Gospel Hypothesis • Matthew wrote first • Luke used Matthew • Mark later condensed Matthew and Luke into one writing Mark - A tale of mystery, conflict, irony and pathos • Date and Place • First Gospel written 65–73 CE • Shortest Gospel • Lacks birth and resurrection narratives • Mark 13 may refer to Jewish War, 64–70 CE • Follows format of early Christian preaching • Author • Anonymous • Papias identifies author as “Peter’s interpreter” (1 Pet. 5:13; box 6.1) • Devout Christian • Jesus is Son of God and Messiah (Mark 1:1) • Cites Hebrew scriptures as word of God • Less knowledgeable about Palestine • Assumes knowledge of Latin terms but explains Aramaic • Community • Roman Christians • Believe Jesus’ story is sacred history • Identify with the terrors in Mark 13 • Need comfort, encouragement • Are they undergoing local persecution? • Are they in Rome when Nero persecutes Christians there, mid 60s CE?