1. The Fullness of Time

2. General Timeline of the Church
Beginning of Creation
Israelites
Greeks
Romans
Jesus
Christendom
Global Church (present)
End of time (Parousia)

3. Beginning of Creation
Big Bang (or creation) occurred 13.7 billion years ago
The Church has always been a part of God’s plan from the beginning.

4. The Israelites – God Prepares His People
God establishes His covenant with Abraham almost 2000 years before Christ
1000’s of years of God preparing us for the Messiah
“The remote preparation for this gathering together of the People of God begins when he calls Abraham and promises that he will become the father of a great people.” (CCC 762)
God saves his people from slavery and Egypt B.C.
Establishing the nation of Israelites.
Kingdom of Israel (Saul, David, Solomon.)
Prophets called the Jews to holiness and rebuked their breaking of the covenant with God.

5. Greeks – God prepares the Mind
Logos- or Word (Remember Christ is Logos (Jn 1:1)
Universal Greek language
Greek translations of Old Testament-Septuagint
Greek Philosophy searched for the truth, the Old God and life after death: Aristotle, Socrates, Plato all prepared the pagan world for the possibility of a God w/o knowing that Christianity was coming to Greece.

6. 2. Plato- Wrote “The Republic”
1.Socrates- Executed in 399 B.C.
2. Plato- Wrote “The Republic”
3. Aristotle- 335 B.C.

7. Roman Empire- God prepares the Stage
Rome is established in 753 B.C. by Romulus.
Roman Empire begins 27 B.C., ruled by Augustus. (previously Rome was a Republic).
Pax Romana – Roman Peace, marked the 200 year period of peacetime within the Empire.
The Pax Romana is important because it is the culture in which Christianity was introduced.

8. Roman Empire- How the Stage was set
Cons
Disregard of human life.
Lack of Morals
Hedonism
Lame Pagan gods.
Pros
Road system
Universal language: Latin
Lack of war and outside conflict

9. Jews in the Roman Empire
Remember Jesus was a Jew
Heavily influenced by Greek and Roman culture- “Hellenized Jews.”
Hellenization- process by which Greek cultural attributes were transplanted to the East.
Seen as second class citizens within the Empire.
Sadducees and Pharisees- Conservative and Progressive respectively.
“Diaspora” – Greek for dispersion. Jews were spread out all over the Roman Empire.

10. So What?!
The Roman Empire set the stage for a new uplifting, life filled, spiritually satisfying Religion: CHRISTIANITY Greek and Jewish cultures exists and influence the world into which the Church was born. The Incarnation is purposefully placed within this time period.