1. The Historical Background of Christianity

2. Historical Background of Christianity
How can we describe ancient Judaism?
How can we describe Greco-Roman religion?
How can we compare/contrast them?

3. The Jewish Heritage Israel First recorded national history Monotheism
Origins: the patriarchs (ca BC)
Abraham and Isaac

4. The Jewish Heritage The Exodus and Sinai (ca. 1300 BC)
Israelites oppressed in Egypt
Moses led Israelites to “Promised Land”
Ten Commandments, Torah given
Moses and the Ten Commandments

5. The Jewish Heritage

6. The Jewish Heritage

7. The Jewish Heritage Hebrew Religion YHWH Cult
Tabernacle, sacred furniture
Altars
Male priesthood
Holy days

8. The Jewish Heritage

9. The Jewish Heritage United Monarchy in Israel (ca. 1020-928 BC)
Kings: vassals of YHWH
David (r BC)
Origins: shepherd, mercenary
Expansion, conquest
Solomon (r BC)
Temple
Israel at its zenith
David

10. The Jewish Heritage
Tomb of King David, Mt. Zion, Jerusalem

11. The Jewish Heritage
Edward Poynter, The Queen of Sheba before Solomon (1890)

12. The Jewish Heritage
Solomon’s Temple, Jerusalem

13. The Jewish Heritage The Divided Kingdom (928-722 BC)
Northern tribes broke away  Kingdom of Israel
Idols
Conquered by Assyria (722 BC)
Kingdom of Judah
Monotheism, idols too
Conquered by Babylon ( BC)

14. The Jewish Heritage Return from Exile Under Persians
Jews permitted to return to homeland (539 BC)
Temple under construction ( BC)  “Second-Temple Judaism”
King Cyrus the Great (r BC)

15. The Jewish Heritage The Jews Encounter Hellenism
Under Hellenistic Rule ( BC)
Ordered to abandon religious practices
“Abomination of Desolation”
The Maccabean Revolt ( BC)
Revolted under Judas Maccabeus ( BC)
Guerrilla warfare  Jewish victory, independence
Rededication of Temple (164 BC)

16. The Jewish Heritage
Hanukkah!

17. The Jewish Heritage Roman Occupation of Palestine
Jews had been ruled by priest-kings
Romans invaded 63 BC
“Client-kings” installed
Herod the Great (r. 37 BC - 4 AD)
King Herod the Great

18. The Jewish Heritage
The Second Temple (“Herod’s Temple”)

19. The Jewish Heritage
Questions?

20. Greco-Roman Religion Roman Empire Augustus Caesar (r. 29 BC- 14 AD)
Pax romana
Succeeded by Julio-Claudian emperors
Augustus Caesar

21. Greco-Roman Religion Traditional Religion Olympian gods Oracles
State-run priesthoods in Rome
No established “orthodoxy”
Athena Parthenos (438 BC)

22. Greco-Roman Religion

23. Greco-Roman Religion

24. Greco-Roman Religion
The Pantheon ( AD), Rome

25. Greco-Roman Religion

26. Greco-Roman Religion Neoplatonism “Intellectual mysticism”
Derives from Plato ( BC)
Teachings
All reality emanates from “the One”
Lowest level is matter
Contemplation  ecstatic union with the One

27. Greco-Roman Religion The Mystery Religions Musterion
Devotees “initiated” into, not “born into” mysteries
Attractive!
Communion with deity
Ethical guidance
Spiritual equality
Eternal afterlife

28. Greco-Roman Religion Cult of Isis Symbolic of all female deities
Cult of afterlife, “suffering mother”
Popular among women

29. Mithras Slaying the Bull, British Museum
Greco-Roman Religion
Mithraism
Mithras
Blood of sacred bull is “source of life”
Sacramental meal: bread and water
Popular among Roman soldiers
Mithras Slaying the Bull, British Museum

30. Greco-Roman Religion San Clemente, Rome
Mithraeum, beneath San Clemente

31. Greco-Roman Religion

32. Greco-Roman Religion Emperor Worship Some emperors deified after death
Imperial cult established
Foundations during reign of Augustus
Cult statue of Augustus (early 1st cent.)

33. Greco-Roman Religion
Questions?

34. Historical Background of Christianity
How can we describe ancient Judaism?
How can we describe Greco-Roman religion?
How can we compare/contrast them?