Fall Seminar 2023
Milledgeville, GA
The World of the Early Church
To study the Bible well, you have to read it as the original readers did. In this study taught by Eric Smith, you will learn about the world in which the New Testament was written – the history and the culture – so you can learn to see the Bible in the same way as the men and women of the early church. Available in audio only.
Session Descriptions
Session 1
In the first session, we look at the end of Old Testament history, starting with the Babylonian exile and going through the return of the Jews to the Promised Land. We see how the exile set the stage for first-century Judaism, and how the work of Ezra and Nehemiah brought the returned exiles back to devotion to God.
Session 2
In the second session, we begin our look at the period between the Old and New Testaments, starting with the Jews under Persian rule. We then proceed to the conquest by the Greeks, with a close examination of the various Greek kings, especially Antiochus Epiphanes, who attempted to eradicate Judaism and profaned the temple through the Abomination of Desolation. Finally, we look at how Antiochus’ blasphemy precipitated the Maccabean rebellion and the eventual liberation of the Jews from foreign rule.
Session 3
In the third session, we look at the Hasmonean dynasty and the independent Jewish state established after the Maccabees drove out the Greeks. We examine the initial expansion and conquest by this Jewish kingdom and its gradual decline, leading to the Jewish state falling to the Romans. We finish with a look at the life and atrocities of Herod “the Great”, the Roman ruler at the time of Jesus’ birth.
Session 4
We finish up our look at the history of the Jews from the end of the Old Testament through the New Testament by looking at the various descendants of Herod that ruled the Jews through the time of Acts. After this, we begin the cultural part of the course by looking at some of the most important factions found in 1st Century Judea and Galilee, including the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Scribes.
Session 5
We continue out look at the various sects of 1st century Jewish society by examining the political revolutionaries known as the Zealots as well as the apocalyptic sects the Essenes, the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls. We then explore the life of Jews who lived outside of Judea and Galilee as part of the Jewish Diaspora and their contributions to overall Jewish culture, including the Septuagint (the translation of the Old Testament into the Greek language).
Session 6
We begin by looking at the Sanhedrin, the supreme court of the Jews of the first century. We then examine the workings of both the temple and the synagogues, as well as the prevalence of self-proclaimed Messiahs at the time. We close by going over some of the tensions between Jews and Gentiles throughout the Roman empire, and by starting a look at the nature of honor/shame cultures and how this fits into the New Testament.
Session 7
We continue our look into the honor/shame culture of the first century, looking specifically at how these concepts show up in the New Testament and how they affected views of morality. We then expand our focus to look at the collectivist nature of ancient cultures and see how understanding this radically-different worldview can change our reading of the Scriptures.
Session 8
We begin by looking at relations between the Jews and the early Christians. We see why the Jewish ruling class was so threatened by this new sect, and how the actions they took to destroy the gospel ended up spreading it around the Roman empire. We also look in detail at the martyrdom of James, the half-brother of Jesus. After this, we start on the second part of this course — a look at Greco-Roman culture — with an overview of the Roman empire.
Session 9
We look at the social structure of the Roman Empire, with a particular emphasis on Roman slavery. We also discuss the corrupt and oppressive Roman government and how this related to the instructions in the New Testament to obey those in power.
Session 10
We continue our close look at Roman culture, first discussing the cities of the Roman empire and life for the rich and poor, and then examining Roman family life.
Session 11
We continue our examination of family culture by looking at the status of women in Greek, Roman, and Jewish culture. We also discuss both education and employment in the first century. We conclude with an introduction to the patron-client system that formed the foundation.
Session 12
We examine Roman religion, first the common pagan religion that dominated the Roman empire, and then the mystery cults that became more popular during the time of the early church. We also discuss the common skeptic accusation that Christianity was derived from these mystery cults.
Session 13
We look at the various philosophies popular in the first century, and the ways that these ideas were addressed in the New Testament. We then begin our examination of the moral values of Roman culture.
Session 14
We look at the sexual morality of the Roman Empire, with a particular focus on attitudes towards homosexuality, and then at the various types of entertainment popular in Roman culture. We then start on the third part of the course — The Jewish Wars — by examining the rising tensions between the Jews and the Romans in the latter half of the first century. WARNING: some of the content in this session is not suitable for children.
Session 15
We go over the Zealot revolt — its causes, the incident that set it off, and the brutal Roman response. We finish with a detailed look at the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple, specifically connecting them to the prophecies made by Jesus in the Gospels.
Session 16
In the final session, we conclude our coverage of the Jewish Wars by looking at the fall of Masada and the aftermath, as well as the second Zealot revolt, the split between Christians and Jews, and the final fate of Jewish Christians in Judea.
Handouts & Resources
Videos
