Hellenism
For the first time in history, Greeks redefined worldfiew to be cenetered around the individual. Prior to Hellenism, worldviews centered around pleasing the gods
Alexander the Great had his own gospel (εὐαγγέλιον - euangelion: predates biblical authors. "Good news to share" as an idea is not uniquely biblical)
He conqoured the world, not with a huge army but with 4 things:
- Education
- Healthcare
- Entertainment
- Athletics
These 4 things pull on basically all people's values, Andrew the Great used them to control people...
- Education - control what people know
- Healthcare - make people dependent on the state's provision
- Entertainment - control what people do with their time (theater was invented in this time)
- Athletics - similar to entertainment - this becomes a pillar of culture
Jewish History
| year | event |
|---|---|
| 586 BC | Babylonian captivity of Judah |
| 538 BC | Return to Israel (Decree of Cyrus) |
| 332 BC | Alexander the Great conquers Palestine |
| 330–198 BC | Rule of Hellenistic Ptolemies over Jews |
| 198–167 BC | Oppression under Hellenistic Seleucids |
| 167 BC | Maccabean revolt |
| 167–63 BC | Hasmonean (Maccabean) kingdom |
| 63 BC | Roman conquest of Judea |
| 37 BC | Reign of Herod begins |
| c. 6 BC | Birth of Jesus |
| 4 BC | Herod’s death |
| 4 BC–AD 6 | Rule of Archelaus |
| 4 BC–AD 39 | Rule of Antipas |
| c. AD 27–30 | Jesus’s public ministry |
| c. AD 30 | Crucifixion of Jesus |
| AD 66–73 | First Jewish revolt against Rome |
| AD 70 | Destruction of Jerusalem/Temple |
| AD 73 | Masada falls |
| AD 131–135 | Bar Kochba Revolt (Second Jewish revolt) |
Post-Alexander the Great's death
4 rulers take over the Greek kingdom
- Synichus
- ?
- Seleucis
- Ptolemy
Ptolemy rules the Jewish region
Leadership style - very Hellenistic
Some Jews dove in, others remained faithful to Judaism... Psolemy made it just simply ahrd to not be Greek
Selucids take over Psolemies and Jewish region
Selucis sacrifices a pig on the altar in Judea - ruthless take over of Jewish land which leads to the Maccabean revolt (Hanukkah)
Hanukkah
Jews wins the Maccabean revolts, story of Hanukkah arises
Hasmonean rule
Maccabean's are people of the text and see that Yahweh wanted priests to rule, not kings. So they hand the kingdom over to the Hasmoneans (priests), and their Yahweh-centric rule eventually turns back to Hellenism
Josephus (perhaps a little hyperbolically) said at this time there weren't enough priests to run Sabbath services cause they were all at the naked mud wrestling tournaments
Hasadim
Maccabeans who leave the Hasmonean group, go north, and build a fundamentalist Jewish culture in Galilee which is where Jesus grew up and did his ministry
They split into 2 groups - Zealots who use the sword, Pharisees who obedience to the text
Rome
Jews (Saducees) persue Herod the Great in order to work things in light of Roman conquest, to remain good for the Jews
Herod and Ceasar end up having a tight political relationship
Herod's kingdom
Herod split his kingdom to his sons after his death
- Herod Archelaus (rules for a short time and is replaced by Pontius Pilot)
- Herod Philip 2
- Herod Antipad
Sometime in this period, Jesus was born
Post-Herod
Jesus' public ministry is during this time
Jews eventually revolt against Rome which leads to destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple