PSYC 260 1st Edition Lecture 3 Outline of Last Lecture II The leading questions III The layout of the New Testament IV Some books that didn t get included a The Infancy Gospel of Thomas b The Epistle of Barnabas c The Apocalypse of Peter V The process a Creation b Circulation c Collection d Canonization e The Criteria Applied VI Significance of the New Testament Canon as a Collection a Individual books Outline of Current Lecture VII The Cultural Context Alexander and the Hellenization of the Mediterranean Alexander the great VIII The Historical Context Octavius and the Pax Romana IX The Religious Context Pagan Cults in the Roman World Current Lecture in our world today lots of people talk about the bible there are lots of different interpretations of the bible One reason so many people have different interpretations is b c most people take it out of context The NT was not written in 21st century America was written in first century roman empire Thesis any time you take something out of its context you misunderstand it It is no longer rooted in its original context which is why it can be taken many different ways I The Cultural Context Alexander and the Hellenization of the Mediterranean Alexander the great 356 333 These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Alexander the Conqueror o Alexander the Great was a world conqueror one of the most important figures in Western Civilization o so important because of his spread of Greek culture o was the son of the king of Macedonia Phillip o Macedonia was a country just to the north of Greece Phillip was assassinated and took over the throne of Macedonia Alexander was convinced Greek culture was superior to other cultures o Had Aristotle as his person tutor o Socrates plato Aristotle Alexander the Great not a philosopher o Went on military exploits conquering lands around the Mediterranean o Went into the Persian empire conquered everywhere he went o Understood widely to be one of the great military geniuses of ALL TIME o Was a brutal conqueror Alexander the Hellenizer o Tried to get places he conquered to adopt Greek culture o People started speaking Greek throughout the world adopting customs following Greek culture accepting aspects of Greek religion involved in Hellenizing o Significant in what ends up happening with Christianity years later o Greek was the common language among the educated people during Jesus s time All aspects of Greek was being used during Jesus s time What they were familiar with had been Hellenized This effects how Christianity is spread and is understood o Hellenization Hellas is the Greek word for Greece Hellenizing means implementing Greek culture in other places making other places greek Hellenization process of making other countries adopt Greek culture INTERLUDE The Importance of Context A word o very important to know the context of something Change context of word change what it means o example dude means different things in different contexts o HAVE TO KNOW THE CONTEXT II The Historical Context Octavius and the Pax Romana The Death of Alexander and the Rise of Rome o The Death of Alexander and the Rise of Rome o Alexander died 323 BC o His empire was divided up between his generals his idea had been to unify the worlds that he conquered died before this happen o Wasn t before the roman empire rose that you got cultural unity o Roman Empire established by the city of Rome o Started off as a small farming villages and grew and started conquering surrounding areas o Were three wars with the city of Carthidge Rome came out victorious o Rome was in control of the Mediterranean before Jesus was born o Many civil wars took place when small powers wanted to have supreme powers One of the leading power players was Octavius Was the nephew and adopted son of Julius Caser assassinated in the year 44 bce o Octavius managed to ascend in power and brought an end to the civil wars that had been going on for 100 years He became the roman empower He was the first Roman Emperor o Before Octavius Rome was ruled by a Senate but that was when Rome was a Republic o Octavius was now the ultimate leader and adopted the name Caesar Augustus Rome managed to conquer the areas around the Mediterranean focused more on the west The Benefits of the Roman Peace o Time of relative safety Romans got rid of pirates and bandits world was relatively safe o Possibilities of travel roads to travel on safe to travel Romans built roads to troops could get places easily People started traveling a lot more o Common Coinage like the Euro today made things must easier for people o Common language could travel and communicate with educated people Greek was the common language made travel much easier Significant for the spread of Christianity o Common culture Greek and Roman culture very similar religions institutions cultural heritages literatures Greco Roman world Roman established political stability thru Greek culture o Need to know something about what is going on politically in the Roman Empire INTERLUDE The Importance of Context A phrase o Same thing applies to a phrase or a clause meaning changes when you take it out of context means something different depending on context o Example I love you 80 year old widow husband just died closing the casket last words are I love you These words mean you are the most important person in my life and I don t know how I can go on middle aged women has been called to the county jail by her son who has been arrested She tells him I love you these means I am your mother and im gonna stand by you all the way even if you mess something up 16 couple in a parked car in a dark alley Boy is starting to engage in activities girl is not approve of but he says I love you they mean they care about themselves not you o words mean something different in different contexts III The Religious Context Pagan Cults in the Roman World word cult here doesn t have negative connotations refers to Cultus Deorum The care for the Gods Cult means any religious group Pagan here is not negative either used in a neutral way anyone who accepts all polytheistic religions of the ancient world Pagan Cults religious practices of the Pagans in the ancient world Characteristics of the Cultus Deorum o Polytheism believed there were many gods Gods for any place and every function most ancient people would think its nonsense that there is