REL 415 - Pauline Literature III

The Prison and Pastoral Epistles of Paul

Week 2 - Hellenism and the Inter-Testamental Period

Introduction
At the end of the Old Testament, the Persian Empire was in control of the Middle East.
Four hundred years later, at the time of the New Testament, Persia had been assimilated into the Empire of Alexander the Great; Alexander's Empire had fallen apart on his death; the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt had flourished and gone; the Seleucid dynasty to the East had come to power and fallen; Carthage in northern Africa had challenged Rome and lost; and the Republic of Roman had been turned into an Empire which was in control of the Mediterranean world.

This week's study is intended to give a brief over-view of the events of the Inter-Testamental period, and help us to understand how Greek culture became predominant throughout the region of the Mediterranean and the Middle East
The readings are intended to give us a feeling for the Greek culture, and to give the time-frame of the events of the New Testament. From them you may get a picture of what it was probably like to be a member of a Greek community; and of the spiritual hunger of Gentiles seeking God.
Such people comprised Paul's mission field, and the intended readership for most of his letters.

Scripture Readings

  • Acts 17:15-34
  • Acts 19:21-41
  • 1 Corinthians 1:22-24

Textbook Resources

  • page 15 - Paul and Rhetoric
  • pages 101-108 - Corinth
  • page 103 - Strabo in Corinth
  • pages 104 107, 109, 121, 122, 162, 210, 225, 244 - photos of Corinth
  • page 178 - Paul quotes an Athenian Playwright
  • pages 209 & 233 - the Erastus Inscription
  • page 221 - the After-Life
  • page 222 - photo of the Gallio Inscription
  • page 224 - "reflections"
  • pages 229 & 166 - the Asclepion of Corinth
  • page 234 - Social Stratification in Ancient Mediterranean Society
  • page 235 - Aequitas : Equality
  • pages 303, 313, 321, 325, 328, 330, 444, 447 - photos of Ephesus
  • pages 347, 353 - photos of Philippi
  • page 354 - the Afterlife in Ancient Philippi
  • page 365 - Sophistry, Philosophy, and Chicanery in the Greco-Roman World
  • pages 372-373 - "The Spiritual Climate of the Area" - although this section deals particularly with Colossae in Asia Minor, the same spiritual influences were at work throughout the Gentile world at that time.
  • page 374 - Plutarch's Dread of the Gods
  • pages 405-407 - The City of Thessalonica
  • page 422 - Tomb Inscriptions and the Afterlife
  • pages 426, 432 - photos of Thessalonica
  • page 481 - Sale of Religious Offices - one could buy the position of Prophet !

Go here for InterNet Resources

Other useful articles can be found by using the Topics as search words in Search Engines such as GoodSearch

Key Topics

  1. Aristotle
  2. Cyrus the Great
  3. The Greek-Persian Wars
  4. Darius III of Persia
  5. Alexander the Great
  6. The Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt
  7. The Septuagint
  8. Cleopatra VII
  9. The Seleucid dynasty
  10. Antiochus IV Epiphanes
  11. The Maccabean Revolt
  12. The Hasmonean dynasty
  13. Pompey
  14. Herod the Great
  15. Koine Greek
  16. The Punic Wars
  17. Hannibal
  18. The Macedonian Wars
  19. Hellenism
  20. Mystery religions

This Week's Assignment

Write a paragraph, 3 to 10 sentences, on each of the Key Topics

Be very careful to put things into your own words
Remember to cite your sources

Use MSWord or a text editor such as Notepad to prepare and save your work, then send it as an Attachment to, or pasted into, an email message to Dr. Rollinson at rollinsondr@yahoo.com,rollinsondr@hellokitty.com,rollinsondr@catholic.org.
Please use all 3 email addresses in case any of the mailboxes go down.

 

Copyright © 1999 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved

Dr. Rollinson

ENMU Station 19
Portales, NM 88130

Last Updated : December 26, 2011

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