Historical background of the New Testament

According to the Gospels, Jesus lived in the Galilee and Judea (modern day Israel and Palestine) around the first half of the first century CE. Some people, especially fundamentalist Christians, take the Gospels to be a literal and accurate account of Jesus' life; other people question whether Jesus ever existed (see Historicity of Jesus for an account of this debate). Some, people, including critical Bible scholars and historians, however, accept that Jesus lived, but reject the Gospels as a literal account of his life. Specifically, they reject supernatural elements including miracles; argue that the Gospels were written from the point of view of, and in order to support, an orthodox Christianity that was emerging between the second and fourth centuries CE; and that an account of Jesus' life must make sense in terms of his historical and cultural context.

The First Temple Era

The religion of ancient Israel, like those of most ancient Near Eastern societies, centered on a Temple, served by a caste of priests, who sacrificed offerings to their god. Among the Children of Israel priests claimed descent from Aaron of the tribe of Levi, and were believed to have been chosen by God to care for the Tabernacle.

In ancient Israel, as in most ancient Near Eastern societies, the institution of the priesthood was closely tied with the monarchy. The religious authority of the priests was institutionalized with the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem around 950 BCE, and when the high priest Zadok anointed Solomon king. At that time priestly power was legitimated and constrained by the monarchy, controlled by the House of David of the tribe of Judah. During the First Temple Era (from around 950 BCE to 586 BCE), the priests were limited to their work in the Temple; political power officially rested in the hands of a king who ruled, ideally, by divine right.

In most ancient societies sacrifice was the only form of worship. Unlike many other religions of the time, however, the Children of Israel had sacred texts (later edited into the Torah, or Five Books of Moses) which contained moral stories and teachings, as well as laws, which provided all people with ways to worship their God in the course of their everyday lives. Prophets, inspired by God and by the values and teachings embodied in the sacred texts, however, often criticized the king, elites, or the masses and provided another potent political force.

Both the Temple and the Monarchy were destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, and most Jews were sent into exile.

The Persian Period

In 539 BCE the Persians conquered Babylon and in 537 BCE, inaugurating the Persian period of Jewish history. Cyrus the Great allowed Jews to return to Judea and rebuild the Temple (completed in 515 BCE). He did not, however, allow the restoration of the monarchy, which left the priests as the dominant authority. Without the constraining power of the monarchy, the authority of the Temple was amplified. Around this time the Sadducee party emerged as the party of the priests and allied elites; the name Sadducee comes from Zadok. Nevertheless, the Second Temple had been constructed under the auspices of a foreign power, and there were lingering questions about its legitimacy. This provided the condition for the development of various sects (including Josephus's "schools of thought"), each of which claimed exclusive authority to represent "Judaism," and typically shunned social intercourse, especially marriage, with members of other sects.

One of the earliest of these competing sects was the Pharisees, who had its origins in a relatively new group of authorities -- scribes and sages. The end of the Babylonian Exile saw not only the construction of the Second Temple, but the canonization of the Bible as well. Although the priests controlled the monarchy and the Temple, scribes and sages (who would later come to be addressed as rabbi, "my master") monopolized the study of the Torah, which was read publicly on market-days, a practice which was institutionalized after the return from the Babylonian exile. These sages developed and maintained an oral tradition alongside of the Holy Writ, and identified with the prophets (Biblical political and religious reformers who came from other tribes than Levi). The rift between the priests and the sages developed during the Hellenistic period, when the Jews faced new political and cultural struggles.

The Hellenistic Period

The Hellenistic period of Jewish history began in 332 BCE when Alexander the Great conquered Persia. By the 2nd century BCE. Judea was subject to the Syrian-Hellenic Seleucid Empire. Generally, the Jews accepted foreign rule as long as they were only expected to pay tribute, and otherwise allowed to govern themselves. Conflicts arose when Antiochus Epiphanes began a program of forced helenization with the support of the priestly aristocracy -- many of whom began to turn away from the practice of circumcision (the sign of the covenant between God and the Children of Israel) in order to exercise in the gymnasion. When Antiochus pillaged the Temple and ordered sacrifices to Greek gods, Mattathias and his son Judah Maccabee, priests of the Hasmon family, led a bloody revolt. After defeating the Seleucid forces, Judah's nephew John Hyrcanus established a new monarchy in the form of the priestly Hasmonean dynasty in 152 BCE -- thus establishing priests as political as well as religious authorities. Although the Hasmoneans were heroes for resisting the Seleucids, their reign lacked the legitimacy of the Davidic dynasty of the First Temple Era.

The Hasmonean Period

It was around this time that the sages and scribes congealed into a political party known as the Pharisees, or "separatists." This term may owe to their rejection of Hellenic culture or to their objection to the Hasmonean monopoly on power. The political rift between the Saducees and the Pharisees became evident when Pharisees demanded that the Hasmonean king Alexander Jannai choose between being king and being High Priest. This demand led to a brief civil war that ended with a bloody repression of the Pharisees, although at his deathbed the king called for a reconciliation between the two parties. Alexander was succeeded by his widow, Salome Alexandra, whose brother, Simeon ben Shetah, was a leading Pharisee. Upon her death her elder son, Hyrcanus, sought Pharisee support, and her younger son, Aristobulus, sought the support of the Sadducees.

The Roman Period

The conflict between Hyrcanus and Aristobulus culminated in a civil war that ended when the Roman general Pompey captured Jerusalem in 63 BCE and inaugurated the Roman period of Jewish history. Pompey ended the monarchy and named Hyrcanus high priest and ethnarch (a lesser title than "king"). In 57 BCE Hyrcanus was deprived of all political authority. Ultimate jurisdiction of Judea and the Galilee was given to the Proconsul of Syria, who ruled through two Idumean brothers, Phasael (who served as military governor of Judea) and Herod (who served as military governor of the Galilee). In 40 BCE Aristobulus's son Antigonus overthrew Hyrcanus and named himself king and high priest. Herod fled to Rome, and, with the support of Marcus Antonius and Octavian, secured recognition by the Roman Senate as king -- confirming the termination of the Hasmonean dynasty. After Herod died, Augustus designated one son tetrarch of the Galilee, and another son ethnarch of Judea (including Samaria and Idumea). After 6 CE Judea was governed indirectly by a Roman prefect or procurator, and directly by a Roman-appointed high priest.

It was during this time that the Sanhedrin was established. In 57 BCE the Proconsul Cabineus established five regional synhedria, or councils, of 23 elders, to regulate the internal affairs of the Jews. The Sanhedrin was a legislative council of 71 elders chaired by the high priest, that interpreted Jewish law and adjudicated appeals, especially in ritual matters. The specific number of councils, members of councils, and their powers actually varied depending on Roman policy.

During this period Judea and Galilee were effectively semi-autonomous client-states. Rome was content to receive tribute, although some emperors considered installing a statue of themselves or a Roman god in the Temple. For the most part, Jews were willing to pay tribute, although they complained when it was excessive, and absolutely refused to allow a graven image in their Temple. The primary tasks of the tetrarch and high priest were to collect tribute, convince the Romans not to interfere with the Temple, and ensure that the Jews not rebel. There is a record of only one high priest (Ananus, in 62 CE) being a Saducee, although scholars generally assume that the Sanhedrin was dominated by Saducees. The Pharisees were politically quiescent, content to study, teach, and worship in their own way. Although popular, they had no power. During this time other religious movements developed, most notably, the Essenes. They were the followers of a group of priests who had essentially rejected the Second Temple. They argued that the Essene community was itself the new Temple, and that obedience to the law represented a new form of sacrifice. Although their lack of concern for the Second Temple alienated them from the great mass of Jews, their notion that the sacred could exist outside of the Temple was shared by Christians and Pharisees.

By 66 CE Jewish discontent with Rome had escalated. At first, the priests tried to suppress rebellion, even calling upon the Pharisees for help. After the Roman garrison failed to stop Hellenists from desecrating a synagogue in Caesarea, however, the high priest suspended payment of tribute, inaugurating the Great Jewish Revolt.

The destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 CE not only put an end to the revolt, it marked the end of an era. Revolutionaries like the Zealots had been crushed by the Romans, and had little credibility (the last Zealots died at Masada in 73 CE). Similarly, the Sadducees, whose teachings were so closely connected to the Temple cult, disappeared. The Essenes also vanished, perhaps because their teachings so diverged from the concerns of the times. The destruction of the Second Temple was of no consequence to them; precisely for this reason, they were of little consequence to the vast majority of Jews.

Post-Second Temple

The destruction of the Second Temple was a profoundly traumatic experience for the Jews, who were now confronted with difficult and far-reaching questions:

• How to achieve atonement without the Temple?
• How to explain the disastrous outcome of the rebellion?
• How to live in the post-Temple, Romanized world?
• How to connect present and past traditions?

How people answered these questioned depended largely on their position prior to the revolt.

Culture, and geography, circa 25 BC - 50 AD

In these turbulent uncertain times, a mix of everyday life and dark brewing thunderclouds, religion, civil life and politics co-existed and merged uneasily.

Christians generally believe Jesus lived and preached to the agricultural villagers of the Galilee and the hill city Jerusalem at this time. It is to the deserts and wildernesses of the Negev and Jordan he is said to have travelled, and at the River Jordan which flows to Lake Kinneret (known as the Sea of Galilee) where it is stated by the Gospels that he met the preacher Yohannan (Jonathan) the Baptiser. Although people travelled hundreds or thousands of miles along established trading routes, to Rome or India, the region concerning this article is small, perhaps 100 miles north to south and 40 or 50 miles east to west.

Amongst all the people of Roman Palestine, the Jews had their own institutions: the priesthood which had become a lesser political appointment, the courts, the old Temple, and the developing learning academies and schools from which eventually Rabbinic Judaism would arise. The Jewish and Roman courts co-existed and occasionally conflicted. Religion was part of daily life, but the region was a blend of religious law and civil law, and broadly secular in politics, with religion interspersed throughout daily life.

Jewish Revolt and aftermath, 70 - 400 AD

Around X AD, ?what provoked it - Answer=the Zealots?, open rebellion broke out, and finally open war, until in X AD the general of the 3 armies it had taken to destroy the revolt was finally able to strike new currency reading "Judea Capta" ("Judea is no more").

!the bar Kockba revolt was the 2nd Jewish revolt in about AD130, not the 1st!

Somewhere in the three hundred years from 0 - 400 AD, Christianity emerged. !Arianism and various other changes were only seperated during 4th century as not-orthodoxy there was no orthodoxy before!

Culture

Culturally, Jews had to grapple with the values of Hellenism and Hellenistic philosophy, which threatened to replace the traditions handed down from the past. Bath houses were built in Jerusalem, for instance. Most Jews tended to accept the good that came from their various conquerors (they were in succession dominated by the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans), but many yearned for freedom from foreign domination.

Moreover, as many Jews lived in the Diaspora, and Roman Palestine itself was populated by many Gentiles, Jews had to confront a paradox in their own tradition: their Torah applied only to them, but revealed universal truths. This situation led to new interpretations of the Torah, influenced by Hellenic thought and in response to Gentile interest in Judaism.

Several languages were used in Palestine at this time, and the matter of the lingua franca is still subject of some debate. The Jews almost certainly spoke Aramaic among themselves. Greek was at least to some extent a trade language in Palestine, and indeed in the entire eastern portion of the Roman empire. Pontius Pilate, as a Roman from Rome, would most likely have spoken Latin privately with his wife, but would probably have used Greek to handle day to day business in the province, though it is also possible (though perhaps improbable given his character) that he used Aramaic for this. Scholars debate whether Jesus himself spoke any other languages than Aramaic and (as a Jew) Hebrew. In favor of his knowing at least some Greek is the notation in the Gospels that he worked as a carpenter. In a wood-poor land such as Galilee, he would have had to deal with caravans from the wider Middle-East in order to obtain the raw materials for his work.

Political life

At the start of the first century AD, Palestine was ruled by King Herod the Great in the name of the Romans. An Idumean by birth, his rule was marked by alternating acts of cruelty and kindness toward his people. It was he who funded the rebuilding of the Second Temple. At the same time, he built up the city of Caesarea on the coast to be a model Roman city, complete with pagan temples. Herod was very unpopular, and several stories of Herod's cruelty have reached us via Josephus. The Gospel of Matthew adds the incident of the massacre of the innocents in Bethlehem, though this is absent from every other historic or biblical record, and is thought to be a fabrication by many scholars.

After Herod's death, the regions of Palestine were combined under the rulership of a temporary procurator, Varus, who quelled rioting by putting thousands of Jews to death by crucifixion. After Varus, the territory was divided among Herod's sons: the southern part of the territory (Judea and Samaria) was given to Archelaus, who ruled under the title of ethnarch, while Herod Antipas received Galilee and the southern transJordan territories and Philip received the northern Transjordan. Archelaus antagonized the Jews as his father had, and in 6 a delegation was sent to Rome to request his removal. Augustus acceded to the demand by combining Judea and Samaria into the province of Palestina, under the rule of a line of Roman procurators, beginning with Coponius (6 - 9). The procurator who ruled from 26 to 36 was Pontius Pilate, whose rule, according to non-biblical sources was notoriously cruel and depraved.

Pilate's administration was marked by many antagonistic actions toward the Jews. Some have suggested that this was at the behest of Sejanus, who held was the strong man in Rome during much of Pilate's career. Sejanus certainly had an anti-Jewish cast to his politics. Sejanus died in 32, and Tiberius repealed most of the anti-Jewish policies instituted by Sejanus. Pilate was finally recalled to Rome for his excessive cruelty, at which point he vanished from proven historical sources.

Most Jews were desperately poor and resented having to pay tribute to Rome. Although Jews were relatively autonomous, ruled by a Jewish high priest and tetrarch, these officials were appointed by Rome and thus had questionable legitimacy. Talk of a restoration of the monarchy was seditious under Roman occupation, and thus during festivals, such as the Passover, the population swelled – and outbreaks of violence and riots were common. Maintaining the peace was one of the primary jobs of the high priest, and as a consequence the priest frequently had people arrested and sent to trial for treason.

Religious factions

During this time the religion of the Jews centered on the Temple in Jerusalem, but no particular form of Judaism was established as the predominant and correct one. Several movements arose among the leading Jews, with various opinions on the issues of the day. The Sadducees and the Pharisees were the most important, followed by the Essenes and the Zealots. Most Jews, of course, did not belong to any faction, but were more or less affected by the preaching of the various groups.

Sadducees

The Sadducees were primarily composed of aristocrats and priests and occupied most of the important posts in what self-government the Jews were permitted under the Romans. The Sanhedrin was largely, though not exclusively, populated by Sadducees. They tended to be disliked by the common people, partially because of their "collaboration" in the Roman occupation.

Religious beliefs of the Sadducees stressed the Hebrew Bible as the sole source of moral obligations. They rejected later doctrines such as the afterlife, angels, demons, and direct intervention of God in human history. When these traits were taken to the extreme, there was the danger of falling into skepticism.

The office of high priest was theoretically a life-long post. However, the Romans regularly deposed the high priests to make way for new leadership. Due to the manipulations of Annas, however, the temple remained in control of one family for most of the first century until it was destroyed. Annas was high priest from 7-11. His son-in-law Caiaphas was high priest from 18-22 and 24-36. His sons Eleazar (23-24), Jonathas (37), Theophilos (38-42), Matthias (42-44) and Ananias (63) all became high priests. The Gospel of John reports a separate trial of Jesus before Annas (in addition to the Sanhedrin), perhaps because many considered him to be the legitimate high priest.

Jews were required to offer sacrifices at the Temple three times a year: Passover, Sukkot, and Shavuot. Due to the large distances involved, many Jews did not complete all of these pilgrimages, though most attempted to do so. The Gospels report that Jesus' family made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem every year.

Pharisees

The groups of "scribes" and "lawyers" mentioned in the Bible come largely from the ranks of the Pharisees. The Pharisees, along with most of the people, resented Roman rule, but in the first half of the first century, they were not overtly political.

Pharisees accepted the various instructions and interpretations of the Hebrew Bible as binding, as well as many traditions that remained unwritten. Furthermore, they accepted many new doctrines, such as the resurrection of the dead, the last judgment, angels and demons.

Essenes

The third group, the Essenes, is never mentioned in the Bible. They were an ascetic group, which had split from the Pharisees, to live in small communities in isolation from the social life of the Jewish people. When the Romans under Titus came to destroy Jerusalem, some Essenes carefully sealed their writings into clay jars hidden in caves. These writings, which were discovered at Qumran between 1947 and 1956, are called the Dead Sea scrolls.

Zealots

The Zealots sought political freedom from the Romans through exercise of military force. The uprisings of 67 AD that led up to the destruction of the temple in 70 were under the leadership of the Zealots. It is still debated whether the Zealots were an active political force before the second half of the first century. No record exists narrating organized uprisings among the Jews of this time, though some of Pilate's acts against the Jews could well be in answer to seditious behavior. One of Jesus' Apostles, Simon, is given the attribute "the Zealot" in the Gospel of Luke.

Prophets and Messiahs

Moreover, many individuals claimed to speak for God, in the prophetic tradition of Isaiah and Jeremiah, or to be able to heal people, in the prophetic tradition of Elisha.

Many Messianic groups arose, claiming to have within their number, the true Messiah, saviour of Israel. One of the most noticable and successful was that of John the Baptist. Contrary to accounts in the bible, suggesting that John the Baptist led people to Jesus, many other historic sources suggest that followers of John the Baptist believed John the Baptist to be the Messiah. This point of view is also held by the Mandaeanists, a group descending from followers of John the Baptist, and still surviving today.

Many Jews hoped that the Romans would be replaced by a Jewish king (a Messiah) of the line of David – the last legitimate Jewish regime. However, Jews were divided over how this might occur. Most Jews believed that their history was governed by God, meaning that even the conquest of Roman Palestine by the Romans was a divine act. Therefore the Romans would be replaced by a Jewish king only through divine intervention; thus, the majority of Jews accepted Roman rule, and most groups did not preach revolt. However, some (primarily the Zealots) believed that the kingdom should be restored immediately, through violent human action.

Jesus and the religious groups

Many of Jesus' teachings coincided with the Pharisees, but the New Testament reports many disagreements with them. Most scholars believe that these were created by the evangelists and reflect more the situation between Christians and Jews after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, when Pharisaism emerged as the hegemonic form of Judaism. Jesus' primary complaint against the Pharisees in the Gospels is their hypocrisy, which Jews today consider an unfounded slander.

However, many of his teachings also echoed the beliefs of the Qumran community (which was probably a branch of the Essenes), which have lead some to suggest that Jesus himself was an Essene. The Essenes also practised a form of ritual bath, which has led many commentators to suggest that John the Baptist was also a member of the Essenes, or at least had significant contact with them.

Many scholars argue that it is likely that, like most Jews, Jesus believed that the restoration of the monarchy would be accomplished by divine means, not by any movement of the Zealot kind. However, he did believe that this restoration was imminent.

The Gospel of Mark (largely thought amongst scholars to be the earliest of the canonical Gospels) frequently uses of the term Son of man , also found in apocalyptic works such as the second half of the Book of Daniel, has lead some 20th century Biblical scholars (for example, Bart Ehrmen), to think that Jesus originally preached apocalyptic Judaism. However, the term Son of man is generally thought to have been a 3rd person self-referencing device (such as "one ought not to ...."), which is the use it takes elsewhere in Jewish writing. (More information about the intended meaning of the term Son of Man can be found in the article Son of Man).

After the 1st Jewish Revolt

After the destruction of the Temple in 70, the Zealots committed suicide, and the Sadducees, and Essenes disappeared.??????WHY??????. The Pharisees developed into the later forms of Judaism.

Originally the intent of Jesus' followers was to preach to the Jews. Some but not all requirements were removed, as it was felt that the new emphasis was on faith and not detailed laws. Thus there were 'Jewish Christians', Jews who believed in Jesus as the foretold Messiah. When the Jews as a community rejected this, the Christian message was taken to the gentiles instead. To make it palatable, and draw a line separating them from the Jews (who were by now becoming politically dangerous associates) many more of the restrictive laws were removed and the emphasis was shifted.

The mesage that reached the gentiles was therefore a more universal one, in the sense that it was easier to digest, its appeal was more emotional than legalistic, and it did not contain many of the practices beliefs and rituals by which the Jews kept themselves separate from others. It was during this period, many scholars argue, that Christians transformed the meaning of the word messiah to be universal and divine, rather than particular and human.