Living in the First World Century - Wednesday Winter Qtr 2019-20
Aliens and Strangers
With some understanding now of the cultural context in which the first Christians lived, perhaps we can appreciate more the challenges they navigated as they followed Jesus in a world that truly viewed them as “aliens and strangers”. Think about what living life in the first century meant for them.
SEX IN THE ROMAN WORLD
Living in the First Century World #10 As to every other aspect of life, Christianity spoke into the sexual culture of the first century—and what was spoken, again like almost every other encounter, was a word from the Lord that challenged accepted norms and practices— and that was because the sexual culture within the Roman Empire was wide open: In many ways,…
WOMEN IN THE ROMAN WORLD
During the first century Roman world, women were in no way considered equal to men—being systematically regulated to certain well-defined roles. There were variations within this system due to social standing, wealth and other factors, but for the most part in the Roman culture the woman’s main role was to marry (usually very young), have numerous children (due to the…
Worship
Consider a couple of citations from two quite different sources concerning worship practices in the first/second century church.
They were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternative verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud,…
Christian Identity and Community in the Roman Empire
Even though Christianity began as a rural movement (Christ emerging from the agricultural region of Galilee; Peter a small-town fisherman, etc.), the real growth and spread of Christianity came in the large Roman cities. Christianity, lived out in faith, in these large, close-quartered cities such…
The Eagle and the Cross
The majority of the book of Acts plays out against the backdrop of the gospel intersecting, impacting and often changing the surrounding Roman-dominated culture. One example is detailed in Acts 19:23-41 where the proclamation of the gospel had a negative economic impact on artisans and merchants who crafted and sold household idols. They lost enough business as a result…
FIRST CENTURY PALESTINE
While Rome ruled the world Jesus was born into his daily life–along with the Jews in Palestine–was a bit removed from that seat of power. Certainly the Roman influence was felt in Nazareth, Jerusalem and throughout Israel, but the Jewish culture and religion dominated locally. This often created culture wars between Rome and Jerusalem and Palestine became infamous as a…
THE ROMAN EMPIRE
To understand the first century world and therefore to have a clearer background of the setting of the New Testament it is imperative to be informed about its context–the Roman imperial world. The New Testament is foremost the divine revelation of God, but it is also history and to better grasp the message of the revelation some knowledge of this history is crucial. The…