What is the Gospel of Judas and why is it important in understanding the early church? Read more to find out. An interview with Professor Charles W. Hedrick on the discovery of the gnostic Gospel of Judas, the translation of which was first published in 2006. Read More
In ancient Rome, social class was everything. It determined a person’s rights, privileges and opportunities. The Roman Empire had a class structure based on wealth, birth, and citizenship. At the very top of Roman society was the emperor, who was considered the empire’s “first citizen.” Some emperors even… Read More
Two things never change – death and taxes. The Roman Empire was not an exception. Read about what taxes financed and who collected taxes in the Roman Empire. Though many peoples and cultures contributed to the cultural life in Palestine in Jesus’ day, the Romans were by far… Read More
The Roman Empire used local rulers to maintain order in the regions they conquered. Find out who these leaders were and what authority they had. Roman policy was to respect local customs and the laws of the peoples they ruled. They let local people form councils to control local… Read More
Everything in changes. In the years before Roman rule, Palestine changed frequently. Find out what these changes were and how they affected New Testament society. The centuries leading up to Jesus’ birth were not politically stable in the area known as Palestine. The Jewish people who returned to Judah… Read More
When the Jews returned to their homeland after the exile things changed. Find out about the factors that influenced the Jews after they returned to Judea. In Babylon The Bible provides little information about the years in the sixth century B.C. when many of the Israelite people lived in exile… Read More
In Genesis God promised to give Abraham land for his descendents. Although it took hundreds of years, Abraham’s descendents finally returned to the land. Read about the important events that occurred while the Israelites occupied the Promised Land. Moses led the people of Israel in the desert for forty years… Read More
Context is important. Find out how the social, religious and political context of Israel influenced biblical events and literature. Hundreds of years before the people of Israel took over the land known as Canaan, their ancestors came from Mesopotamia, a land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers far to the… Read More
