NEW TESTAMENT BACKGROUND

AN ASSIGNMENT WRITTEN IN PARTIAL

FULFILLMENT OF THE COURSE WORK IN
NEW TESTAMENT BACKGROUND

APRIL, 2023 CONTACT

--------------
Assignment:
Question 1a: Describe how Herod the Great placated Roman
interests and also kept his Jewish province prosperous.

1b: Herod the Great s reign was one of terror .Mt 2 vs 1-22. An
angel warned Joseph in a dream to flee from Herod. Discuss how as
Christians, the Holy Spirit saves us from danger.

Question 2a: The early Christians lived in a world

dominated by the Roman Imperial cult. Discuss the
conflict they faced on account of this.

2b: How have you fared and will fare in circumstances

where you have been confronted with issues contrary to
our faith .

Question 1a: Describe how Herod the Great placated Roman

interests and also kept his Jewish province prosperous.

Who was Herod the great?

Herod the Great was a subservient client king to the Roman Empire
and on the other hand he was a brutal and calculating politician
who forever changed the landscape of Judea through his rule.

First of all, even though Herod eventually became king of Judea,

Herod was actually not a Judean. Jews get their lineage from their
mothers side and his mother was Arabian. He thus hailed from the
descendants of the Edomites one of Israel’s ancient neighbours to
the South East who had been forcibly converted to Judaism by the
Hasmoneans a dynasty that ruled the region following the
Maccabean revolt a century before. He was raised in a family that
had adopted Jewish customs and eventually rose to a position of
power under the Hasmoneans. In 63 BC when the Romans toppled
the Hasmonean dynasty which cleared the stage for his rise.
Herod’s father was already a high-ranking official and had allied
himself with the Romans; and because of these Connections Herod
was appointed the governor of Galilee in 47 BC when he was only in
his 20s.

He rose to being King of Judea by exploiting the geopolitics between

two superpowers Parthia and Rome at the time; the Parthians were
the most pressing enemy of the Romans they were the successors of
the Persian Empire and had moved westward in the period following
the disintegration of Alexander the great’s empire in 40 BC. the
Parthians overtook Jerusalem attempting to reinstate the
Hasmonean dynasty. They installed their own Hasmonean king of
Judea thinking that the populace would more easily accept a
Hasmonean king but Herod’s family Connections with the Roman
politician Marc Anthony aided him in getting help from the Roman
Senate who named him king of the Jews. He returned to Judea with
the backing of the Roman army to oust the Parthians.
HEROD, FRIEND OF THE ROMANS

The key to Herod’s success as posed by the question, lay in his

commitment to Roman power and his ability to maintain his
alliances with Rome throughout the political turbulence of the age.
Herod, for instance, chose the wrong side in the civil war between
Mark Antony and Octavian Caesar. Herod initially sided with Mark
Antony, who had been the dominant Roman figure in the eastern
provinces after the death of Julius Caesar. But when Octavian
defeated Antony and it became clear that Octavian would become
master of the Roman world, Herod switched his loyalties and went
to Octavian in person.

In summary, Herod was an expert at political chess play and was

willing to display extreme loyalty to the Romans to enjoy continuous
protection and favour from them for his kingdom. This disposition
was what placated the Romans who gave him free hand to rule and
prosper in his reign.

PROSPERITY OF THE JEWISH PROVINCE UNDER HEROD THE

GREAT’S REIGN.

Herod was a capable leader; Josephus tells us that he was a skilled

general consistently winning the battles he engaged in and he was
even an expert warrior himself super skilled with both the bow and
the javelin. He was therefore able to maintain his territory from
invaders. He was active in infrastructural developments for the
jewish society at the time.

It is recorded also that during a period of famine and disease

around 30 BC he managed to create various programmes to dole
out food to the sick and old. He also leveraged his political
Connections in Egypt to send aid to Judea.

His success and influence as a ruler can be seen through his

ambitious building projects which were inspired by the
architectural renaissance of the city of Rome during the time of
Augustus.

Herod commissioned a number of monumental building

projects with the aim of demonstrating his loyalty to Rome and so
as to secure his own power over Judea.

He oversaw the construction of an impressive artificial

harbour at Caesarea built directly into open water he also built a
palace fortress at Masada constructing fancy buildings on different
terraces cut into the rock face .

The construction of new Roman style cities by Herod the great,

bolstered his Connections to Rome and demonstrated his loyalty to
the emperor. The constructed facilities also helped bolster trade and
thus brought economic advancement to his kingdom.

THE SECOND TEMPLE

Perhaps the most notable achievement of Herod the great was that
he rebuilt the Second Temple on an extraordinarily grand scale. He
doubled the size of the temple mount. Before Herod, the Second
Temple was relatively small and unspectacular. He had the existing
temple torn apart and redone.

Herod proceeded carefully in this respect so that only ritually-pure

workers and priests worked on the construction itself. The project
was carried out to win the support of his Jewish populace, and
Herod was careful not to offend their religious sensibilities. The end
result was the architectural highlight of all Judea.

Herod was obviously a master at the game of politics. He knew how

to balance the opposing interests that existed at the time whilst
gaining maximum advantage. His personal character and
reputation was far from admirable leading to his dreadfull and
horrific end.

1b: Herod the great’s reign was one of terror .Mt 2 vs 1-22. An
angel warned Joseph in a dream to flee from Herod. Discuss
how as Christians, the Holy Spirit saves us from danger.

The Holy Spirit saves us as Christians from danger when he speaks

to us either from scripture or from the inner witness of the spirit
man to do something or refrain from doing something. We see this
happening a lot in scripture when Noah was forewarned to flee from
the danger of the floods, The Patriarchs always seemed to flee from
places of Famine except in cases where God expressly asked them
to remain.

Joseph was asked to flee from Herod, the early church all fled from
Jerusalem on account of persecution. Ananias was scared to go to
Paul on account of being in danger.

Christians have had a long tradition of fleeing from danger as

much as it is God’s will so to do.

In my life, I recall personal testimonies of how the Holy Spirit has

asked me to look in a direction only to find a scorpion lurking very
close to me with the potential to cause me harm.

I also recall situations where I have been asked not to travel out of
town by the man of God especially during the spate of kidnappings
in the Nigerian society today only to find out that killings and
kidnappings occurred on the route.

The Holy Spirit speaks to us by guidance from our spiritual

fathers, spiritual parents, scripture, etc.

It is our duty to respond and to listen and obey when God speaks
in such a manner. It is not a time for bravado , neither is it a time
to prove God’s power and tempt the Lord our God in such
situations. Whenever the Holy Spirit says “Flee”, we Christians
must flee danger and dangerous circumstances. This should be
differentiated from circumstances where we may have to suffer pain
for what we believe; in such situations God wants us as Christians
to rejoice and be glad that we suffer on His account.
Question 2a: The early Christians lived in a world
dominated by the Roman Imperial cult. Discuss the
conflict they faced on account of this.

THE RISE OF THE ROMAN IMPERIAL CULTS

Imperial cults also known as “emperor worship” was so important

to the inhabitants of the Roman Empire. This was not a strange
situation because other contemporary society at the time like the
Egyptians worshipped their Pharaohs who were considered as
divine kings.

The Greeks also worshipped Alexander the Great who was

considered as a God of the Greeks; it was therefore Caesar’s idea in
Rome to link the state cult and other ruler cults. Imperial Cults
developed fully and flourished under Augustus Ceasar.

The main supporter of the imperial cult was the Roman

administrative system. The imperial cult became the routine
expression of allegiance to the state and the monarchy under
Augustus Caesar.

The purpose of imperial cults where to worship and honour the

emperor during his reign or after his death. Emperors in Rome
could be declared Divus after their deaths elevating them to the
level of gods or demigods.
The worship of these imperial cults involved the usage of temples,
shrines, altars, images, sacrifices, priests, processions, feasts, oaths
of loyalty and obedience, hymns, poems, prayers, incense and
contests in athletics, music and imperial encomiums.

Expressions of worship usually took place in state festivals

households or other social gatherings. These cultss were promoted
by provincial elites.

The major purpose of imperial cults was to unify the empire around
the figure of the emperor.

EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH CONFLICTS WITH IMPERIAL CULT

There are several echoes of the imperial cult in the gospels the first
comes in Mark chapter 12 from verse 1 to 17 where the Pharisees
and herodians tried to trick Jesus into taking sides with Rome or
Jerusalem in the matter of paying taxes to Caesar.

Jesus’s response was more or less TO THE EFFECT that we must

render to God the things that are Gods and divinity belong to God
alone and not Caesar.

During the period of the early church several emperors arose,

according themselves with divinity. Domitian was the first emperor
to have himself officially titled in Rome as “God the Lord” he
insisted that other people hail his greatness with acclamations like
“Lord of the earth”, “Invincible” “Glory” “Holy” and “Thou alone”
This order asking people to give him divine honours were resisted
by the Jews as well as Christians because it was antithetical to
their beliefs and faith.

Other emperors like Septimus Severus 193-211 AD under whose

reign the dramatic martyrdom of Perpetua and her servant Felicitas
occurred.

Other church fathers like Clement of Alexandria also perished

under his persecution.

Emperor Decius who reigned from 249 AD to 251AD Sought to

strengthen the Roman society by awakening devotion to deified
Roman rulers.

Monotheistic Christians resisted it, refusing to compromise, thus

giving rise to the first ever empire wide persecution of Christians.

Decius expected Christians to perform one Pagan religious

observance which when undertaken, Christians would receive a
certificate of sacrifice (libellus) and will thus be cleared of suspicion
of undermining the religious unity of the empire.

As expected many christians refused to compromise and died as a

result.

In scriptures, we read about the martyrdom of Steven, James the

brother of Christ and many other disciples who were persecuted
because they would not be conformed to any form of devotion to the
imperial cults of their day.
 The conflicts faced by Christians in a world dominated by the
Roman imperial cult is summarised here under

 They were pressured into acceptance that other gods existed

except the one true and living God at the risk of loosing their
lives.
 This situation meant that they were further alienated from
family and society because of what they believed.
 The lack of separation between state and religion meant that
their refusal to participate in religious ceremonies was equated
to be rebellion against the state and a treasonable offence.
 They paid the ultimate price of death for not compromising
their faith.

2b: How have you fared and will fare in circumstances

where you have been confronted with issues contrary
to our faith .

In circumstances where I have been confronted with issues contrary

to my faith, sometimes I have stood for what I believed and sadly
some other times I have failed to stand.
The times that I stood for what I believed I find that I grew in my
convictions and deepened my relationship with God and realized in
retrospect that at the end of it all, it was better that I did not
compromise.
Standing for what I believe is an ongoing journey that has been on
as I recall, from as far back as being in the university and refusing
to engage myself in exam malpractices. Many of my colleagues at
the time felt that I was a wicked person hiding under the guise of
Christianity.

In my family also, I recall that I have faced issues contrary to my

faith. On one occasion when I was asked to be part of the activities
in respect of the investiture of the traditional Igwe title on my uncle.
My refusal to be involved alienated me from my mother's family, a
situation that has continued till date. To make matters worse I
decided not to wear the customary burial cloth that all the
grandchildren wore on my grandmother's burial day. I recall that
my cousin whom we hold in very high regard was exasperated upon
seeing me turn up for the occasion without my Burial “asoebi”. The
entire relationship went on the downhill trend from there on till
today.

To make matters even worse I don’t happen to be the shining

success that almost everyone has become in my family. The said
success being measured by material acquisitions.

I am consoled upon the realization that the early Church faced

similar challenges and I am inspired by their resilience. I hope to
face future challenges on my faith with greater resolve to be
uncompromising.
REFERENCES
1. The Bible – NKJV, KJV, ESV.
2. https://www.google.com/search?
q=impperial+cults+and+how+the+early+church+was+affected&
rlz=1C1GCEA_enNG1020NG1021&oq=impperial+cults+and+h
ow+the+early+church+was+
+affected&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i546i649l2j0i546.19180j0j15&
sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#bsht=CgVic2hocBIECAQwAQ
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod_the_Great
4. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-15.html
5. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Herod-king-of-
Judaea
6. https://study.com/academy/lesson/king-herod-history-reign-
death.html
7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs17NtcK5KQ
8. https://www.youtube.com/results?
search_query=who+was+herod+the+great
9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdaLAv4zqFU&t=75
10. https://www.academia.edu/250713/
Imperial_Cult_and_Christianity_How_and_to_What_Extent_We
re_the_Imperial_Cult_and_Emperor_Worship_thought_to_Prese
rve_Stability_in_the_Roman_World
11. https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/
document/obo-9780195393361/obo-9780195393361-
0030.xml
12. https://digitalcommons.calvin.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1002&context=religion_beets
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_imperial_cult
14. https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/
9789047416074/B9789047416074_s012.xml
15. https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/
persecution-in-early-church-galle