If God wanted Jesus to really change humanity and show us the grace of God, why did he manifest as Jesus in a time period with such weak communications and ability to record things?
If Jesus was required in that time period, why have we not seen a new prophet or messiah? We live in a time where Christianity (and religion in general) is declining.
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Re: Time period of Jesus' life
by jimwalton » Sun Aug 27, 2017 7:18 am
All such dialogue is speculative at best, but it can still be fun. Let's try.
1. It was the only era (since 586 BC) that the Temple existed. It doesn't even exist in our modern era. The Temple played into various of Jesus' teachings, illustrations, and parables. It also played an important role in the crucifixion scene: the possible slaying of the Passover Lamb just at the point of his death (3 p.m), and the veil being torn. These are items of high symbolism for OT-NT correlation.
2. For that matter, the existence of Jerusalem as the center of Judaistic practice. Dragged into exile in 586, partially restored (but weakly) in about 445 BC, smacked down by Antiochus Epiphanes and the Maccabean revolt, but finally gloriously rebuilt by Herod the Great. It was a golden era for Judaism, a ripe environment for a Messiah who would confront empty ritualistic practices with a new covenant written on the heart.
3. A primo time of the Roman Empire, allowing enhanced communication through common languages, free travel, and relative safety. It was a comfortable time for a message to spread freely in and between Asia, Africa, and Europe.
While other eras of the future offered far more historiographical tools and communication technology, the convergence of Temple, Judaism, and Rome were blockbusters that have even to this day not been repeated.
And while literacy rate was low (but possibly higher in Palestine where the Jewish culture valued being able to read the Torah), and written works were limited, we still have enough written records to faithfully reconstruct the life and teaching of Jesus. Even in our era of sneaky and sometimes imperceptible digital editing, one can't necessarily trust the written or the video word.
That's my two cents.
> If Jesus was required in that time period, why have we not seen a new prophet or messiah?
Jesus was God's final and complete revelation. He was God Himself in the flesh. Nothing more needed to be said.
> Christianity (and religion in general) is declining.
This isn't true. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_population_growth says Christianity is on the rise.
1. It was the only era (since 586 BC) that the Temple existed. It doesn't even exist in our modern era. The Temple played into various of Jesus' teachings, illustrations, and parables. It also played an important role in the crucifixion scene: the possible slaying of the Passover Lamb just at the point of his death (3 p.m), and the veil being torn. These are items of high symbolism for OT-NT correlation.
2. For that matter, the existence of Jerusalem as the center of Judaistic practice. Dragged into exile in 586, partially restored (but weakly) in about 445 BC, smacked down by Antiochus Epiphanes and the Maccabean revolt, but finally gloriously rebuilt by Herod the Great. It was a golden era for Judaism, a ripe environment for a Messiah who would confront empty ritualistic practices with a new covenant written on the heart.
3. A primo time of the Roman Empire, allowing enhanced communication through common languages, free travel, and relative safety. It was a comfortable time for a message to spread freely in and between Asia, Africa, and Europe.
While other eras of the future offered far more historiographical tools and communication technology, the convergence of Temple, Judaism, and Rome were blockbusters that have even to this day not been repeated.
And while literacy rate was low (but possibly higher in Palestine where the Jewish culture valued being able to read the Torah), and written works were limited, we still have enough written records to faithfully reconstruct the life and teaching of Jesus. Even in our era of sneaky and sometimes imperceptible digital editing, one can't necessarily trust the written or the video word.
That's my two cents.
> If Jesus was required in that time period, why have we not seen a new prophet or messiah?
Jesus was God's final and complete revelation. He was God Himself in the flesh. Nothing more needed to be said.
> Christianity (and religion in general) is declining.
This isn't true. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_population_growth says Christianity is on the rise.
Last bumped by Anonymous on Sun Aug 27, 2017 7:18 am.
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