The importance behind understanding religious doctrine from first centuries B.C. and A.D. lay with comprehending the stance each specific group or individual held during that time period. For instance, Christianity is centered on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; the major theme of the Gospels. By attempting to grasp the culture’s point of view from that era we should be able to bridge the gap between their interpretation of religion and our modern day interpretation. Besides the religious aspects of comprehension, there are political attitudes intertwined that cannot be dismissed or overlooked. Whether factions were looking for favor with Rome or within their own community, the political facet is equally as strong when understanding first century B.C. and A.D. religion. …show more content…
Culture, language, politics, and religion are just a few of them. As a result, different factions, all vying for control and power became prominent in the land of Israel. Scribes, members of Israel’s elite, who were once “mere copyist of Scripture…became experts in and teachers of the Law” From their closeness to the Law, they most likely came from the faction Pharisee (Blomberg, 2009, p. 47). The Pharisees were the Law keepers. That is, their intent was educating people how and why they should follow the Torah. They “developed the so-called oral laws” which the Sadducees rejected adding to their opposition of each other. The Sadducees were the aristocrats of society, supporters of the Hellenization of Israel due to the financial promise and Roman influence gained by advocating conformity (p. 50). Rounding out the political powers were the Herodians. This group wished to have another Herod type king sitting on the throne in Judea. As the Pharisees wanted to restore the kingdom of David, you can see that these two were diametrically