Book Reviewed: A History of New Testament Times in Palestine, 175 B.C. – 70 A.D. by Shailer Mathews

New Testament and ancient Israel

This book condenses the history of ancient Israel during the times of New Testament. It covers a vast amount of literature in a small volume, and the text does not contain any references to original articles that would help readers verify the accuracy of the historical facts. The author jumps from one political event to another too quickly without focusing on the historical, religious and cultural ramifications.

A brief summary of the history of the pre-Christian times in the Middle East is as follows: Judaism first appears in Greek records during the Hellenistic period (323 BCE – 31 BCE) as a religion, and Hebrew literature narrates the story of Judaic population back much further to 1200 BCE. The Jewish diaspora began with the Assyrian conquest and continued on a much larger scale with the Babylonian conquest. Jews were also widespread throughout the Roman Empire, and this carried on to a lesser extent in the period of Byzantine rule in the central and eastern Mediterranean. Antiochus IV Epiphanes imposed laws banning certain Jewish religious rites and traditions. Consequently, the orthodox Jews revolted under the leadership of the Hasmonean family (also known as the Maccabees). This revolt eventually led to the formation of an independent Jewish kingdom, known as the Hasmonaean Dynasty, which lasted from 165 BCE to 63 BCE. When Hebrews wanted to be governed by Jewish rabbis, Roman campaign to conquer Judea soon followed by the Roman General Pompey in 63 BCE, and reorganized as a client state. Later, Herod the Great was appointed "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate, supplanting the Hasmonean dynasty. The empire was harsh in its treatment of its Jewish subjects. In 66 CE, the Jews revolted against the Roman rulers of Judea. In the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE, the Romans destroyed the Tabernacle.

In Ancient Rome, religion was an integral part of government and the Senate's declaration that Julius Caesar was god ruling the Earth. Hence, Romans demanded colonial population in the Roman Empire to recognize this fact. This was challenging the religious beliefs of minorities like Jews, Mithras (Mithraism, is a religion that worshiped God Mithras that was a viable in Roman Empire from about the 1st to the 4th century CE.,) Sabazios (the religion of Phrygians and Thracians,) Belism (worship of Mesopotamian God Bel in Roman city of Palmyra) and Christians. Jews were especially threatened since they followed the teachings of the holy book of Tanakh (Pentateuch) and did not comply with Roman decree.

After the Jewish-Roman wars (66-135 CE), Hadrian changed the name of Judaea province to Syria Palaestina; and Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina, to erase the Jewish ties to the region. From 70 CE, Jews were allowed to practice their religion if they paid the Jewish tax, and after 135 CE, they were barred from Jerusalem except for the day of Tisha B'Av. Centuries later, the Roman Empire embraced Christianism as its religion with the Edict of Thessalonica in 380 CE. Before this, in 313 CE, Emperor Constantine I issued the Edict of Milan, which granted religious freedom for Christians.