History, Culture, and Religion of the Hellenistic Age

Helmut Koester

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9783110146936
• eBook ISBN:
  9783110814064
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Ancient Religion

While the first American edition of this book, published more than a decade ago, was a revised translation of the German book, Einführung in das Neue Testament, this second edition of the first volume of the Introduction to the New Testament is no longer dependent upon a previously published German work. The author hopes that for the student of the New Testament it is a useful introduction into the many complex aspects of the political, cultural, and religious developments that characterized the world in which early Christianity arose and by which the New Testament and other early Christian writings were shaped.

Table of contents

• Illustrations
• Preface to the Second Edition
• Preface
• Abbreviations; Serial and Journal Titles
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• § 1 HISTORICAL SURVEY
• 1. Greece and the Ancient Mediterranean Before Alexander
• 2. Alexander the Great
• 3. The Diadochi and the Formation of their Empires
• 4. The Empires and States of the Hellenistic World Prior to the Roman Conquest
• 5. Political Ideology and Ruler Cult
• § 2 SOCIETY AND ECONOMICS
• 1. Hellenism and Hellenization
• 2. The Basic Structures of Administration and Economy
• 3. The Society
• 4. The Hellenistic City
• 5. Agriculture
• 6. Manufacturing and Industry
• 7. Trade, Monetary Systems, and Banking
• § 3 EDUCATION, LANGUAGE, AND LITERATURE
• 1. Basic Features of Cultural and Intellectual Life
• 2. The Language
• 3. The Sciences
• 4. Literature
• § 4 PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION
• 1. The Philosophical Schools and Philosophical Religion
• 2. The Spirit of the Hellenistic Age
• 3. The Development of Greek Religion
• 4. The New Religions
• § 5 THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL IN THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD
• 1. The History of the Israelite People to the Roman Conquest
• 2. Diversity in the Religion of Israel
• 3. The Literature of Hellenistic Israel
• § 6 THE ROMAN EMPIRE AS THE HEIR OF HELLENISM
• 1. The Development of Rome into a World Power
• 2. The Roman Empire to the End of the “Golden Age”
• 3. Administration and Economy
• 4. Roman Culture and Hellenism
• 5. The Religions of the Roman Imperial Period
• 6. Palestine and Judaism in the Roman Period
• Index of Names and Places
• Index of Writings
• Short Titles of Works Often Cited