Discipleship Journey: Phase #1- The Beginning (Step #2- How to Study the Bible)- Part 3

Alright, once you have picked a Bible, now it is time to open it.

Now, most books we read, we read from the beginning to the end. From left to right.

What you need to know about the Bible is it is actually a collection of books. When you hold the Bible, you are actually holding a library of books in your hand. 66 books to be exact.

Now, it may sound counterintuitive, but I would actually start with the second book of the New Testament called "Mark.”

Before you dive into the Old Testament or get too far in the New Testament, I first want you to get aquatinted with Jesus.

There are three worlds that you must have a little background about before diving into Mark: The Roman world, the Greek world, and the Jewish world.

The Roman World:

“Rome provided the larger governmental, military, and legal context of early Christians.” (1) Jesus was living in the 1st century. He was living in a world that was dominated by Rome. Pompey had conquered Palestine in 63 BCE, which means that at the time of Jesus’ birth, Rome ruled the Jewish homeland.

Now, there is a lot more we could say about that, but that is a good start.

The Greek World:

“Greek influences were predominant in language, education, literature, and philosophy at the beginning of Christianity.” (2) While the world was dominated by Rome, they thought like the Greeks.

Everyone spoke Greek. The culture was Greek. And everywhere you looked you saw signs of the Greek gods and thought. Jesus was born into a world that was swimming in Greek philosophy.

Again, we could say a lot more about that, but let’s begin with that.

The Jewish World:

Jesus was born to Jewish parents. Jesus’ first disciples were Jewish. He was born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth (both Jewish communities), most of his ministry was in Galilee (a Jewish region), and he was crucified in Jerusalem (the center of Judaism and where the Temple was).

The Jews did not like being under Roman rule. In fact, they hated it. They were constantly revolting against Rome. Because of this tension, Palestine was a tinderbox, always on verge of chaos.

The Jews of the 1st century may have spoke Greek, but they thought in Hebrew…namely the Hebrew Scriptures (or as we call it, the Old Testament).

It might be good before you dive into Mark to do a quick Google search of The Roman World, the Jewish World and the Greek World of the 1st century and see what you can find. It will give you a little background as you start reading.

Happy Studying!

Paul

(1) & (2)- Church History: Volume 1- From Christ to Pre-Reformation: The Rise and Growth of the Church in Its Cultural, Intellectual, and Political Context by Everett Ferguson.