The Fullness of Time (Part 6)

The History of Christianity #8 

Our quote today is from C. S. Lewis. He said, "History is a story written by the finger of God." 

Today, we are discussing "The Fullness of Time" (Part 6) from Justo L. Gonzalez's fine book, The Story of Christianity (Volume 1). 

Diaspora Judaism: For centuries before the birth of Jesus, the number of Jews living outside of Palestine had been increasing. Dating back to the Old Testament times there were numerous Jews in Persia and Mesopotamia. In Egypt, they had even built a temple in the seventh century BCE, and another five centuries later. By the time of Jesus, there were sizable Jewish communities in every major city in the Roman Empire. These Jews, scattered far and wide, but with strong emotional and religious connections with the land of their ancestors, are called the Diaspora or Dispersion. 

Diaspora Judaism is of crucial importance for the history of Christianity, for it was one of the main avenues through which the new faith expanded throughout the Roman Empire. Furthermore, Diaspora Judaism unwittingly provided the church with one of the most useful tools of its missionary expansion, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. 

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