The New Testament was written by Christians who lived in the Roman Empire, so their writings were significantly shaped by Greco-Roman culture. The New Testament reflects both the brutality and dignity of the Roman world and the customs and beliefs of people inhabiting it. According to Powell (2018), in the New Testament, the worlds of Christians, Jews, and Romans overlap. Therefore, to understand the Biblical writings, one should know how Romans lived and what they valued and feared.
One example of Greco-Roman customs reflected in the New Testament is the punishment for adultery. The Bible describes that Pharisees brought “a woman taken in adultery” to Jesus and said, “Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned” (King James Bible, 1611, John 8:3-5). Such a cruel punishment for infidelity — being pelted with stones to death — was imposed only on women in the Roman Empire. The reason for such strict regulations of upper-class women’s behavior was to make sure that children born to such women were legitimate (Jeffers, 1999). In contrast, men could freely have affairs with lower-class women and slaves, and it was not considered adultery.
Another example of the Greco-Roman influence on the New Testament writings is the mention of circumcision. In his commandments to churches, Paul said, “Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised” (King James Bible, 1611, 1 Cor. 7:18). Paul’s had to address circumcision in his speech because this practice was common among Jews who used it to stress their difference from anyone else (Byler, 2016). Affected by the Greek culture, some Jewish men underwent surgeries to conceal that they were circumcised (Powell, 2018). To address the issue of circumcision, Paul taught that it was not important whether one was circumcised or uncircumcised; what mattered was obeying the commandments of God.
The third example of the influence of the Greco-Roman culture on the New Testament is the mention of idols. Paul preached, “Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry” (King James Bible, 1611, 1 Cor. 10:14). It was his response to Gentile Christians who worshipped God by engaging in their old religious practices involving idols (Byler, 2016). This example shows that adopting Christianity was not simple for those with a different religious background because their old beliefs and practices interfered with new ones.
References
Byler, D. (2016). “Flee from the worship of idols”: Becoming Christian in Roman Corinth. Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, 17(1), 37-70.
Jeffers, J. S. (1999). The Greco-Roman world of the New Testament era: Exploring the background of early Christianity. IVP Academic.
King James Bible. (1611).
Powell, M. A. (2018). Introducing the New Testament: A historical, literary, and theological survey (2nd ed.). Baker Academic.