Keith takes the time to examine the period of church history appearing shortly before the time of Christ. He reviews opening pages of a book: A history of the Christian Church, written by Williston Walker . It was first printed in 1918, with a copy Keith has in 1970. There have been several printings in between, but it’s not known if it still in print.
Broadly speaking, the first part covers early church history through the Gnostic crisis. Specifically, Keith examines the general climate of the time within 200 years of the birth of Christ.
While Rome controlled an overarching unity over all the lands that controlled, the sitting is the type of government that had the most impact on a daily life of the various nationalities and cultures.
Besides the governmental structure, there was a variety of cultural infrastructure and localized religion, the variety of secular religions include beliefs about the cosmos, beliefs about supernatural an afterlife, salvation Colts and philosophy.
In those days philosophy was not an academic or abstract study. It was a serious way to try to interpret what we know about the world around us. Several schools of thought existed. The Epicureans, the Stoics in Plato. Each had their own ideas on the purpose of life, and seeking pleasure. Some are very distinct and different, and many of their ideas are still in effect by various groups of people today.
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