Religions and Philosophies in Bible Times

Both the faith of Israel and the faith of the early Christians developed in cultural contexts rich in other religious traditions. The people of Israel encountered religions with many similar beliefs and rituals in Palestine and Egypt. Christianity came into being as one among many religions and philosophies spread around the Mediterranean world by merchants and soldiers.

The People of Israel and Canaanite Religions

The people of Israel believed in one God. This belief is known as “monotheism.” Many of the other religions in the ancient Mediterranean world recognized a number of different gods. When the Israelite people entered Canaan well over one thousand years before Jesus was born, they came into contact with the various gods of their neighbors. The Law of Moses commanded God's people to remain loyal to the one true God, Yahweh, who had led them out of slavery in Egypt and into the Promised Land of Canaan (Exod 20.1-5). Once they settled there, they were often tempted to follow the other gods, and often did.

The Gods of Israel's Neighbors

Among the Canaanites, one of the most common names for god was El. The Canaanites did not believe that El was the only god, but they did believe that El was the one who ruled over all the other gods. They believed El was the creator of the universe and the kind, compassionate father of the whole human race. El was worshiped in Palestine before the Israelites took over the land. In the Jewish Scriptures, “El” also frequently refers to the God of Israel. Some examples of the use of this name are found in the Old Testament.

Names of God

Enemies of El

Some of the enemies of El were known as Yamm (the sea), Mot (death) and Leviathan (the sea monster). See Psalm 104.26 and Isaiah 27.1.

Baal

Another name for a god in the ancient Near East was Baal, which means “master,” “husband,” and “lord.” Baal was worshiped by the Canaanites as a god of fertility who ensured good and abundant crops. Baal was also connected to storms that came into Syria and Palestine from the sea in the winter and early spring. Since rain was essential for the growth of crops, people believed that the storms that came from the sea were powerful gods. Some ancient people believed that parts of nature itself were filled with god-like spirits, so they worshiped things like trees, rivers, fountains, and caves.

Goddesses

Some people in the ancient world believed goddesses provided fertility for crops and flocks and helped human beings to have children. The Canaanite goddess Asherah, who was also known as Astarte, was pictured as the mother of the gods. She was identified as the wife of El. Manasseh, a king of Judah, had a carved image of Asherah placed in the temple of the lord in Jerusalem (2 Kgs 21.4-7). The term Asherah was also used for sacred poles that were put up in the temple as symbols of fertility (1 Kgs 14.23; 16.33).

Anat

The goddess Anat was also a fertility goddess. She was famous for performing acts of violence against those who opposed her. An important city in Israel, Anathoth, was named for her (Josh 21.9-19; Jer 1.1; 11.21). This means that she was probably worshiped in this town at an earlier time. Even during the time when Nehemiah (about 445 B.C.) was helping restore Israel to the land and reminding the people to practice God’s Law after the exile in Babylon, the city's name remained Anathoth (Neh 7.26-38; 11.32).

Moab and Philistine Gods

The Philistine people who lived in the narrow strip of land between Judah and the Mediterranean Sea often battled with Israel. Their chief god was Dagon (1 Sam 5.1-5). The people of Moab, another of Israel's enemies when the Israelites were settling in Canaan, worshiped the god named Chemosh.

The People of Israel Worship Other Gods

When the people of Israel worshiped other gods, God punished them. Ahab, the king of Israel, married Jezebel, the daughter of the king Ethbaal of Sidon. Part of Jezebel's name, Zebul was a form of Baal's name. Ahab went against the Law of Moses when he built a temple with an altar to worship Baal in his capital city, Samaria (1 Kgs 16.31,32), and when he allowed Jezebel to encourage him to support hundreds of prophets of Asherah (1 Kgs 18.19). Many of the people of Israel were led to worship Yahweh, Israel's God, as well as Baal and Asherah. This worship broke the commandment God had given to Moses: “Do not worship any god except me.” Because of their sins, God allowed Israel's neighbors to defeat them and carry many of the people into exile (2 Kgs 17).

Other Religions Outside of Palestine

In the ancient world, many cities or city-states had their own gods. Often people would build altars and places of worship (shrines) where they could bring sacrifices for their gods. These sacrifices were intended to please the gods in the hope that they would then protect the people of the city and give them good crops. In ancient Babylonia, for example, each city built temples to its protector gods. 

Babylonian Beliefs

Astrology, the belief that the sun and the stars control human life, came out of Babylonia and had a great influence throughout the Greek and Roman empires. The people of Israel rejected this belief in the influence of the stars as contrary to monotheism. They believed that God created the sun, moon, and stars (Gen 1.14-19; Ps 8.3; 147.4). Since these heavenly bodies are created, they cannot be gods.

Cults

In Egypt the cults of Isis, Osiris, and Serapis were popular. In Syria, Israel's northern neighbor, people worshiped the great sky-god named Hadad, and helped spread the belief in astrology, common in Babylonia, to the Greeks. From Persia, a nation that conquered the Babylonians and ruled Palestine before the Greeks invaded the land, came the cult of Mazdaism. This was connected to the religion taught by Zoroaster, a teacher whose ideas would later influence Gnostic beliefs (see below). The most important of the cults popular in Asia Minor was the cult of Cybele, also known as the Great Mother. The Greeks identified Cybele with Rhea, the mother of the Greek gods, and with Artemis, who is mentioned in the Bible as the goddess of the Ephesians (Acts 19.21-41).

The Christian Church in the Greek World

Greek Religions

In the centuries before Jesus was born, the number of religions, cults, and forms of philosophy in the Mediterranean world had grown rapidly. The letters of the New Testament provide glimpses of how various religions, philosophies, and cult teachings opposed Christian followers. (For examples, see 1 Cor 8; 10; Gal 1.6-9; 1 John 2.26,27; Rev 2.2-6, 14-16, 20-25.)

Greek Religious Influence and Philosophy

The greatest religious influences and new philosophies came from the ancient Greeks. When Alexander the Great and his heirs took over Syria and Palestine after 330 B.C., they gave new names to the local gods and goddesses and introduced new deities. There was the Greek god of time, Chronos, and Zeus, the chief of the Greek gods. The Greeks also worshiped goddesses, such as Artemis, goddess of the hunt, and the Egyptian goddess Isis. Isis is not mentioned in the New Testament, but it is known that many people in the Mediterranean world at this time believed in her as the one who made crops and flocks fertile every year. Belief in Isis was spread by merchants and soldiers and became a very important religion. The worship of Isis competed with the spread of Christianity in the first three centuries A.D. Asklepios, the god of healing, was also popular at this time. The desire of Christians to show the superiority of Jesus over this god may have influenced the way some of the miracle stories about Jesus' power to heal were shaped by the writers of the New Testament.

Mystery Cults 

Various “mystery cults” were popular throughout the Greek world as well. Mystery cults had secret beliefs, so becoming a member usually required going through initiation ceremonies or practicing specific kinds of rites or sacraments. Participants in these cults believed that the ceremonies brought a person into the very life of the gods. The most popular Greek mystery cults were the cults of Demeter and Dionysus. Demeter was the goddess of grain and of the tamed or cultured aspects of nature. Dionysus was the god of wine and of the wild, untamed aspects of nature. The spirit of Dionysus was said to be in the animal (and possibly human) flesh that was eaten as part of the cult rituals. Members who participated in the rite believed they were consuming part of Dionysus when they ate. To many people at this time Christians also seemed to be a mystery cult, because when they celebrated the Lord's Supper, Christians ate the bread and drank the wine that Jesus described as his body and blood (Mark 14.22-24). Dionysus was also believed to make new birth possible for his followers. These beliefs would have seemed similar to the Christians' claim that Jesus had the power to renew the life of his people (John 3.1-21).

Other First Century Religions

Other religions in the first century were based on fate, fortune, astrology, and magic. Some people believed that the supreme god was Tyche (“Fortune”), who ruled the lives of human beings. If someone became rich, it was because of Fortune; if that person suddenly lost his or her wealth, that was because of Fortune, too. Similarly, some people believed in a ruler known as “Fate.” Fate was thought to determine everything that would happen in the universe, including the actions of all people. Good things and bad things alike were caused by Fate, and human beings were simply thought to be the means Fate used to carry out present and future events already determined.

Astrology

This type of thinking opened the way for the religions based on astrology. In astrology, it was believed that the movement of the sun, moon, and planets determined a person's life. In Greece, astrology was combined with science in order to develop “horoscopes” (maps of the positions of planets) for predicting the future of individuals. Those who did not like the idea that their lives were controlled by the planets or by fate turned to magic. They wore charms or amulets and recited spells in order to hold off the power of evil. The prevalence of this belief can be seen in acts where some people even believed that handkerchiefs and aprons that touched the apostle Paul had the power to heal diseases and drive out evil spirits (Acts 19.11,12).

Greek Philosophies

In Greece during the third and fourth centuries before Christ, the Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were concerned with how people could live a virtuous life that was in harmony with their city, their culture, and the natural world. Disciples of these great teachers would later form a number of schools of philosophy. By the time of the early Christian church, the teachings of these schools had spread throughout the Mediterranean world. Plato and Aristotle especially had a profound effect on later Christian writers and thinkers.

Socrates

Socrates of Athens lived from about 469 to 399 B.C. The Greek philosophers who lived before Socrates were concerned with trying to discover what the world was made of, but Socrates believed that philosophy could also tell people how to live a good life. To do this, Socrates developed two forms of gathering and presenting information, called induction (to suggest general conclusions from specific examples) and definition (to try to clearly describe what is meant by the general quality of a thing), and a method of using logic in discussions called “dialectic,” which involved asking and answering questions. Because of his interest in virtue, Socrates is usually considered the founder of ethics.

Plato

Plato, a student of Socrates, lived from about 428 to 348 B.C. and started a school called the “Academy,” which continued for more than nine hundred years. Plato's teachings, written in his Dialogues, have been among the most influential in the history of Western Civilization. Plato believed that Reason (in Greek, called logos) was the nature of the universe, controlling things from within. When he thought about how the world was constantly changing, Plato looked for things that do not change, which are represented in the things that do change. He called these “Forms” or “Ideas.” Plato thought that when we call things by a general name, such as Beauty or Courage, we do so because there is a permanent Idea or Form of Beauty or Courage underlying each individual example of it. He believed that these Ideas or Forms, which are the meanings behind physical laws and material things, are what is truly real. Plato also believed that the human soul was immortal, and that the soul is superior to the body. According to Plato, it is the soul that makes us what we are, and that the highest responsibility of people is to “tend the soul,” so that it is acceptable to the gods.

Aristotle

Aristotle lived from about 384 to 322 B.C. and was a student of Plato at the Academy. When Plato died, Aristotle left Athens and became a teacher of Alexander the Great. When Aristotle returned to Athens, he began a school called the Lyceum, where he taught that the knowledge of a thing requires an understanding of what caused it. Unlike Plato, he believed that form caused matter to move, and that the only pure form was God, who was the cause and goal of all motion. Aristotle's teachings, recorded by his students, cover many fields, including ethics and logic, the natural sciences, politics, physics, and poetry.

Cynics

Cynics were followers of the Greek philosophical school founded by Antisthenes, a student of Socrates who lived from about 444 to 370 B.C. The most famous Cynic philosopher was Diogenes of Sinope (a town on the shore of the Black Sea). Diogenes believed that happiness came from following virtue for its own sake, and by living a life free from grasping after material possessions and pleasures. It is not clear why the Cynic school (from the Greek word kyon meaning “dog”) was given its name. It may be a reference to their harshly critical style, in response to what they thought was a corrupt society. Or it may refer to the “Cynosarges,” a school where the followers met to discuss philosophy. Cynic philosophers were not tied to one place and their wandering style was copied by some early Christian apostles. This is evidenced when Paul preached at the Aeropagus in Athens, and his audience thought he was a wandering philosopher (Acts 17.16-34).

Stoicism

Stoicism was founded by Zeno of Citium (a town in Cyprus), who lived from around 336 to 261 B.C. The name “stoicism” comes from the Greek word stoa. Zeno and his students used to meet regularly at a pillared porch, the Stoa Poikile, on the north side of the marketplace in Athens. The Stoics thought that the whole universe was a divine being, and that the gods were simply various names of the one cosmic God. They believed that virtue was living in harmony with the rational force of nature. To find peace of mind, the Stoics said, people should learn what is in their power and what isn't, and should concern themselves only with the things in their power. The Stoics concluded that people had the power to live in harmony with the cosmic God, which they called virtue. They believed that people should live according to virtue (the rational force of all nature) and be indifferent (the Greek word apatheia) to all things—like wealth, pleasure, good or bad fortune—that might prevent them from living a virtuous life. (In English today, the word “stoic” has come to mean patient, disciplined, or self-restrained.) Like all Stoics who would come after him, Zeno preached the equality of the sexes and was strongly opposed to slavery. Stoics had many beliefs in common with early Christians. Most significantly, however, they did not believe in the divinity of Christ, his resurrection, or the judgment of the world. Stoic influences can be found in the writings of the Jewish teacher Philo of Alexandria (who lived from around 25 B.C. to A.D. 50), and even in the writings of the apostle Paul in the New Testament (for example, 1 Cor 7.32-35).

Epicureanism

Epicureanism was founded in Athens by Epicurus, who lived from about 342 to 270 B.C. The main goal of life for Epicureans was to find true happiness. They believed true happiness was gained by encouraging serenity (the Greek word ataraxia) and by avoiding pain. They did not believe that fate or destiny ruled their lives; instead, they believed in free will. Since they did not believe that the gods influenced a person’s life, they were considered by some to be atheists. For them, true pleasure came from living nobly and justly and with a healthy lifestyle. They believed intellectual pleasure was superior to bodily pleasure. The Epicureans valued friendship as a way for people to support each other in the search for happiness. They believed death was the end of existence, but that it was not to be feared because it brought peace and an end to pain. Epicureanism was probably most popular among the upper classes of the Roman Empire.

Gnosticism

Gnostics is a term historians have given to a number of religious groups in the second and third centuries A.D. Gnosis is the Greek word for knowledge, and Gnostics believed they possessed a special or secret knowledge. Many sects who have been identified as Gnostics believed that the world was ruled by evil forces (called “archons”). Among these evil forces, they included the God of the Old Testament. Archons held humanity captive in a state of ignorance and suffering. Gnostics believed that Jesus was a godlike being (rather than a living person) who had been sent to restore people's knowledge of their origin in the true God. People, they said, were made of body, soul, and spirit. People who lived only the life of the body could not be saved. Christians might achieve a lower form of salvation through their faith, but real salvation came through a superior knowledge (gnosis) of the life of the spirit and soul, which is the divine element in human beings. In the early centuries after Christ, Gnosticism was a serious challenge, leading to the rise of elitist sects within Christianity. Gnostics were a very diverse group of sects, but some of their general characteristics have been described by historians.

Emperor Worship

The Jews and early Christians faced the problem of emperor worship in the centuries just before and after Jesus was born. Beginning in the fourth century B.C., Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.), the Macedonian king who conquered much of the Near East, claimed that he was divine. Rulers who took over after he died made similar claims. They demanded that all their subjects honor them as gods. One of these rulers, Antiochus IV Epiphanes put up a statue of Zeus in the Jerusalem temple. This set off the Maccabean revolt of 168–165 B.C., in which the Jewish people reclaimed the temple and gained their freedom for a brief period of time.

Roman Emperors

Roman emperors, whose armies conquered Palestine in 63 B.C., also claimed that they were gods. The Roman emperor Gaius Caligula (ruled A.D. 37-41) wanted to put up a statue of himself in the temple, but he died before he could make this happen. Around the end of the first century, the emperor Domitian ordered people to address him as “Lord and God.” Revelation pictures a prostitute and a horrible beast which likely symbolized the Roman Empire's attempt to destroy God's people and their worship of “the Lamb” (Christ), and to force Christians to honor the emperor as divine instead (Rev 17).

The Bible and the Beliefs of the Ancient World

As Jews and Christians moved away from Jerusalem after the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70 and settled in other parts of the Roman Empire, they encountered the various religions and philosophies described in this article, and many others as well. Many of these systems of belief were not compatible with the monotheism of Judaism and Christianity. Sometimes, however, they adopted or adapted some of the teachings from these other systems of thought in response to the situations they faced. In light of these situations, both the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament) and the New Testament contain direct and indirect references to these other forms of belief. It is, therefore, important to become aware of these other beliefs in order to understand the Bible more fully.