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Cultural World of the New Testament

  1. Lesson One
    Honor and Shame in the Greco-Roman World
    8 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  2. Lesson Two
    Honor and Shame in 1 Peter
    7 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  3. Lesson Three
    Patronage and Reciprocity in the Greco-Roman World
    7 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  4. Lesson Four
    Patronage and Reciprocity in Hebrews
    7 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  5. Lesson Five
    Kinship and the Household in the Greco-Roman World
    7 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  6. Lesson Six
    Kinship and the Household in 1 Peter
    7 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  7. Lesson Seven
    Purity and Pollution in the Greco-Roman World
    7 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  8. Lesson Eight
    Purity and Pollution in Hebrews
    7 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  9. Course Wrap-Up
    Course Completion
    2 Activities

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The regulations and practices were not merely a matter of external acts for [observant Jews]. Rather, they were outward reflections of core convictions. First, the commitment to honor God’s desire that they should be “holy” to God as God was holy and, second, the commitment to live as a reflection of God’s holiness in the midst of an unclean world.

– David deSilva, PhD

In this lesson, you learned how to:

  1. Explain key features of purity and pollution codes in first-century culture.
  2. Reflect on how considerations of purity and pollution shaped how the early church related to God and to each other.
  3. Identify ways to integrate an awareness of purity considerations in New Testament culture into your own Bible reading.

Continue to Lesson 8: Purity and Pollution in Hebrews to look at how the writer of Hebrews uses the language of purity and pollution to explain the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection.