Page 196 - Prophet Jesus (Pbuh): A Prophet Not A Son, Of God

194 Prophet Jesus (pbuh): A Prophet, Not A Son, of God

The influence of the existing
political- cultural climate

Researchers who study trinitarianism also
study the cultural and political environment of
those times. As we emphasized earlier, Jewish

society at the time of Prophet Jesus (pbuh) was
under the influence of both Jewish and Greek
culture. Most of the land bordering on the
Mediterranean Sea was ruled by Rome, due to
its military conquests and power. Rome was ex-
periencing one of its most powerful periods,
both in terms of its culture and its military
strength. It had inherited the cultural legacy of

ancient and classical Greece and carried it for-
ward with its own additions. This trend, known
as Hellenism, pervaded many areas of life, in-
cluding religion. The Romans regarded them-
selves as far superior to other societies and
sought to spread their own lifestyles into their
new territories.
As with the other Mediterranean societies,
Roman religion was polytheistic. The mytho-
logical Greek deities entered Roman mythology

under different names. Their greatest deity
(Jupiter) and many deities, which were symbol-
ized by statues, were worshipped. Some
Roman emperors even had laws passed includ-
ing themselves in this pantheon. Statues of
these mythological Greek deities, such as Zeus,