Page 152 - Advanced Biblical Backgrounds Revised

Commerce

The commerce of ancient Greece was multifaceted. It included educating others, such as teaching. It
included agriculture, such as farming, the production of wine, and other crops. It included shipping
goods from around the world through the Aegean Sea. It also included many trade jobs such as fishing,
producing clothing, and creating and selling housing goods. The religious world of idols also created
commerce as merchants would make idols and symbols to be used, worshipping them to sell. Given a
large number of deities, it was not hard to supply different forms of idols and symbols to the different
cults. Paul and the other apostles were no stranger to these cults and forms of trade as they ministered
throughout the Hellenized Roman empire.

Missionary Journeys of Paul
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L40_vncQQE

Let’s Practice…

1. How many times did Paul visit Corinth?

2. What was Hellenization?

3. What were the major cultural contributions of Hellenization?

4. Why did Paul have to defend his ministry from the accusations that it lacked the power of God?

5. What impact does knowing the culture make on interpreting passages that say things like “examine
yourselves to see if you are in the faith”?

6-7. Which deities' names remain unchanged between Greek and Roman rule?

8. Why was religion not simply a personal and private thing in Hellenistic Greece?

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