Yale Open Course: New Testament 3

I listened to the third lecture, and it's about the Greco-Roman world.

• The prof says that Judaism is a Greco-Roman religion or cult. 
• Alexander the Great wanted to create a one world empire, and he Hellenized much of the Eastern Mediterranean
•  Ekklesia was the common term for the town assembly (and eventually the term adopted by believers for referring to themselves, translated into English as "church")
• Early christian churches were modeled after the pattern of the Roman household.
• The Romans were very tolerant of other religious beliefs, unless a particular group was rebellious or caused political problems
• The one-world, Greco-Roman society of the 1st century allowed for Christianity to spread rapidly