New Testament | Interlude 2nd Temple Period
In this lecture from Dr. Michael McKay’s New Testament Literature course at Cedarville University, students explore how the historical, cultural, and literary context of the Second Temple period shapes our understanding of the New Testament.
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Dr. McKay walks through the major empires that ruled Israel — Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome — and explains how the Jewish people responded through literature, worship, and theology. Students are introduced to key writings from this era, including the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament), the Apocrypha, the Pseudepigrapha, and the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as the rise of Jewish groups such as the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots.
The lecture then transitions to how these developments prepared the way for Jesus and the formation of the New Testament. Dr. McKay explains how the Gospels function as ancient biographies and persuasive testimonies — distinct portraits of Jesus written to transform, not just inform. Viewers will come away better equipped to read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in their historical setting and appreciate the theological unity of the New Testament canon.
Timestamps:
0:00 Lecture goals and framing
0:30 Historical overview — Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Alexander, Rome
1:03 Picking up the intertestamental historical events between the Old and New Testaments
1:58 Antiochus IV, Hellenization, the Maccabean Revolt and Hanukkah
3:20 The Septuagint — the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible
4:44 The Apocrypha explained and its reception in church history
6:23 The Pseudepigrapha and First Enoch
7:43 Discovery and significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Qumran manuscripts
8:52 Key features of Jewish literature in the Hellenistic-Roman era
14:36 Synagogues and Jewish identity practices — Sabbath, circumcision, food laws
18:05 Responses to Hasmonean rule — Sadducees, Pharisees, Zealots
23:05 The Essenes and the Qumran community
24:41 People of the land — daily life and the majority of Jewish society
25:31 Reformation-era debate over the Apocrypha and criteria for canon
28:21 Early church acceptance of the fourfold Gospel and Paul’s letters
30:04 The rise of the Codex and grouping of Old Testament collections
31:37 New Testament grouping, manuscript evidence, and book collections
33:13 The four portraits of Jesus — how Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John differ
35:37 Gospels as ancient biographies — contrast with noncanonical infancy tales
37:30 Gospels as transformative literature — parables and personal application
39:12 Gospels as testimony — interpreting the empty tomb and witness claims
41:59 Synoptics versus John — literary relationships and independence
44:04 Narrative analysis — authorial intent, rhetoric, and theological purpose
47:05 Read the Gospels as interconnected books — avoid chopping passages
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