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초록

영어

Contrary to the common view that Judaism was a stagnant religion because of its exclusivity, Judaism rapidly expanded throughout the Roman Empire. The people of the Jews amounted to six millions in the Empire in the beginning of the first century CE. Their growth rate drew great attentions of the Romans. This paper attempts to find the reasons for the expansion of Jewish settlements in the Early Roman Empire. First of all, the Jews actively tried to convert people. Even though, compared to Christians, they did not carry out evangelical missions aggressively, they were actively at work propagating their doctrines and offered many advantages to the proselytes. In this period, the Jews were the most open-minded race in the ancient world. Impressed by the openness of the Jews, many Gentiles were willing to convert to Judaism. Second, traditional Roman religion could not satisfy the Gentiles who longed for something better in the afterlife. As the Roman religion was a state religion, its main concern was not the salvation of the soul but the wellbeing of the empire. Because of these limitations, the foundations of the traditional Roman religion had been shaken since the second century BCE, while Eastern religions, as new alternatives, spread rapidly. Judaism was one of the favored religions, because it offered a systematic doctrine about the afterlife and personal salvation. Third, Romans, who believed in many different gods and goddesses, had the principle of tolerance toward all religions. They did not persecute any religious group except for the group of Bacchanalian revellers that violated the law. Furthermore, Rome granted many privileges to Judaism as well as tolerated it. The Jews were given exemption from military service and emperor worship. Thus, they were recognized as a privileged people. In conclusion, based on the three reasons mentioned above, Judaism was not a stagnant religion but an active religion and hence contributed to the expansion of Jewish settlement in the Roman world.

목차

Ⅰ. 서언
 Ⅱ. 유대인의 선교
 Ⅲ. 유대교의 매력
 Ⅳ. 로마제국의 보호
 Ⅴ. 결어
 
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키워드

로마 제국 유대교 디아스포라 선교 팽창 초기 기독교 Roman Empire Judaism Diaspora Mission Expansion Early Christianity

저자

• 정기문 [ Jung, Gi-Moon | 군산대학교 사학과 교수 ]

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