Hey all! I thought I would start the new semester off by publishing a paper I wrote about the history, culture, and geography of the Lower Galilee region of Israel, the place where Jesus lived for about 30 years before he began his public ministry. I left out the footnotes, but included a cited works section at the end if you are interested. If you don’t feel like reading the entire thing, I can sum it up for you:
The region is quite conservative. Many scholars- atheist, agnostic, and Christian alike seem to agree that the area Jesus grew up in was populated by people who were resistant to outside religion or spirituality. This culture was in many ways linked to its secluded location up in the mountains off the main roadways. Although they could see out over the valley of Armageddon where the main roadways were, they were not influenced by the foreign influences that traveled along them. The body of research work I surveyed seems to agree – Whatever cultural influences that affected Jesus growing up, its certain that little to none were of a foreign nature. He grew up in a very traditional Jewish world, one that remembered very clearly the stories of Elisha and Elijia, and the many Judges. For a resident of Nazereth need only look out over the valley to see the very location of where a majority of the stories took place – where God acted on behalf of his people.
Enjoy!
