Bishop Raymond Allan Johnson

537 Bishop Raymond Allan Johnson

Who exactly were the scribes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees? How were the High Priest and the Temple changed, after the Exile? What happened in those four-hundred or so so-called "silent years?" Were they really SILENT? In this book, we will explore those questions, beginning with the return from the Exile, to Jerusalem, in 537 B. C.; and the ensuing periods of domination over Judaea by the Persian, Ptolemaic, Seleucid, ad Roman Empires; all the way down to the first century C. E., and the time of Christ and His disciples. This is a book primarily designed for a Christian audience, unfamiliar with the elements of Second Temple Judaism that informed the world that confronted Christ and His disciples. It is intended, also, to be a conversation-starter for Jewish people, hoping to have a dialogue with their Christian acquaintances, about some of the fundamental elements of their own faith.