CHAPTER II. 



THE CONDITION OF THE WORLD WHEN 



CHRIST CAME. 



ROME, MISTRESS OF THE WORLD— HEROD, RULER OF 



THE JEWS WAY PREPARED FOR A UNIVERSAL 



KINGDOM FACILITIES FOR REACHING ALL PARTS 



LEARNING SPREAD USE OF LATIN AND GREEK 



LANGUAGES — DISSATISFACTION WITH PAGANISM 



SOCIAL CORRUPTION. 



Emperors — Augustus C/ESar on the throne at the 



OPENING OF CHRISTIAN ERA, ; TIBERIUS, A. D. 14* 



We are now to glance at the condition of the 

 world as it was when the Redeemer came. It is 

 declared by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews 

 that, "in the fullness (or ripeness) of the time 

 God sent forth His Son." Our view of the politi- 

 cal, social and religious condition of the world then, 

 will enable us to understand in what that fullness, 

 or ripeness, of the time consisted. 



1900 years ago Rome was the mistress of the 

 world. The wish of her imperial master was 

 obeyed from Britain to Syria, by nations separated 

 from each other by many miles of territory and by 



