This is where many elements converge:
- Persian influence;
- apocalypticism;
- angelology;
- resurrection ideas;
- sectarian movements;
- Pharisees;
- Sadducees;
- Essenes;
- Qumran;
- messianic expectation;
- purity;
- Temple critique;
- Wisdom traditions;
- emerging mystical speculation.
The point is:
the world into which Jesus is born has been spiritually prepared through centuries of development and tension.