BIBL 104The Essenes, John the Baptist and Jesus.

Last Saturday I was trying to relax after a long day of studying and reading. As a result, I went to Netflix to choose a movie I would like to watch. Oliver Stone’s “Alexander: The Ultimate Uncu t” movie appeared as a suggested movie for me to watch since I love history and biographical film. I watched and enjoyed the movie which lasted 207 minutes. The movie is about Alexander III, who was king of Macedonia in 336-323 B.C. and would later defeat the King Darius III of the Persian Empire. Alexander III launched an empire from Greece to what the Greeks called India which is modern day Pakistan. Alexander died before his 33rd birthday in the year of 323 B.C., and he was considered a “military genius” of his time.1 Now I understand that you are wondering why am I talking about a movie about Alexander the Great, instead of about the Essenes, John the Baptist, and Jesus. However, I will justify this by saying that Alexander the Great founded seventy cities and brought about the Hellenization or “Greek culture and style” of the former Persian Empire which included the Jews. The Greek language and culture were indoctrinated into the conquered societies, and the Jews were no exception.