Fullness of Time

Galatians 4:4-6 (Douay Rheims)

⁴ But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law:

⁵ That he might redeem them who were under the law: that we might receive the adoption of sons.

⁶ And because you are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying: Abba, Father.

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Bible passage courtesy of VeritasBible.com

Catholic Answers had a interesting post today speculating on why our Savior came to the world when He did:

Re: Fullness of time

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Quote:

Originally Posted by jpn Why was the fullness of time, a little over 2000 years ago, the fullness of time? Do we know specifically why the incarnation happened at this point in time, say versus 500 hundred years later?

Yes, the Roman empire's far reach facilitated the spread of the gospel and eventually the solidification of the Church. Humankind had reached a point where Greek philosophy had reasoned its way to a deity of order independent of religion which confirmed and correlated well with the Christian God, and the influence of Hellenization was very widespread in the Roman Empire. The Jews had centuries of struggling to fulfill the law, to finally arrive at a point where, according to Christianity, at least, we could realize that the Law couldn't justify anyone; it had done it's job serving as a teacher. Mankind was ready for a New Covenant-just barely.