But when I read those books of the Platonists I was taught by them to seek incorporeal truth, so I saw your 'invisible things, understood by the things that are made' (Confessions 7. [35] Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 95-96. [16] Payton, 126; Ware, Orthodox Way, 80-81. [39] Lamin Sanneh, Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture, 2nd ed. Answer: Hellenism is the term used to describe the influence of Greek culture on the peoples the Greek and Roman Empires conquered or interacted with. Hellenistic (2 Occurrences) Noah Webster's Dictionary (a.) Anselm of Canterbury composed the ontological argument for the existence of God, which he believed to be irrefutable. “We did not set out to discover Orthodoxy. Stoicism and, particularly, Platonism were readily incorporated into Christian ethics and Christian theology. The Hellenistic period begins formally with the arrival of Alex­ander the Great in the Near East in 334BCE, but this date is not the beginning of Greek influence in the region. [34] See Bartholomew, 13; Payton, 38; Fortescue, Orthodox Church, 240; Fairbairn, 146. Google Scholar With reference to Hahn he further writes: ‘To be sure, Hellenistic Jewish Christianity was a mediating element between the Aramaic-speaking Jewish Christianity of Palestine and Hellenistic Gentile Christianity. With the establishment of the formal church, the development of creeds and formal theology, this view of God as Omni-Everything became nearly universal in the Christian World. Some elements of these philosophies … Of these, Stoicism and particularly Platonism were readily incorporated into Christian ethics and theology. Through stumblings, shortcomings, and adversities, the Orthodox Church has persisted, safeguarding the traditions handed down to it and persevering as an ever-shining light from the too often forgotten Christian East. [22] Bartholomew, 6, 20-21, 25; Payton, 175, 78-79; Ware, Orthodox Church, 33; Fortescue, Orthodox Church, 105; Fairbairn, 39. Because church lines have generally been synonymous with state lines, church membership was often as much a cultural marker as an expression of religious belief. They are a mixture, having spent their formative years in two cultures: their parents' home culture and their parents' place of service. The "Christian" churches of this world are predominantly antinomian to some extent. Alt. Both Roman Catholicism and Protestantism belong to what can be termed Hellenistic Christianity, that is, a form of Christianity heavily influenced by Greek philosophies, particularly Gnosticism. Daniel W. Graham and James L. Siebach, "Philosophy and Early Christianity," 210-220. On the other hand, the Hellenistic Jews from other parts of the world were jealous of the first group and made to feel like outsiders. Specifically, the doctrines of Trinity and the deity of … Icons and fasting periods are unique aspects of such communal worship. In Orthodox teaching, people cannot be united with God unless they become like God themselves. Hellenist definition is - a person living in Hellenistic times who was Greek in language, outlook, and way of life but was not Greek in ancestry; especially : a hellenized Jew. In the Septuagint, Greek words led to the Hellenization of the Jews at home and in the Diaspora. [46] Orthodoxy offers heritage, a link to the past. Therefore, the argument proceeded, God could not be conceived not to exist. There's a substantial gap in most religions between religious practices and source mythology. 2 (1999). The phrase "Hellenic polytheism" is actually, much like the word "Pagan," an umbrella term. [41] Ware, Orthodox Church, 174-75; Garvey, 34. In contrast, the West was able to maintain relative unity for fifteen hundred years before Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517. [3] Donald Fairbairn, Eastern Orthodoxy through Western Eyes (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002), 25-26. Conceiving God not to exist would be not conceiving God at all, as it would conceive a being less than perfect, which would not be God. Philosophers took all the things that they considered good, Power, Love, Knowledge and Size, and posited that God was "infinite" in all these respects. [15] Ware, Orthodox Church, 229; see also Payton, 98-99, 121-22; Fairbairn, 79-81. [43], As a result, the Orthodox Church, particularly its “approaches to prayer and worship,” has begun to attract the attention of other Christian denominations. That at least two of the Christians mentioned in Acts 13 are from North Africa is perhaps a hint some Hellenists moved to Antioch rather than Egypt. In addition, infants receive both confirmation and the Eucharist. It is used to apply to a wide range of polytheistic spiritual paths that honor the pantheon of the ancient Greeks.In many of these groups, there is a trend towards the … Concerning the Eucharist, while the Orthodox Church affirms the real presence of Christ in the elements, it eschews attempts to explain exactly how this happens. Christianity emerged 300 years after the conquests of … Sadly, the strife between the two groups was not automatically eliminated by their conversion to Christianity, as the complaints concerning food distribution to widows of the two groups show. HELLENISM, term generally used by historians to refer to the period from the death of Alexander the Great (323 B.C.E.) Philo's blend of Judaism, Platonism, and Stoicism strongly influenced Christian Alexandrian writers such as Origen and Clement of Alexandria, as well as, in the Latin world, Ambrose of Milan. Shaped the world-view in which the NT writers articulated the Christian revelation. The cultural tradition of the Greeks is called Hellenism. Christian engagement with Hellenistic philosophy is reported in the New Testament in Acts 17:18 describing the Apostle Paul's discussions with Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. [1] Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church: New Edition (London: Penguin Books, 1997), 4. Upon the Jews' return from exile in Babylon, they endeavored to protect their national identity by following the law closely. I Read more…, Spread the loveIn this post in my series “God and Man at Yale Divinity,” I share my paper on the Council of Chalcedon. Interestingly, the Orthodox Church holds that this “first among equals” position rightly belongs to the Pope. In this post in my series “God and Man at Yale Divinity,” I share my paper on Hellenistic Christianity, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodoxy. [44] In addition, Western theologians dissatisfied with the penal substitution theory of the atonement have begun to give the Orthodox view a fresh look.[45]. Size, intelligence, beauty, power, benevolence, and so forth: all the qualities are called perfections. It is what Plato expressed in the longing to escape the shadows of the cave and enter the sunshine of the intelligible world. [5] Ware, Orthodox Church, 7. Independence and autonomy are key features of the Orthodox churches. [48] Indeed, one American convert summed up Orthodoxy’s attraction nicely. Almost 200 years later, Thomas Aquinas, in his Summa Theologiae, article 3, wrote succinctly: "By 'God', however, we mean some infinite good". Orthodoxy reflects an early Christianity with all its beauty and with all its faults. I have also included a pdf copy of my paper below for those who prefer that format. It's obviously a syncretic phenomenon, but what is it more of, according to scholars? (Stromata 6. The Ecumenical Patriarch, therefore, occupies a position the Pope would hold in a reunited Church. The cross and the empty tomb are intrinsically linked. Baptism, for example, is always performed by immersion, even on infants. Cook, "How Deep the Platonism," 269-286 in Farms Review of Books, vol. Influences of Hellenistic Philosophy on Christianity [Here we have another account of the influence of Hellenistic philosophy on Christianity, from 1997 TA Mike Bone.] Christianity - Christianity - Relations between Christianity and the Roman government and the Hellenistic culture: The Christians were not respectful toward ancestral pagan customs, and their preaching of a new king sounded like revolution. Egypt was the last important survivor of the political system which had developed as a consequence both of the victories of Alexander and of his premature death. [26] Fortescue, Orthodox Church, 420; Ware, Orthodox Church, 275, 277, 283. [22] This is an example of how Orthodox liturgy cannot rightly be separated from Orthodox theology. This is in reference to the origins and beliefs of early Christianity, so before 500 AD. In essence, he argued that because God is, by definition, the being than which no greater can be conceived, and it is more perfect to exist than not to exist, God must exist. Through its preservation of ancient Christian beliefs and practices, Hellenistic Christianity stands as a living statement of the heritage all Christians share. [15], Instead, “Christ is the victor over death.”[16] Therefore, in Orthodox theology, there is no salvation apart from the resurrection. It is the Hellenistic tension between the transient and the permanent, the temporal and the eternal. The Orthodox Church possesses a rich cultural history and nearly unrivaled theological depth that attracts converts, even where the Church has fallen into evangelistic passivity. In those philosophies, Forms were the ideals of every object in the physical world, and objects in the physical world were merely shadows of those perfect forms. By Tradition, the Church means “the faith and practice which Jesus Christ imparted to the Apostles, and which since the Apostles’ time has been handed down from generation to generation in the Church.”[9], Tradition includes particularly the Bible, the Nicene Creed, and the seven ecumenical councils. Hellenistic Christianity represents one of the most ancient expressions of the Christian faith still in practice today. Commentary from Sir William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870, p. Is Christianity a predominantly Near Eastern or Hellenistic religion? [37], One Catholic scholar criticized the Orthodox Church’s missionary apathy toward the Arabs, arguing that Orthodox leaders “allowed [the Arabs] to remain pagan, while they quarreled over abstruse points of theology, and intrigued for the Emperor’s favor at the court.”[38] A successful mission among the Arab peoples would have required an “adaptive response to the message,” which the elites of the Imperial Church could not abide. Consequently, “[n]ationalism has been the bane of Orthodoxy for the last ten centuries.”[31] As a result, for those living outside such nations, “Orthodoxy often seems a badge of ethnicity, something alien and exotic.”[32], Such nationalism was strengthened after the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453. Adrian Fortescue, The Uniate Eastern Churches, ed. All animal products, oil, and wine are forbidden during these times. Orthodox worship centers around communal expressions of faith. Thus, the Christians could very well be unpopular, and they often were. [45] See, for example, Gustaf Aulén, Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of Atonement, trans. Because existence was more perfect than non-existence and God was, by definition, perfect, God existed by definition. George D. Smith, The Eastern Churches Trilogy (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2001), 1, 3-4, 7-8. Hellenistic Paganism Join the Unexplained Mysteries community today! The Orthodox Church, for example, denies the Augustinian idea of inherited guilt and the related Calvinist tenant of total depravity. Hellenistic Christianity could also arguably include some of the Uniate Churches, which are churches with heritages in the old Patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem that are today in communion with the Pope. It was my final paper for the World Christianity class that I took during my first semester at Yale Divinity School. Different hierarchies from different national churches exist side by in contradiction to the Orthodox requirement of “one bishop in one city.”[40], A Russian-led effort to unify the various factions into one American Orthodox Church fell apart at the onset of the Russian Revolution, leaving the current situation—which a previous Ecumenical Patriarch labeled a “scandal”—intact. The ontological argument is a defining example of the fusion of Hebrew and Greek thought. Christian Hellenism — The Foundation of Western Culture. This makes them very fit to take the gospel crossculturally. What follows below is, with some minor modifications, a copy of my paper on Hellenistic Christianity. What is more intelligent is more perfect as regards intelligence, what is more beautiful is more perfect as regards beauty, and so forth. It has expanded over the centuries into other lands and encompasses all churches in communion with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. The Platonic concepts of realism, perfection and a god that defined as infinite thus became incorporated into Christian medieval philosophy. Even though historians have largely neglected that era (a period longer than the existence of the United States of America), Alexandria in that time became the capital of Egypt, its major port, and then the major center of the widespread Hellenistic civilization lasting for one thousand years, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in AD 641. This was my final paper for the World Christianity class that I took my first semester at Yale. The Septuagint was created three hundred years before Christ. Contacts between the Orthodox Church and their Arab neighbors in the centuries preceding the rise of Islam, for example, demonstrate a failure to translate the Christian faith into a form palatable to Arab culture. [5] While some bishops may hold special honor, all bishops are nonetheless equal.[6]. Icons are not merely decorative art. The ontological argument reflected the classical concept of "perfections". Your email address will not be published. Acts 6:1 And in these ... /h/hellenistic.htm - 7k [23], The Orthodox Church emphasizes sacraments (or mysteries) as “the means whereby God’s grace is appropriated to every Christian individually.”[24] It recognizes seven: “(i) Baptism; (ii) Chrismation (equivalent to Confirmation in the West); (iii) The Eucharist; (iv) Repentance or Confession; (v) Holy Orders; (vi) Marriage or Holy Matrimony; (vii) the Anointing of the Sick.”[25]. Christianity and Hellenistic philosophies experienced complex interactions during the first to the fourth centuries. [27] Ware, Orthodox Church, 1; Garvey, 37. Is Christianity a predominantly Near Eastern or Hellenistic religion? Tim Dowley (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002), 366-68; see also Lamin Sanneh, Disciples of All Nations: Pillars of World Christianity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 65. 20). We set out to find out what the ancient Church was really like, and in doing so we discovered Orthodoxy.”[49]. [6] Ware, Orthodox Church, 14; Fairbairn, 31. This is seen today in the labeling of the various Orthodox Churches by their national designations—the Russian Orthodox Church, for example. Fasting also occupies an integral part of the Church’s communal liturgical cycle with a degree of rigor and asceticism generally lacking in the West. While it has at times emphasized too heavily the Greek over the Orthodox aspect of its identity, it still has not neglected the latter. Rather, according to Orthodox belief, the icons in the sanctuary remind the congregants, through the divine liturgy, that they are with Christ and the saints worshiping together in God’s presence. It was my final paper for the History of Early Christianity class Read more…, In recent years, however, the Church has discussed the possibility of calling a new council to address contemporary issues it faces. There were Platonists, Aristotelians, Stoics and Epicureans each espousing a differing interpretation of the world around them. Indeed, the Church “was too absorbed in bouts of theological hair-splitting to spare a thought for its neighbors.”[36], A Greek-centric worldview and insistence on “complete agreement in belief as a rule for Christian unity” poisoned any potential deep permeation into a pragmatic nomadic Arab population more concerned with the practical implementation of faith than distinctly Greek philosophizing. [47], The Church has likewise attracted converts in the United States from a variety of backgrounds who found the Church on their own. As Christianity spread throughout the Hellenic world, an increasing number of church leaders were educated in Greek philosophy. 1. The Aristotelian view of God grew from these Platonic roots, arguing that God was the Infinite, or the Unmoved mover. While these are the same sacraments as those found in the Catholic Church, the Orthodox administer them in unique manners. It was not until the fusion of Platonic and Aristotelian theology with Christianity that the concepts of strict omnipotence, omniscience, or benevolence became commonplace. [28] See Ware, Orthodox Church, 3-4; Bartholomew, 2-3. [14] Ware, Orthodox Church, 225; see also Payton, 122-24. [43] See ibid., 47-48. As in Roman Catholicism, a celibate episcopate leads the Eastern Orthodox Church. 8). The dominant philosophical traditions of the Greco-Roman world then were Stoicism, Platonism, Epicureanism, and, to a lesser extent, the skeptic traditions of Pyrrhonism and Academic Skepticism. [33] Fortescue, Orthodox Church, 229-32; Fairbairn, 146. Catholicism is the more moderate of the two, having retained obedience to the Church and its traditions as well as requiring … [26], Eastern Orthodoxy claims to possess a history free of “Reformations or Counter-Reformations.”[27] However, this history obscures reality. [12] Athanasius, A Discourse of Saint Athanasius on the Incarnation of the Word of God, trans. Much of the Church’s uniformity stems from early Greek cultural hegemony resulting from two early schisms: the separation from the Church of the East in 431 and the separation from the Oriental Orthodox Church in 451.[28]. Nevertheless, it is often impossible to grasp this second element in the development of the primitive Christian tradition. 620).[2]. In essence, if God could be imagined, God existed. of Hellenistical. [18]  However, the “Orthodox Church is not as much given to making formal dogmatic definitions as the Roman Catholic Church.”[19], Consequently, expressions of its beliefs on such diverse matters as the Eucharist, the Sacraments, the afterlife, Mary, and a variety of other topics are found not primarily in confessions of faith but “in the prayers and hymns used at service.”[20] Indeed, “[t]hose who wish to know about Orthodoxy should not so much read books as…attend the Liturgy.”[21]. [1] While maintaining its Hellenistic foundations, Eastern Orthodoxy is an ethnically diverse group of independently governed churches. Fortescue, Orthodox Church, 152-54; Fairbairn, 15-16. This page was last edited on 18 November 2020, at 02:10. (Current notable autocephalous churches include those of Constantinople, Russia, Antioch, and Greece, among others. [7] Ware, Orthodox Church, 15; see also Garvey, 32. [8] Ware, Orthodox Church, 250-52; Fairbairn, 12, 39; Bartholomew, 37. They generally, however, maintain similar practices and emphases in doctrine as the Eastern Orthodox Church. James Beilby and Paul R. Eddy (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006); Gregory A. Boyd, Satan and the Problem of Evil: Constructing a Trinitarian Warfare Theodicy (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2011), 36. [40] Garvey, 34; see also Ware, Orthodox Church, 174-75. [33] Identification with the Church within the new Muslim empire allowed citizens of the former Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire to maintain a sense of cultural unity.[34]. James Ridgway (Oxford: James Parker and Co., 1880), 54. to the death of Cleopatra and the incorporation of Egypt in the Roman Empire in 30 B.C.E. The opposition of the Jews to them led to breaches of the peace. Ethnic divisions have made the establishment of a uniquely American Orthodox Church difficult. [10] Ibid., 197; James R. Payton, Light from the Christian East: An Introduction to the Orthodox Tradition (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007), 199. The Hellenistic Jewish Christian Witness. Hellenistic Christianity is notable for its combination of Greek philosophy, ethics and morality with Christian belief. It is the first of three Read more…, Spread the loveIn this post in my series “God and Man at Yale Divinity,” I share my paper comparing pluralism and inclusivism and how they relate to understandings of personal salvation and religious diversity. [11] Ware, Orthodox Church, 21; Payton, 132, 37-38; Fairbairn, 68-73. [39], Such nationalistic tendencies have played out in particularly obvious ways in the United States. Despite its heritage, however, Hellenistic Christianity is not limited to the territories of the former Greek Byzantine Empire. Hellenistic philosophy and Christianity refers to the complex interaction between Hellenistic philosophy and early Christianity during the first to fourth centuries.. Icons hold a prominent place in the life and worship of the Orthodox Church. See Bartholomew, 13; Payton, 38; Fortescue, Satan and the Problem of Evil: Constructing a Trinitarian Warfare Theodicy, Progressive Revelation of the Divine Character, Joseph Ratzinger and the Purpose of Theology, Pluralism v. Inclusivism: Salvation and Diversity. Christianity and Hellenistic philosophies experienced complex interactions during the first to the fourth centuries. While other churches with a strong global presence—notably the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches—can make up for losses in Europe with gains elsewhere, the Orthodox Church lacks such a firewall. A common criticism of historic orthodox Christianity is the claim that early Christianity was corrupted by the intellectual forces of 'Hellenism.' 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