Was Paul a Hellenist?

2011-07-12T14:05:00.001-06:00

Introduced by Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC, Hellenism heavily influenced the Jewish lifestyle including their monotheistic religious beliefs. The Jews of the Intertestamental period went from a worship system of a central temple to being scattered across the Near-East with no central temple (tabernacle) to worship in and perform the required daily sacrifices. Hellenism brought with it the idea of worshipping many gods and everyone had the right to believe what they wanted as well as experiencing some kind of revelatory interaction with a god.

“So, says Knox, "it is not surprising that Paul's attempt to convert the philosophers of Athens was a failure." But it seems that the Aeropagus was not the scene of hopeless defeat, for Paul learned his lesson and changed his course. "It is significant that from this point onwards his Epistles show a progressive adaptation of the Christian message to the general mental outlook of the Hellenistic world”.[1]

If Paul chose the side of the Hellenists even though he was fluent in Torah and the ways of Judaism, even a self-described Pharisee, (Acts 23:6) can we consider Christianity as we know it today to have in it the tentacles of Hellenism as ingredients to what we consider foundational?

For further reference, consider what Dobschütz points out regarding the similarities between Christianity and Hellenism in his article “Christianity and Hellenism”.[2]

[1] Montgomery J. Shroyer, “Paul’s Departure from Judaism to Hellenism”, Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 59, No. 1 (Mar 1940) 41

[2] E. von Dobschütz, “Christianity and Hellenism”, Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 33, No. 4 (Dec 1914)

My Daughter Did Not Want to Come Home

2011-07-11T23:40:00.000-06:00

Today my daughter went to her first all day church event starting at 9:00 am. Her long day of church activities includes a sleepover at the church after a day of swimming, Bible verse memorization and a scavenger hunt. I was very excited for her, however, I selfishly wanted her to call me or my wife to come pick her up. Why, you ask? If she calls for an early ride home that means she loves us and would rather be home with us than at church, right? If she does not call, she has chosen church over her loving parents.........
I told my wife I wish our kids could be dependent on us their entire lives and never let a day go by without calling us. Of course I know my 9 year old little girl loves us and I am thankful to God for the relationships she has with our church family.
This situation forced me into a state of conviction. As soon as the words left my mouth regarding our daughter's dependence on us the Holy Spirit was pulling on my heart strings asking if Jesus feels this way about His children. The answer is YES. We see God's desire for our dependence on Him in the garden with Adam and Eve, He is the one who seeks them out, to Paul's three day blindness causing total dependence on Jesus. How often do we neglect, or forget, to call our Heavenly Father who would love our call just to check in?
Later in the evening, I called the church to check on my daughter and of course she was alive and well.
Do we emphasize our children's necessity for dependence, while their young, on us while neglecting our dependence on our Father? I know I do.

Verziehen

Was Paul a Hellenist?

My Daughter Did Not Want to Come Home