Was Paul a Hellenist?

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]

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[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)