Philo of Alexandria had spoken of the Logos as mediating between the transcendent God and the created order. II.147.13 (IX.147). It has been argued, however, that . Hellenistic religion was based on a polytheistic tradition of hundreds of Greek gods, conflicting with Christianity's adherence to belief in one God. ad Greg. 48 Danilou, Origen, 209. 35 Princ. 1.5.3; 1.6.2; 3.3.5. On the difficulties of finding a creationist view prior to Origen, see esp. Pick who will make the biggest immediate impact. in n. 61 above). ; Bibliothque de lcole des hautes tudes, sciences religieuses 37, 43, 44; Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1928) 3:1056. 28 Comm. The Hellenistic world is that world that was created after the conquests of the near east by Alexander the Great at the end of the fourth century B.C. berlegungen zur Grenzziehung zwischen Platonismus und Christentum, TRu36 [1971] 285302). Matt. 2: a specialist in the language or culture of ancient Greece. See esp. A common criticism of historic orthodox Christianity is the claim that early Christianity was corrupted by the intellectual forces of 'Hellenism.' (Hellenism, of course, refers to the influence of ancient Greek philosophy and culture, which spread throughout the Mediterranean world after the conquests of Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC.) Matthew J. O'Connell; 3 vols. 171172) as, it appears, does Rufinus (Princ. Its membership was drawn from the ethnic group for whom the deity was indigenous, and the group tended to continue to speak the native language. %PDF-1.6 % 75cd). For others, however, for other people in the Jewish tradition, it probably was more of a problem that Herod, supposedly a Jewish king, would have been so willing to turn himself over, as it were, to Roman religious interests and Roman imperial ideology. 20 See Comm. 1.4); Porphyry (Eusebius, Hist. Second-century Platonists, for example, found it easy to think of Mind (nous) or Reason (Logos) as divine power immanent within the world. We now come to the heart of the issue. Indeed, many of these native religions underwent a conscious archaism during this period, attempting to recover earlier forms and practices. What are the 5 basic beliefs of Christianity? 4.30; Comm. 69 Princ. John Austin Baker; 3 vols. For example, Isis (Egypt), Baal (Syria), the Great Mother (Phrygia), Yahweh (Palestine), and Mithra (Kurdistan) were worshiped in their native lands as well as in Rome and other cosmopolitan centres. For a good rehearsal of Origen's expertise in philosophy, see Dorival, Gilles, L'apport d'Origne pour la connaissance de la philosophie grecque, in Origeniana Quinta (ed. `-Sr*Oz[%,qniD94iS=1MI}Oc&`c$1"N%! The great Church Father compared Classical literature to the gold of the Egyptians, which God permitted the Hebrews to use on their journey to the Promised Land even though it had once been used in pagan religious practice. 88.34 that parallels Origen's lists (Philosophical Tradition and the Self, in Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World [ed. 2.9.2 where Origen claims that the goodness of these prelapsarian souls was the result of their Creator's beneficence (GK 404, 165.21). Many thanks to the respondent, Trenton Merricks, as well as to the helpful comments of the conference participants. For additional passages where Origen is contrasted with an invariably deficient Plato, see: 45; 25; 2829; 3638; 4142; 61; 6869; 72; 87; 88 n. 146; 9395. The opposition of the Jews to them led to breaches of the peace. The prophet or saviour replaced the priest and king as the chief religious figure. Hellenistic religion, any of the various systems of beliefs and practices of eastern Mediterranean peoples from 300 bc to ad 300. : Harvard University Press, 1999] 76). Martyr guided this Hellenistic philosophical trend toward the monotheism of Christianity. Ronald E. Heine; FC 80; Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1989] 14344). Jo. This is FRONTLINE's old website. Taylor Echolls is an award-winning writer whose expertise includes health, environmental and LGBT journalism. Ti. Philo was an example of the intense Hellenization of Judaism. de Boor; 2 vols. Cor. first christians. However, it is important to mention that among Platonists in antiquity, and indeed, even within Plato's writings, there was substantial debate, and differing views, about how souls became embodied. Instead, they possessed pre-determined rational natures, some lost, incapable of receiving salvation, and others saved, incapable of being lost. ; A History of Early Christian Doctrine Before the Council of Nicaea; Philadelphia: Westminster, 1972) 2:415. . St. Augustine held that although Classical literature contained superstitious imaginings, it included references to moral truths and learning that could be used in the service of God. Marmodoro, Anna Hostname: page-component-75b8448494-m747x The paper surveys the sources and emergence of Messianic Jewish Christology, examining five representative Christologies. There was a continuation of the program of Herod the Great, the father of Herod Antipas. There used to be a debate in the literature over whether this council also published, in addition to its condemnation of Origen in the eleventh canon, a series of fifteen anathemas against his controversial teachings, pre-existence included (see esp. It's Me, Margaret.". 66 Princ. 34.5; Comm. (3) Edwards then discusses Princ. Questions and Caveats, Recollection and Experience: Plato's Theory of Learning and Its Successors, Plato Christianus: bernahme und Umgestaltung des Platonismus durch die Vter. eccl. The present version was revised while I was a fellow at the Center for Philosophy of Religion (Notre Dame, 20122013). 2.3.4; Cels. The Christian Apologists of the 2nd century were a group of writers who sought to defend the faith against Jewish and Greco-Roman critics. That's certainly an example of the way in which Greek literary forms and Greek language impacted Jewish civilization and literary traditions. 3:1011 (= Pamphilus, Apol. That seems to me a confusion. 15.35; Comm. ; Darmstadt, Germany: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1992). Jo. hom. Byers, Sarah C., Perception, Sensibility, and Moral Motivation in Augustine: A Stoic-Platonic Synthesis (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2012)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Gen. 11.2, Ep. 34 Princ. 63 Princ. Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. eccl. 3.4.2. Extending from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Indus River, from the forests of Germany and the steppes of Russia to the Sahara Desert and the Indian Ocean, it took in an area of some 1.5 million square miles (3.9 million square kilometres; most of Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Africa, Persia, and the borderlands of India) and had a total population of more than 54 million. Thus, while not formally included in the acts of the council, the bishops certainly had Justinian's letter and these anathemas fresh in mind when they formally condemned Origen at the council. Elsewhere: the only regrettable doctrine that has a real basis in his writings is the doctrine of the preexistence of souls (The Patristic Period [ed. 4973. I examine three representative Pauline texts1 Cor 8:4-6, Rom 11:36, and Col 1:15-17to see how Paul speaks about the Christian God. Princ. Violence against them could be precipitated by a bad harvest, a barbarian attack, or a public festival of the emperor cult. 51.7). Gnostic and Gnosticism are modern labels that usually designate a distinctive subset of Christians. less Christian theology has been influenced (far too much!) 3.33). Eph. Yet, there were also long periods of peace, and the stability provided by the empire and its network of roads and communications may have facilitated Christianitys growth. See the extensive recent discussion of this topic by Blosser, Become Like the Angels, 60141. 1.8.2. There was a high degree of comfort or acculturation with many aspects of Greek life and thought. Whenever this adversarial Hellenic spirit triumphed, as it inevitably did, it corroded an authentic living Christianity into an institutionalized, dogmatic religion. 1516; Cels. 3:1011 (=Pamphilus, Apol. 79 For Origen, this comes close to the imitation of Christ's soul contemplating its Maker (see esp. Judy Blume described it in print, in her seminal 1970 novel, "Are You There God? The content here may be outdated or no longer functioning. Much of this activity would have centered in Alexandria, the capital of Egypt, but there was similar activity going on in Palestine, and some of these literary products that survive in some cases only in fragments, were probably written in Palestine, by Jews who were adopting these Hellenistic literary modes. 49(240); Gig. In particular, Martyr used the Greek concept of internal and external thought to illustrate Jesus Christ's relationship with God, and thus Christ's messiah status. 0_e_@4!P would have been the Syrian kingdom, the Seleucid kingdom, and the Ptolemaic kingdom which survived in Egypt, which was finally taken over by Rome in 31 B.C. We do not know just what is meant by "the link between the Palestinian and hellenistic development of Judaism." Harvey, Susan Ashbrook and Hunter, David G.; Oxford Handbooks; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008) 67290Google Scholar; Markschies, Christoph, Does it Make Sense to Speak of a Hellenization of Christianity in Antiquity? Church History and Religious Culture 92 (2012) 3334CrossRefGoogle Scholar. behind the scenes Justin and other Christian apologists certainly argued that the tradition of polytheistic belief and practice that was current in the Greco-Roman world was wrong, was immoral, and was philosophically deficient. This latter union was the result of a descent, but it was not precipitated by a sinful fall (see Origen against Plato, 8997; the arguments are rehearsed at Origen's Platonism, 3435). Herwig Grgemanns and Heinrich Karpp; Texte zur Forschung 24; 3rd ed. 1.4; 6.3; 6.1314; 7.6; 7.4547; 7.71; Princ. Significant statements on pre-existence in Plato's writings surface at Meno 80d81c; 85e86b; Phaed. Offers a definition to be defended and addresses objections to the doctrine from theodicy, history, and divine relationality. 45 Princ. 167; Jerome, Comm. by the Hebrew doctrine of Wisdom, but it does not follow that this doctrine was of influence with the writers of the New Testament. There were varying clashes between the two ideals Hellenism and Christianity which were often deemed 'incompatible'. Academia.edu uses cookies to personalize content, tailor ads and improve the user experience. Content may require purchase if you do not have access. 2.18182; Comm. Like the Jews, the Christians (unless they were gnostic) were opposed to syncretism. For another extended account of the fall, see the discussion that begins at Cels. Each of these native religions also had diasporic centres that exhibited marked change during the Hellenistic period. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 5 See Harnack's distinction between Jewish and Hellenistic views of pre-existence and Origen's illustration of the latter variety (History of Dogma, 1:318-31).Note as well the perspective by one of Origen's most important modern biographers, Eugne de Faye, in his Origen and His Work (trans. His successor at Alexandria, Origen, showed less interest in literary and aesthetic matters but was a greater scholar and thinker; he first applied the methods of Alexandrian philology to the text of the Bible. Other verses that suggest this doctrine include: Eccl 1:910 (Princ. While majorities of both Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (84%) and Republicans and Republican leaners (61%) say religion should be kept separate from . The great bishop-theologian Cyprian of Carthage was martyred during the next great wave of persecutions (257259), which were aimed at eradicating the leaders of the church. & C. Black, 1977] 345). for this article. HVnH+ venY$LAn--8$5)Kb-{U`+?"J1lvy)JwM{UQT=&U{Q5"0Vv/C/4"reU]Y\47k2c The empire of Alexander and his successors created a great world community which, whether in Macedonian, Greco-Roman, or its later Christian form, established a cultural unity that was destined to be broken only 1,000 years later with the advent of Muslim imperialism (beginning in 7th century ad). 50. 19). See as well Edwards, Mark, Origen's Platonism. Angelo Di Berardino and Basil Studer; trans. This is correct, but it is not relevant to the discussion of humans, whose pre-existent souls Origen says did sin prior to their embodiment (Origen against Plato, 92). Jo. Thanks to Gretchen Reydams-Schils, as well as the graduate students, fellows, and faculty affiliated with the Center, who provided valuable critique. It has received its most extended critique in Gavrilyuk, Paul L., The Suffering of the Impassible God: the Dialectics of Patristic Thought (Oxford Early Christian Studies; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. 148 0 obj <>stream Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. To learn more, view ourPrivacy Policy. 77 The theory of recollection is used in Phaed. 2; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1901). The reasons for this persecution are uncertain but have been ascribed, among other things, to the influence of Galerius, a fanatic follower of the traditional Roman religion; Diocletians own devotion to traditional religion and his desire to use Roman religion to restore complete unity in the empire; and the fear of an alienation of rebellious armies from emperor worship. Christologische Forschungen und Perspektiven (Freiburg: Herder, 1975)Google Scholar; Scheffczyk, Leo, Tendenzen und Brennpunkte der neueren Problematik um die Hellenisierung des Christentums (Sitzungsberichte der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften; Munich: Verlag der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1982)Google Scholar; Meijering, E. P., Die Hellenisierung des Christentums im Urteil Adolf von Harnacks (Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Afd. Some of them having to do with fundamental philosophical issues such as the nature of reality and the nature of God. 48). And how would the Hellenistic world have influenced Jesus? 72 Edwards, Origen against Plato, 410, 15961. 72e77a to argue for the soul's pre-existent state where it contemplated the forms. The study of Hellenistic religions is a study of the dynamics of religious persistence and change in this vast and culturally varied area. 2.9.4 (GK 408, 167.2731/Butterworth, 132). One must think of the development of the eastern Mediterranean, really, in two major phases. By the middle of the century we see someone like Justin Martyr, for instance, one of the early Christian apologists, that is, one of the people who was trying to explain Christianity to the Greco-Roman world and doing so in the context of and using the categories of Greco-Roman thought. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). translator's preface to book 3). Hellenization, or Hellenism, refers to the spread of Greek culture that had begun after the conquest of Alexander the Great in the fourth century, B.C.E. Edwards, however, suggests that we read the phrase as from the beginning of his creation, i.e., Christ's soul was only created with his body and that from this beginning it clung to the Word. 12.41. teachers' guide. See esp. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings. 5.30 (SC 147, 88.9). pref.2). Language and philosophy were both exports from Greece at this time, and soon polytheistic Hellenism came into conflict with Christianity. 13 Origen was as aware as Justinian (or Harnack) of the potential danger of philosophy to corrode the church's central convictions. Hom. For the first time, Rome was conscious that Christians were distinct from Jews. On Stoic definitions, see esp. This fusion produced Christianity and its sister heresies collectively known as Gnosticism. It is not true to say.that Hellenism had no appreciable influence upon the development of Judaism; its influence was appreciable for many centuries; but it was driven out of the Jewish camp by the national sentiment aroused in the Maccabean and Bar Kokba revolts, and in forming the bridge between Judaism and Christianity it lost whatever . Some of them having to do with issues of ethics and morality. Some it rejects, others it approves of, the object being that the creature may be guided in accordance with these latter images. Thus, Origen continues, since there are in the nature of reason possibilities of contemplating good and evil, by following out which and contemplating them both we are led to choose good and avoid evil (Princ. 3.1.1 and esp. 75 There are numerous references to Phaedrus in Origen's writingssee, for example, the index to Cels. St. Clement of Rome cited the dramatists Sophocles and Euripides. 70 For Origen, as for other early Christian authors, the attractiveness of pre-existence was its ability to function as a theodicy. The German and Swedish Lutheran Mission was a major and pioneering Protestant mission society that started its mission work in Tamil Nadu. 2, Issue 1, February 2015. The misleading tendency to present Origen as a dogmatizer on pre-existence is already clearly developed by Epiphanius (see his Ep. 1.7.2; 1.8.2; 2.9.5; 3.1.1; 3.1.23; Cels. The relation of the early church to late Judaism, The relation of the early church to the career and intentions of Jesus, The contemporary social, religious, and intellectual world, The internal development of the early Christian church, Relations between Christianity and the Roman government and the Hellenistic culture, The early liturgy, the calendar, and the arts, Theological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries, Political relations between East and West, The Photian schism and the great East-West schism, Christianity from the 16th to the 21st century, Scripture and tradition: the apostolic witness, Evangelism: the first teaching about the God of Jesus Christ, Catechesis: instructing candidates for baptism, Aversion of heresy: the establishment of orthodoxy, Restatement: respecting language and knowledge, Inculturation: respecting places and peoples, Development: the maturation of understanding, Schism: division over substantial matters, Characteristic features of the Christian concept of God, The belief in the oneness of the Father and the Son, Different interpretations of the person of Jesus, The doctrine of the Virgin Mary and holy Wisdom, Conflict between order and charismatic freedom, The basis for the doctrine of the Trinity, The new man: The human being in the light of Christ, New liturgical forms and antiliturgical attitudes, Veneration of places, objects, and people, Expectations of the kingdom of God in early Christianity, Expectations of the kingdom of God in the medieval and Reformation periods, Expectations of the kingdom of God in the post-Reformation period, The role of imminent expectation in missions and emigrations, Eschatological expectations and secularization, History of the interactions of philosophy and theology, Arguments from religious experience and miracles, Characteristics of Christian myth and legend, Messianic secrets and the mysteries of salvation, The church and the Byzantine, or Eastern, Empire, Church and state in Eastern and Western theology, Intellectualism versus anti-intellectualism, The tendency to spiritualize and individualize marriage, Missions to South East Asia and the Pacific, Ecumenism since the start of the 20th century. I incline to the former view: see esp. its literature. Christian culture has been built, almost from the very first, on a double foundation, that of both Hebraism and Hellenism, to use Matthew Arnold's terms; and it was precisely the development of Greek culture toward certain religious and philosophical ideas which made this possible. 73 Edwards's view appears to be that for Origen the soul was created by God and had an existence tethered to some sort of body for only the briefest moment of time before it was united to its earthly body. Jerome, Ep. 4 For more on the Hellenization of Christianity thesis, see esp. See the bibliographic essay by Ulrich Berner, Origenes (Ertrge der Forschung 147; Darmstadt, Germany: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1981), for the divisive Bible versus philosophy portrait that has informed so much writing about Origen over the last two hundred years. mine). See Walther Vlker, Das Vollkommenheitsideal des Origenes: eine Untersuchung zur Geschichte der Frmmigkeit und zu den Anfngen christlicher Mystik (Beitrge zur historischen Theologie 7; Tbingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1931), where he argues for a merely formal influence of philosophy on Origen. Paris: tudes augustiniennes, 1985)Google Scholar. Groups such as the Donatists in North Africa, for example, refused to recognize as Christians those who had sacrificed to the emperor or turned over holy books during the persecutions. 3:1011 (= Pamphilus, Apol. Was monotheism a big issue in Justin's debate as well with his pagan audience? ), History, Culture, and Religion of the Hellenistic Age, The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies. It was to that world what English is to the modern world in many ways, what French was to the world of the 19th century. The classic discussion of Origen's theodicy is by Hal Koch, Pronoia und Paideusis: Studien ber Origenes und sein Verhltnis zum Platonismus (Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 22; Berlin: De Gruyter, 1932); more recently, see Scott, Journey Back to God, esp. 10 Henri Crouzel, Origen (trans. 44 Harnack, History of Dogma, 1:1 and 18 (where dogma is sinisterly described as a real world power). ; 2 vols. See esp. Note also Cels. Popular gossip soon accused the Christians of secret vices, such as eating murdered infants (because of the secrecy surrounding the Lords Supper and the use of the words body and blood) and sexual promiscuity (because of the practice of Christians calling each other brother or sister while living as husband and wife). Die Hellenisierung des Christentums in der Geschichte der Theologie von Luther bis auf die Gegenwart, HellenisierungJudaisierung des Christentums als Deuteprinzipien der Geschichte des kirchlichen Dogmas: Mit ihm und in ihm. 1.10.1; Comm. " he!W'0`Y>},h)T:;M}&Dj75@10UGvIEf& Broadly speaking, Hellenism is a polytheistic religion that understands the Gods are unchanging, unbegotten, eternal, and not in space. 23 De Anima 27 (see also 25 and 34 and the corresponding discussions in Waszink, De Anima). Since these are personal objects of contemplation, there is nothing strained when Origen envisions souls not only contemplating, but also loving God and the Son (Princ. Note as well that Ramelli has recently revived the thesis that it is possible that Origen the Christian and Origen the Platonist were one and the same personsee, Origen the Christian Middle/Neoplatonist: New Arguments for a Possible Identification, IECH 1 (2011) 98130. Jer. 2.8.2; 2.8.5; 2.11.1; 3.4.1; 3.4.4. My field is New Testament studies-in essence the continuation of his interest.
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