Hellenism's Lingering Influence

Transcription

1 BSFL: Book of Romans Hellenism's Lingering Influence 46 BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR / WINTER

2 ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ G.B. HOWELL (35/35/18) By Paul N. Jackson Enjoyed any good dramas at the theater lately? Cheered on your hometown football team at the high school or college stadium? Improved your cardio-vascular condition or muscular strength at a gymnasium? Exercised your freedom to vote in a democratic society? Employed geometric calculations to build a house or calculated the perimeter of the rooms in that house to know how many gallons of paint to buy? Wondered how doctors and pharmacologists communicate with surgical precision even though you do not understand the terminology or cannot read the prescriptions? Enjoyed reading your Bible lately? Great Roots If you answered yes to any one of the preceding questions, you can thank the Greeks. As British theologian John Drane has aptly stated, There is no such thing as a civilization that comes from nowhere. We are all heirs to the past. In the world of the first Christians, the outward forms of administration and government were those of the Roman empire. But its cultural roots were embedded in a different world altogether. The way people spoke and thought, their aspirations and achievements, and their hopes and fears all went back to pre-roman times. For the world of the Roman empire had its real origins some three hundred years before the time of Jesus, with one of the first rulers ever to establish a world empire: Alexander the Great ( bc). 1 The Romans cultural ancestors were thus the Greeks, who developed a way of life known as Hellenism. ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ BRENT BRUCE/ METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART/ NEW YORK (60/7598) [Hellenism is a] modern term for the dominative interaction of Greek culture with the cultures of people from other regions of the ancient world, particularly during the three centuries from Alexander the Great to the triumph of Rome over the last of the Greek kingdoms in the Battle of Actium [ b.c.]. 2 In short, people began to use the term Hellenism to describe those who thought and lived according to Greek culture and traditions. So, we must consider that if Greek culture still exerts such a heavy footprint on us today, imagine its dominance and importance in the first century! As Alexander conquered a land, he established Greek cities as centers of governance and Greek culture. At the same time, he sought to gain the willing allegiance of the peoples he conquered by retaining many of their cultural norms. 3 After Alexander s untimely death in 323 b.c., however, four generals carved up his vast empire. Crucial for New Testament concerns are Left: At the west side of the agora (marketplace) in Athens stands a prominent columned building, the Temple of Hephaestus, which honored the Greek god Hephaestus and goddess Athena. Temple construction began in 449 B.C. This is one of the best-preserved temples of ancient Greece. Right: A white marble statue of Alexander the Great. Originally the right hand, which has not survived, held a bronze spear. The left hand held a sword, the hilt of which is still intact. The statue is Hellenistic; from the 2nd cent. B.C. Left: Sword scabbard is decorated with a scene depicting the battle between Greeks and barbarians. In the frieze, the Greeks have superior weaponry, helmets, uniforms, and shields. The scabbard, ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ BOB SCHATZ/ ISTANBUL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM (12/20/14) which has sheetmetal goldwork, reflects Greek workmanship and dates to about B.C. WINTER / BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR 47

3 REBELS WITH A CAUSE COIN: ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ JAMES McLEMORE/ JERRY VARDAMAN COLLECTION (14/4/20) CANDLES: ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ KEN TOUCHTON (3/2/20) Left: In Jerusalem, a Jewish mom lights Hanukkah candles with her child. The annual celebration dates back to the first Jewish revolt (164 B.C.) when Judas Maccabeus cleansed the Jerusalem temple of Greek idols, including the Olympian Zeus, which had been set up on the temple s altar. Upon entering the temple, the Jews found a single container of oil, enough to light the menorah for one day. Miraculously, though, the menorah kept burning for eight days. Jews light one candle for each of the eight days of Hanukkah. Left: Coin of Antiochus IV Epiphanes; obverse has a bust of Zeus Cassius, looking right and wearing a laurel crown with symbol of Osiris in a circle of fine dots. The reverse depicts Zeus seated. Antiochus IV Epiphanes set up a statue of Zeus on the Jerusalem temple altar and offered pigs as sacrifices to him. The Jews retook control of the temple and rededicated it to God. The celebration of Hanukkah is also known as the Feast of Dedication, a celebration Jesus and His disciples observed (see John 10:22-23). Below: Modern Modiin, Israel, is about 20 miles west of Jerusalem. The Maccabean revolt against the Hellenistic Seleucids began in Modiin as it was the original home of the Maccabees. The Maccabean revolt (also known as the first Jewish revolt) occurred because the Jews were determined to remain true to Yahweh and refused to worship the Greek gods. Antiochus IV Epiphanes had outlawed all Jewish worship celebrations, including observing the feasts and festivals, keeping the Sabbath, and practicing circumcision. Judas Maccabeus, leader of the revolt and son of a Jewish high priest, became one of the greatest warriors in Jewish history. ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ BOB SCHATZ (17/18/10) Above: Small theater (or odium ) at Alexandria, Egypt. The marble seats could accommodate about 800 spectators. Following the tradition of the Greeks, the Romans constructed this theater in the 4th 6th centuries A.D. FREEISRAELPHOTOS.COM Right: In the latter part of the 4th cent. B.C. play production flourished, especially in Athens. Actors wore masks to indicate the gender and status of the person being portrayed. Marble theater masks, such as this one, decorated theaters and funerary monuments. only two of those generals Ptolemy and Seleucus. For many years they and their descendants battled over control of the area then called Palestine. Mixed Fruit The academically inclined Ptolemies proved to serve a nobler purpose for God s people than did the Seleucids. Alexandria, Egypt developed into one of the top three centers of scholarship and learning, alongside Rome and Tarsus. A large part of Alexandria s population was Jewish. To meet the need for a readable translation of the Old Testament, as most Jews scattered throughout the Mediterranean world no longer read or spoke Hebrew, scholars worked to translate the Hebrew Old Testament into common (or Koine) Greek. 4 This Greek translation came to be known as the Septuagint. 5 The Septuagint is vastly important for New Testament studies as its writers often quoted it when interacting with the Old Testament. 6 So, God chose Greek as one of the three languages in which the entire Bible 48 BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR / WINTER

4 ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ G.B. HOWELL/ ATHENS ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM (35/1/90) would be written; the other two being Hebrew and Aramaic. Conversely, on the scene during this time between the testaments appeared one of the most brutal enforcers of Greek culture the Jews ever had to endure Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Dubbed a madman, Antiochus failed to maintain the vision of Alexander, the founding father. In order to horrify the Jews thoroughly, he had a gymnasium constructed near the temple where young boys competed in the nude. 7 After being humiliated by a Roman envoy in Egypt, he returned to Jerusalem where he commenced to crucifying thousands of Jews; burned numerous copies of the law; and ultimately desecrated the temple by sacrificing a pig and other unclean animals to Zeus on the altar and instituting the practice of sacred prostitution in its precincts. Then, messiahlike Judas Maccabeus spearheaded an effective Jewish counterpunch against this brand of Hellenization. He eventually cleansed Jerusalem and the temple of both a genocidal maniac and of impure, abominable practices. This event occurred on the Hebrew date of ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ GB HOWELL/ Museum of Fine Arts/ Boston (64/2032) 25 Kislev (or according to our calendar, December 14, 164 b.c.), and is known as Hanukkah, which Jews still celebrate today. Even though many of God s people suffered at the hands of some ignoble leaders, Greek culture s influx paved the way for two extremely effective, yet counter movements the spread of Roman rule and the spread of the gospel. The Romans often easily gained quick and solid unity among the people they conquered because of the pervading Greek culture. 8 All the while Rome ruled, Greek remained the street language the people spoke. Secondly, the birth and subsequent spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire was aided by the existence of many Greekspeaking people in and around the Mediterranean world. The 27 documents in the New Testament were written in this street-language Greek. Apostolic Assessment When time came for Paul to communicate the gospel in written form to believers living in Rome, likely during the winter of a.d. 57, he provided clear evidence that the terms for Gentile and Greek were different, but only from a non-christian perspective. Gentile was a broader term referring to any person who was not a Jew; a Greek was someone who was either from Greece or who spoke the Greek language. Nevertheless, a Greek was also considered a non-jew. So, did Paul intend to make a distinction between a Greek and a Gentile in Romans 1:8 17? No, he was merely acknowledging what Right: From the western Nile Delta, limestone relief highlights Ptolemy I s loyalty to Egypt; he offers a bowl of flaming incense to Hathor, the Egyptian goddess of love, joy, song, dance, and the sky, as well as the protector of women. Ptolemy, a Macedonian general under Alexander, was appointed as ruler of Egypt (ruled B.C.) after Alexander's death. WINTER / BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR 49

5 ISTOCK PHOTO Left: Temple of Artemis at Gerasa (modern Jerash, which is about 30 miles north of Amman, Jordan). The temple likely dates from the 2nd cent. A.D. Greeks considered Artemis to be Apollo's twin sister and goddess of the hunt, the forest, and of wild animals. Below: Fragmentary terracotta and faience reflector from a lamp; image depicts a scene from the Battle of Actium. Shown is a warship with a figurehead in the form of a centaur; soldiers are standing on a fighting platform. Dated 20 B.C. A.D. 20. the Greeks thought about anyone who was non-greek; namely, they were all barbarians! The latter is derogatory and demonstrates the supposed inferiority of all non-greeks in the minds of the Greeks. Paul in no way accepted this viewpoint, but by paralleling Greeks and barbarians with the wise and the foolish, Paul showed he could make a derogatory statement of his own: all who do not share my insight are fools! 9 While Paul used a key language component of Greek culture to communicate the gospel, he certainly humbled the Greeks by including them in the worldwide indictment of Romans 3:23: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (hcsb). While we can thank the Greeks for many useful and enjoyable elements in our life today, we must nevertheless remember they stood arm-in-arm with the rest of the Gentiles who heartily practiced the 21 sins listed in Romans 1: Whether persons practiced this kind of Gentile unrighteousness or the Jewish self-righteousness that Paul went on to describe in Romans 2, all were guilty before God. The good news of the gospel, however, is that, regardless of background, each person is equally invited to partake of the Lord s gracious invitation to be a member of the only culture that truly matters the culture of the kingdom of God. 10 To do anything less would be truly barbaric. I 1. John Drane, Introducing the New Testament (Tring, England: Lion, 1986), David E. Aune, Hellenism in Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, ed. in chief David Noel Freedman (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), James S. Jeffers, The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era: Exploring the Background of Early Christianity (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), Details about the Septuagint s production are unclear. For a brief explanation, see Neil R. Lightfoot, How We Got the Bible, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2003), The name Septuagint comes from the Latin term for 70, septuaginta. Writers abbreviate the Septuagint with the Roman numerals LXX, which refers to refer to the rounded-off number of the 72 scholars who worked on the translation. 6. Karen H. Jobes and Moisés Silva, Invitation to the Septuagint (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2000), The word gymnasium comes from the Greek term gumna/zw (gumnazo), which means to exercise naked. 8. Any person lacking this cultural distinctive was thought of as barbaric. 9. James D. G. Dunn, Romans 1 8, vol. 38a in Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word Books, 1988), This was also Paul s point in the Corinthian correspondence. If God were either weak or foolish, He would still be infinitely more wise and powerful than the best the Greeks or the Gentiles could ever offer. See 1 Cor. 1:18 31 and 2 Cor. 4:7 18. Paul N. Jackson is professor of Christian Studies at Union University, Jackson, Tennessee. ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ DAVID ROGERS/ BRITISH MUSEUM/ LONDON (560/16) 50 BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR / WINTER