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(Matthew 18:19,20)
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Section 2 - Lesson 15
The Loss of Our Hebraic Roots:
Man-Centered Hellenized Christendom
The Genesis of Hellenism
An Allegorized Christianity
The Loss of Our Hebraic Roots
Man-Centered Hellenized Christendom
“See to it that no one takes you
captive through hollow and deceptive
philosophy, which depends on
human tradition and the basic
principles of this world rather
than on Christ” (Colossians 2:8).
Most Christians in United States may speak
English, but they think “Greek.” Competition
between denominations; leaders who seek worldly acclaim; creeds
formed through philosophical debate— all are products of
Greek/Hellenistic thought which began to insinuate itself
within the Church in the second and third centuries.
Hellenistic influence has permeated
western Christendom so extensively and for so long that
it’s like bad breath: because of the generations of
familiarity with it, we’re unaware of its foul presence.
The basis for the religious humanism which
is saturating western Christianity at ever-increasing levels is
found in the Hellenist philosophical spirit. The common thread for both humanism and Hellenism
places man, not God, as the measure of all things.
Greek philosophy and humanism place man as
the ultimate evaluator of everything. God (if He is acknowledged
at all), and His Word, have merit only as far as man finds
useful to himself.
So how does a man-centered religion affect your world
perspective?
1. There are no God-given standards. The boundaries of His Law are open to your own
interpretation, or they’re done away with altogether
under a misguided definition of God’s
“grace”. Ethics and morality are based upon your
personal inclination or circumstances rather than on the holy
will of God.
2. Man becomes
utilitarian. By this we mean that you look for religious
practices and faith communities that will meet your needs and desires, regardless of God’s purpose for your life.
Biblical standards change and evolve according to
society’s ever-changing moral decline so that you can
blend in with the rest of the world.
How has this “spiritual
evolution” impacted western Christianity? A few prevalent
examples:
• Worldly forms of music are used to
worship a holy God, yet soulish self-satisfaction is the end
result.
• Women who call themselves
“pastor” encourage independence and autonomy among
other women, while men sink into the role of ineffectual
spiritual eunuchs.
• Bibles with a genderless God
refute the fatherhood of God and His purposeful differences
between the genders.
When your goals and desires are at the center of your
universe, you evaluate relationships and activities according
to what pleases you most. This is the aim of Hellenism.
Now recall God’s evaluation of man’s inner motive: “The LORD saw how great man’s
wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5). The original sin that’s
been mankind’s legacy since the fall is a reality; your
sin nature yearns to have its way!
As you observe the westernized
Christianity that’s being practiced around you, the
effects of man-centered Hellenism are glaringly obvious.
Compromising the truth of God’s Word and yielding to our
sin nature has produced:
• A religion with a Christian veneer
that consists of 23,000 competing denominations.
• A clergy system which has abided
among the top three occupations for divorce for several years.
• A divorce rate that’s higher
among church-goers than among the unchurched.
• A religion that bears
Christ’s title yet whose moral and ethical values are no
different than those of the world (per Christian pollster,
George Barna).
Is any of this reflective of the Church
that Jesus is building? NO! But the fault of this tragic
departure from the biblical pattern lies squarely at the feet
of a westernized Christianity that’s been dominated by
the philosophies and culture of the ancient Greeks.
The Hellenist influence, particularly that
of Plato, has severely limited the ability of Christians:
• To know
and experience the God Who is
revealed in the Bible.
• To grasp personal responsibility to
apply biblical truths to their vital relationships of God,
marriage, family and close friendships.
We mentioned in a previous lesson that as
the ranks of the early Church swelled with Gentiles, the impact
of its Hebraic roots shriveled. Believers became increasingly
vulnerable to a wide array of destructive pagan influences and
philosophies.
Roman military power had brought with it
an admirable road system and a relatively speedy communications
network. On one hand, the Gospel message that had permeated
Jerusalem could easily flow outward to the Gentile nations of
the world.
On the unfortunate other hand, the purity
and power of that message were corrupted by the dominant
cultural influence of the time, Greek philosophy. The decades
following the two Jewish revolts of AD 70 and AD 135 saw a
Hellenist, man-centered worldview begin to reshape the
Church.
The lessons in Section 2 will examine:
• The beginnings of Greek religious
thought, and specifically how it has sidetracked the Church
from its Hebraic roots.
• How the Hellenist perspective
swayed the Church to be dominated by Roman hierarchy and
organization.
Exploration of these factors is important
to you because you’ll better understand the continuing
impact of their influence on both current culture and
contemporary Christian practice.
The Loss of Our Hebraic Roots
The Genesis of Hellenism
Many centuries before Christ’s
advent, the Greeks had been known for their wide array of
mythological deities. These “gods” were beset by
the same personality quirks and behavioral foibles as mankind.
You may remember what Paul discovered as he strolled across
Athens, “For as I walked
around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even
found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD...” (Acts 17:23).
Athenians in general were consumed with
anxiety that they might offend any of the gods that they
perceived could rain destruction upon them. Followers of these
gods feared their superhuman capabilities and presented
offerings and worship to avoid personal calamity and
retribution. They couldn’t imagine relating to a god;
they were more intent on escaping the notice of their
capricious deities.
Some Greeks, however, refused to be
enslaved by idols. By the seventh century BC,
philosopher-mathematician Thales tried to dissuade the educated populace from
fables. Guided by the natural senses and by reason, Thales
argued, all of nature could be
understood through scientific observation and measurement.
Nature was the life source of energy that
controlled all of earth’s activities. Nature alone was
responsible for what could be experienced and examined.
Note: The Enlightenment of the eighteenth
century followed the same line of reasoning. Scholars at that
time denied any divine intervention into life. Rather, they
elevated rationalism and science as man’s guiding power. Faith that was
dependent on obedient trust in a righteous and loving Lord was
replaced by reason. Rationale and scientific justification
produced a religion of Christianity that was based on mental
assent to creeds rather than Spirit-empowered faith-in-action.
The Humanist
Manifesto that so controls American
education today reflects this ancient Thalesian fallacy. Ration-alism was
the guiding factor behind the German Higher Criticism
theologians of the nineteenth century who so openly attacked
the miraculous in the Bible and even questioned its
authenticity. This assault on the reliability of the Bible
overflows liberal Christendom today as scriptural truths are
manipulated to suit sinful cultural standards.
Church councils over the centuries have
doggedly ignored the Hebraic foundations of the earliest
Church. They have relied instead on reason and debate to produce
the vast array of man-created denominations we see today. The
sacred text which so clearly demonstrates a Hebraic perspective
of continuity between the testaments was read through a Hellenized
philosophical veil. The western church in particular has
suffered from the fracture that reason-dependence and
argumentation have produced.
Since the ancient Greeks had no sacred
texts from which to derive absolute standards, truth was
therefore relative. The manner in which truth was accepted
depended on the situation, as in today’s situation ethics in
which truth is altered to fit a predetermined outcome. (As the
writer of Ecclesiastes lamented, there is nothing new under the
sun!)
The difficulty in Thales’s reliance
on reason and observable measurement was this: If reason were the determinant for truth, whose reason was to
be followed? And whose conflicting
measurements and standards were to be followed?
The philosophical chaos that ensued led to
the Sophist rationale of the fifth century BC. The Sophists maintained
that people should strive for self-fulfillment in the here and now. Any pursuit was beneficial
only insofar as it benefited the individual, i.e., “What will I get out of
this?” (Isn’t this the goal of the demonic
“health and wealth gospel” and corporation-modeled
“church-growth movement” which influence a large
segment of Christendom in the United States?)
Needless to say, the civic authorities
were not thrilled with Sophist individualistic line of thought.
What would happen to the collective society if everyone did his
own thing? (Ask yourself the same question as it pertains to
the Church: What happens to the unity of the Body of Christ
when so many start their own denomination to focus on their
particular distinctive?)
Out of this argument between narcissism
and collectivism emerged Socrates. This philosopher insisted that there must be
absolutes of good, of justice, of virtue. Once the mind is
trained to seek these standards, then man can, through rationalization, develop his own reasons and means to attain these
ideals. (Keep in mind that the foundation for this reasoning is that man is basically good. The Greeks did not ascribe to the
Bible’s concept of humanity: people controlled by their
sin nature and bent on evil when left to their own devices (see
Genesis 8:21)).
Socrates’s disciple Plato recognized the
limitations of each man’s ability to discern what
goodness and justice really were. Turning instead to the
concept of cosmic dualism, he postulated
that life was divided into two components:
• First, the transcendent spiritual arena of eternal truths. This was an ideal, an
unattainable higher echelon or state of existence but a worthy
goal to aim for. Only this spiritual level had any good in it.
• Second, the temporal realm of the physical. Earthly concerns, such as food, shelter and
vocation, were vulgar and common but unfortunately necessary
for existence. Plato considered the physical arena of existence
“evil”.1
Keep in mind: Labeling the body as wicked
and only the spirit as honorable was in direct opposition to
the Hebraic view of humanity. God had formed man out of dust
for relationship with Him both on earth and in eternity. From
the mouth of God came not only the appraisal of His physical
creation as “good”, but of man as “very good”!
By God’s design and intent, man was
created in His image with both a physical body and a spirit.
These two aspects defined “man”. And, God, Who is
Spirit, placed such great value on His physical creation because
it testified to His greatness:
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine
nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so
that men are without excuse (Romans
1:20).
Plato’s dualist deceit entered
Christi-anity through the writings of Greek philosopher
converts. Not only did their
Platonic teachings nullify the Hebraic foundations of the
Church. These “Fathers of
Hellenism” also wrote
feverishly to reconcile Platonic thought with Christianity.
The dualist concept of the spiritual realm
as “good” and the physical as “evil”
brought about the myriad of religious
rituals that abound in
Christen-dom today.
Has it ever occurred to you that many of
your faith practices emanated from pagan sources rather than
from your Hebraic forefathers? Yes or No? Describe what you
believe to be God’s heart as He sees His children engaged
in pagan religious practices.
Can you recognize any dualism in your own
religious beliefs or practices, whereby the spirit is good but
the physical is evil? Yes or No? If yes, list a few.
The Loss of Our Hebraic Roots
An Allegorized Christianity
We’ve discussed some of the key
players prior to the incarnation of Jesus who set the stage
for disassociation from Older Testament truth. Let’s
investigate some post-ascension, Hellenism-saturated
individuals.
Mid-second century Rome found a wealthy
man of influence named Marcion promoting an anti-Semitic heresy. Borrowing a
view from Plato, Marcion maintained that the God of the Older
Testament was evil. By association, therefore, the chosen people of that God
were evil as well.
The God of the Hebrew Scriptures,
proclaimed Marcion, demanded sacrifice and blind obedience to
unreasonable laws. The Newer Testament, however,
introduced Jesus as a “god of love”, one in
whom there could be no relationship to the wrathful deity of
the Older Testament.
While Marcion’s views were
ultimately denounced and he himself excommunicated by the
church in Rome, traces of his views still permeate western
Christi-anity. Many congregations relegate the Hebrew
Scriptures to an occasional reference, as though Jesus had
appeared and taught out of some spiritual void.
Others deny that God has a hand in either
the return of the Jews to the Land of Israel that He promised
them, or that He will fulfill His promise to reveal to them the
One they pierced (see Zechariah 12:10).
A far deeper wedge was driven between
Hebraic and Hellenic believers with the teachings of Origen, often called “the father of
Christian theology.” Based in Alexandria, Egypt, he had been
enveloped by Hellenistic dualist teaching.
As Origen studied the Newer Testa-ment
from a dualist framework, he convinced himself to allegorize
the Older Testament away from its
historical perspective. He
considered the writings and history of the Hebrew Scriptures to
be too “earthy” to reconcile with his anti-physical
framework.
The result of Origen’s revamping the
reality of God’s very real interaction with His covenant
people Israel nullified any responsibility to His Law as a
guide for a life that pleases God. In fact, anything that
concerned the responsibilities of day-to-day living from a
practical stance was disdained.
Yet, our Father intended that the Hebrew
Scriptures serve as an object lesson and caution for followers
of His Son, especially if they think they can ignore the Older
Testament commands that Jesus deepened and expanded. The
character of our God is unchangeable, and the same persistent
disobedience that brought chastisement upon His beloved
Israelites can come upon His wayward church as well.
Note Paul’s admonition to followers
of Jesus today:
These things happened to them as examples and were
written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come (1 Corinthi-ans 10:11).
The book of Exodus and the Prophets,
especially Ezekiel, abound with a phrase aimed directly at the
Gentile nations God was chastising: “that they may know that I am the LORD (YHWH).” This all-powerful God of the Hebrews purposed
that His covenant name, YHWH, the great I AM, be made known. HE was the One
Who had orchestrated the sword, famine and pestilence that came
upon the persecutors of His chosen people.
This awesome and holy God intended for a holy and awesome fear of His power to come upon the heathen nations. And,
in reiterating that name to His people Israel, He was reminding them of
the reverential fear due His awesome Presence.
Contemporary westernized Christi-anity has
minimized any focus on the Hebrew Scriptures. The vast majority
of churchgoers are bereft of the fear
of the LORD of which God so
diligently reminded our spiritual predecessors.
How does ignorance of holy fear affect you as a follower of
Jesus? The very warnings to which Paul referred in 1Corinthians
10:11 were found in the Older
Testament, and were soundly
recounted as the early followers of Jesus were discipled. Even
as they deepened their walk in the Spirit, these folks became
well-grounded in the character of God through the example of
His interaction with the Israelites.
Be assured of this: There aren’t two Gods in the
Bible! The same God Who displayed both His mercy and His
justice is present in the Older as well as the Newer Testament.
Remember, Jesus is eternal—the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:18). He existed in union with His Father before His
incarnation. The same holy fear our holy Lord commanded His Beloved Israel is
required of the Bride of Christ as well (1 Peter 2:17)!
Willful disregard of the relational responsibilities of holy fear and
love-grounded obedient trust that God called for in His
“wife” Israel opened the way for heresy to be
accepted in the Church. In place of the literal text that God
had revealed to His people Israel, Origen developed a system of typology. Older Testament truth became a symbol of what God
intended to apply to the Church. Christ was read into every
possible context so that anything that smacked of the reality
of daily earthly life was erased.
It was only a short step to transfer the
promises made by God to Israel to the Church as Christ was
“read” into Older Testament passages. An obvious
example is the prevalent view that the Song of Songs was really
all about Jesus and the Church.
Out of Origen’s teaching emerged the
lie that all of the Older Testament curses were the legacy of
the Jews, while all of the blessings would be inherited by the
Church. Such interpretation nullified God’s focus on the
Jewish people as His precious and chosen people in whom HE
would put a new spirit (see Ezekiel 11:19). Origen essentially
nullified the everlasting promises that God directed specifically to the
Jews!
The Hebrew Scriptures were reinterpreted
so that only that which could be “Christianized” in
the Newer Testament had validity. Origen’s teaching led
Christians to claim that they were “The New Israel”,
and spawned what is known today as “Replacement (or
supercessionist) Theology.” In other words, the Jewish
people have ceased to be part of God’s promises and plans
because they’ve been replaced by Christians.
Today’s negation or minimization of
the Older Testament within the Christian community can be
traced back to Origen. Yet Paul affirms, “All Scripture is
God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the
man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good
work” (2 Timothy 3:
16,17)—and the only Scripture in existence when he penned
these words was the Older Testament.
Eager theological students from all over
flocked to Alexandria to be impregnated with Origen’s
teachings, which they then propagated throughout the known
world. The tragic outcome of this perpetration has penetrated
contemporary Christian thought today. Many think that:
• The Older Testament, especially its
curses, was written solely for the Jew. The Jewish people are
no longer part of God’s plan, notwithstanding multiple everlasting promises He
has made to them!
• The Laws of God found in the Older
Testament are meaningless to Chris-tians. (The Book of 1 John
totally disproves this lie.)
•Both the Older and Newer Testament
blessings apply to Christians, who are “The New Israel”.
(See Romans chapters 9-11 for a sound refutation of this
deception!)
You may be asking yourself how believers
could so willingly stray from the truth as it had been
presented in the Word. Initially,
the majority of Chris-tians opposed Origen’s teachings.
Remember, the Alexandrian system of
allegory which explained away the context and content of the Hebrew Bible
emanated from the converted Greek philosophers who desired to
integrate Greek philosophy with the Bible. NOT ONE among the
Hellenist philosophers who so influenced the church sought to
trust and obey the God Who had revealed Himself first in the
Hebrew Bible.
Over time the Hellenist writings of the
Church Fathers were venerated by the religious system even more
highly than the Scriptures. Therefore no pressure was exerted
to stay true to the meaning that had been intended by the Scripture writers.
As students from the Alexandria schools
spread and established their own arenas of instruction,
Hellenist-influenced interpretations gained ground steadily,
ultimately achieving near-universal acceptance within the
Church.
By the early fifth century the use of
allegory had become engrained in ecclesiastical thought. This
was due particularly because of the tremendous influence of Augustine, whose
writings held enormous sway in broad areas of Christendom.
This late fourth-century theologian also
promoted the concept that church
authority superseded that of the
Scrip-tures. This was the basis by which Roman Catholicism,
then and now, asserts that both the Bible and “church tradition”
are the foundation for religious practice.
Augustine’s writings undergirded an
educated clergy class who were endued with great power over the
common man. Anyone who objected to anything the clergy taught
or did was threatened with excommunication, a fearful pros-pect in which the disobedient
individual was forbidden the Eucharist and any of the other
Sacraments. This was serious business!
Because clergy dominance was so
well-entrenched within Christendom, clergy-controlled Church
Councils formulated creeds that fit neatly into their
syllogistic, left-brain thinking pattern. [See Lesson 8.
Restoring the Early Church: A
Hebraic Perspective: Hebraic Logic.]
The impact of these anti-Semitic
philosophers has not faded. Today within Protestantism, any
time you hear someone proclaiming they’re part of a
“New Testament Church”, they’ve succumbed to
the teachings of Origen or other Hellenist-influenced writers.
Anytime Newer Testaments are singled out for distribution
without including the Older Testament, Hellenism rather than
God is being upheld.
Have you been exposed to allegory as a
means to spiritualize parts of the Older Testament so that they
would apply to the Church? Describe the teaching you received.
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