72e77a to argue for the soul's pre-existent state where it contemplated the forms. In Dawson's words, this "synthesis has remained the foundation of Western culture and has never been destroyed.". However, creationism becomes, according to J. N. D. Kelly, the prevalent Greek theory by the fourth century (Early Christian Doctrines [5th ed. " he!W'0`Y>},h)T:;M}&Dj75@10UGvIEf& 15 Below I focus on Phaedrus since Origen specifically alludes to this work when discussing pre-existence. Salvation History and Religious Competition during the First Millenium AD, in: D. Engels / P. Van Nuffelen (eds. See as well his comment about transmigration as derived from their [i.e., Jews] fathers and that this is not alien to their secret teaching (Comm. 3.4.2 (GK, 607, 264.2324)translation mine. 85 Note esp. For many others, both before and after Harnack, the Hellenization of Christianity has signaled a similar narrative of decline. 86 Princ. Academia.edu uses cookies to personalize content, tailor ads and improve the user experience. Jean Danilou says that the source of Origen's doctrine of the descent of souls into the body is undoubtedly Platonist, deriving (to be more precise) from Middle Platonism and especially Albinus (Gospel Message, 423). 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. Pliny executed Christians who were brought before him and who refused to worship the emperor and Roman gods but then sought the emperors advice on how to treat Christians in his province. See also Princ. (3) Edwards does not appear to provide any texts from which we can positively reconstruct the view of the soul's origin and embodiment that he attributes to Origen. Each persisted in its native land with little perceptible change save for its becoming linked to nationalistic or messianic movements (centring on a deliverer figure) seeking to overthrow Greco-Roman political and cultural domination. 3.) 44 Harnack, History of Dogma, 1:1 and 18 (where dogma is sinisterly described as a real world power). berlegungen zur Grenzziehung zwischen Platonismus und Christentum, TRu36 [1971] 285302). ; Stuttgart: Teubner, 1904] 2:63033]). 2.9.4 (GK 408, 167.2731/Butterworth, 132). The paper surveys the sources and emergence of Messianic Jewish Christology, examining five representative Christologies. 1.8.2. Moreover, in many of these passages Origen speaks of a contrast between a discarnate and incarnate existence, and this distinction seems to lose its force if discarnate does not really mean discarnate (e.g., Princ. Titus 3:1011)that is spoken of hereticsif perchance, on the subjects that we mentioned above, he seems to introduce an opinion, whatever it may be, that sometimes sounds strange to many (SC 464, 248250/St. 1:4); John 9:2 (Hom. 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. St. Paul could quote such pagan poets as Aratus, Menander, and Epimenides. The Christians were not respectful toward ancestral pagan customs, and their preaching of a new king sounded like revolution. And then, subsequent to that, the Roman imperial expansion, which would take that over politically. As a historical process Hellenization was influential on post-exilic Judaism and early Christianity. The influence of Greek language, philosophy and culture on Jews and early Christians. 33) where Origen explains at length what is meant by a heretic, and does so exclusively in terms of the violation of the church's rule of faith. 1.10.1; Comm. 27 Givens, Terryl L., When Souls Had Wings: Pre-Mortal Existence in Western Thought (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010) esp. What do you mean when you say Hellenistic? While many Hellenistic Christians accepted Christ, it was difficult for some to accept the idea of Jesus as intermediary between God and the people. The opposition of the Jews to them led to breaches of the peace. In the early stages of the development of their faith, Christians did something rare if not unique in the history of religion: they adopted the entire scriptural canon of what they now saw to be another faith, Judaism, and embraced the Hebrew Scriptures, which they called the Old Testament. On two souls: Tatian, Oratio ad Graecos 12 and 16; Tertullian, De Anima 10; Clement, Strom. Herwig Grgemanns and Heinrich Karpp; Texte zur Forschung 24; 3rd ed. 1.5.3; 1.6.2; 3.3.5. 2.9.6 (GK 412, 170.12414, 170.17/Butterworth, 1345). 6 Justinian, Letter of Justinian to the Holy Council about Origen and those Like-Minded, in The Acts of the Council of Constantinople of 553, with related texts on the Three Chapters Controversy (trans. Gnostic and Gnosticism are modern labels that usually designate a distinctive subset of Christians. 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. Here Origen adumbrates a major theme in his anthropology: the capacity for choice ( )usually rendered free will in English translationsthat he thought was characteristic of rationality (Princ. Cor. Hellenism is the term used to describe the influence of Greek culture on the peoples the Greek and Roman Empires conquered or interacted with. Ancient sacred books were translated or paraphrased into Greeke.g., the 4th3rd-century-bc Babylonian priest Berosus version of Babylonian materials, the 4th3rd-century-bc Egyptian priest Manethos Egyptian accounts, the Jewish Septuagint (Greek version of the Old Testament), or the 1st-century-ad Jewish historian Josephus Antiquities of the Jews, and the ethnic histories of the 1st-century-bc Greek writer Alexander Polyhistor. Nevertheless, the Christian opinion of other religions (except Judaism) was generally very negative. to around 40 of the Common Era. The Halle Danish, Leipzig mission, and Church of Sweden mission societies had a larger mission field in Tamil Nadu. For another extended account of the fall, see the discussion that begins at Cels. 1.7.4 (see also Princ. Jean Hering, tude sur la doctrine de la chute et de la prexistence des mes chez Clment d'Alexandrie (Bibliothque de lcole des hautes tudes, sciences religieuses 38; Paris: E. Leroux, 1923) 2834. 39 See Princ. A Definition of the Title Son of God in the Synoptic Gospels, Why Should an Atheist Have Faith [And This] In Jesus-Christ, NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTOLOGY: A CRITIQUE OF BOUSSETS INFLUENCE, THE RECEPTION OF JOHANNINE LOGOS: AN APPROPRIATION OF JAUSS-GADAMER HERMENEUTICS OF RECEPTION THEORY. 5.29, with commentary by Martens, Peter W., On the Confusion of Tongues and Origen's Allegory of the Dispersion of Nations, SPhilo 24 (2011) 10727Google Scholar. 72). 88.34 that parallels Origen's lists (Philosophical Tradition and the Self, in Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World [ed. (2) Edwards notes that the sun, moon, and stars have been subjected to embodiment but that this did not happen as a result of previous sins (see Princ. I once heard a living politician, speaking on a platform, claim for Christianity, amongst other things, credit for the invention of lyddite shells. Consider for instanceand I mean this as an examplewhether one should be considered a heretic who investigates the question of the human soul, since concerning it the Church's rule has handed down neither that it is derived from the propagation of the seed, nor that it is more honorable and more ancient than the structure of bodies. 48 Danilou, Origen, 209. first christians. anathemas 19 and 1315). 246bc. 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. Does it Make Sense to Speak of a Hellenization of Christianity in Antiquity? For a concise and balanced discussion of how Origen interacted with particular philosophical positions, see Chadwick, Henry, Origen, in Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy (ed. And his conquest, which extended from India all the way through Egypt, [was] divided into three main areas within 20 years after his death. This led to a change from concern for a religion of national prosperity to one for individual salvation, from focus on a particular ethnic group to concern for every human. Other verses that suggest this doctrine include: Eccl 1:910 (Princ. 3.21; C. Jul. The Most Risky Job Ever. Reporting on ISIS in Afghanistan. Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. At the same time, Origen was convinced that philosophers were not an unalloyed evil. This essay obviously does not allow for a fully developed comparison of Origen's teaching on the soul's embodiment with the panoply of views on pre-existence that were in circulation in antiquity. Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults (73%) say religion should be kept separate from government policies, according to a survey conducted in spring 2022.Just 25% say government policies should support religious values and beliefs. G. W. Butterworth; Gloucester, Mass. Christian Gonzalez. 1.6.2 (GK 220, 81.1112/Butterworth, 154). 4973. 2.9.5 (GK 410, 169.1213) and 2.9.6 (GK 412, 170.14) where accident and chance do not explain how this universe is organized. of Byzantine Hellenism that takes into account its geographical, linguistic, and cultural origins, as well as its influence on education, literature, art, religion, and society in the Empire, it is possible to gain a fuller, more complete understanding of the way in which it shaped not only the ad Greg. The nature of God was another tricky bridge between two schools of thought for Hellenistic Christianity to overcome. & C. Black, 1977] 345). The influence of the latter precipitated a debasement of Christianity, the ossification of its teachings, or more seriously, the infiltration of heresy. 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. Reflecting this position, Tertullian once asked, What has Athens to do with Jerusalem? Despite this hostility, many Christians recognized the value of ancient letters. in GCS 2, 436. In his De Anima 7, Cassiodorus endorses the creationist view but acknowledges that it is a difficult mystery how God can create souls and assign to them Adam's guilt when they have done no prior wrong. 1 (2006): 334, VIOLENCE, PEACE AND JUSTICE IN THE GRECO- ROMAN-JEWISH CONTEXT, Defence & Confirmation, Vol. 3.5.4; Comm. Christians were blamed for the desperate situation because they denied the gods who were thought to protect Rome, thereby bringing down their wrath. . 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. 1.32 for the pre-existence of Jesus's soul. This empire was so vast as truly to stagger the imagination. Yet others insist on the latter interpretation, most notably Simonetti, Manlio, Alcune osservazioni sull interpretazione Origeniana di Genesi 2,7 e 3,21, Aev 36 (1962) 37078Google Scholar; Blosser, Become like the Angels, 17680; Ramelli, Ilaria, Origen, Greek Philosophy, and the Birth of the Trinitarian Meaning of Hypostasis, HTR 105 (2012) 30250CrossRefGoogle Scholar. 2.5.2223 (GCS 8, 147.18/Lawson, 13435). A similar argument occurs at Meno 80d. One must think of the development of the eastern Mediterranean, really, in two major phases. Bd., 3. There was a continuation of the program of Herod the Great, the father of Herod Antipas. 2: a specialist in the language or culture of ancient Greece. ; London: A. It is difficult (2) to explain how such a wide spectrum of figures fluent in Greek, both foe and friend to Origen, erroneously attributed pre-existence to him (e.g., Pamphilus, Epiphanius, Rufinus, Jerome, Theophilus, John of Jerusalem, Theodore of Mopsuestia, among others). Justin Martyr was a key figure during this period who helped reconcile Hellenism with Christian teachings. 1.3233; 5.2933). Marmodoro, Anna St. Clement of Rome cited the dramatists Sophocles and Euripides. 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. 68 Princ. 4 For more on the Hellenization of Christianity thesis, see esp. For other places where Origen describes or defines souls, see esp. 1.7.2; 1.8.2; 2.9.5; 3.1.1; 3.1.23; Cels. Organized empire-wide persecutions occurred, however, at moments of extreme crisis and as a response to the growth of the faith. Questions and Caveats, ZAC 12 (2008) 2038CrossRefGoogle Scholar. 3.33). } 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. 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. Lev. 2.9.6 (GK 412, 169.2128/Butterworth, 134). Le Boulluec, Alain, La notion d'hrsie dans la littrature grecque, IIeIIIe sicles (2 vols. 3.47; 4.6768; 4.54; 5.613; 6.14; 7.42; 7.44; esp. So for some it probably meant no more than what it would be like to live in a modern city with a very mixed culture. 6.3.9; 6.3.13; 6.8.6; 6.17.23; 6.18.24; 6.19.1214 (teaching philosophy in Alexandria); 6.30; Gregory, Address 6; 13; 14 (teaching philosophy in Caesarea). Why Do People Say Amen at the End of a Prayer? Daly, Robert J.; Bibliotheca Ephemeridum theologicarum Lovaniensium 105; Louvain: University Press, 1992) 189216Google Scholar; Ramelli, Ilaria L. E., Origen, Patristic Philosophy, and Christian Platonism: Re-Thinking the Christianisation of Hellenism, VC 63 (2009) 21739Google Scholar. 45 Princ. Broadly speaking, Hellenism is a polytheistic religion that understands the Gods are unchanging, unbegotten, eternal, and not in space. They refuted a variety of scandalous rumours, including allegations of cannibalism and promiscuity. Martyr guided this Hellenistic philosophical trend toward the monotheism of Christianity. viewers' guide. Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. 1516; Cels. Thomas P. Scheck; FC 120; Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2010] 11011).Pamphilus also makes Origen's view his own (Apol. 42 Harnack, History of Dogma, 1:51. On the difficulties of finding a creationist view prior to Origen, see esp. 34.5; Comm. 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. Danilou refers the reader to Albinus/Alkinoos, Didaskalikos 16.2, however it is not this treatise, but Plato's Phaedrus, that Origen mentions several times in Cels. from Mount Holyoke College. @TJ. Ic}Z-i"L\/E%u3%K.\a3wny2 36 Princ. *A2$ [a5i8Q#a~ba>o&1Mq3~R728{w1.n;p!JMQcF/ )E 2.9.7; 3.3.5). Martyr was an early apologist, explaining Christianity to this new Greek flock within their own system of philosophy. 30 See Her. ; Translated Texts for Historians 51; Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2009) 2:28384 (Georgius Monachus, Chronicon [ed. Jo. 33 All three passages are cited at Princ. Butterworth renders this phrase from the beginning of the creation, implying that Christ's soul was created from the very beginning, and was there united to its Creator, long before it became embodied. 64.72. Angelo Di Berardino and Basil Studer; trans. For more on the problem of evil in Origen, see Wrmer, Anneliese Meis, El problema del mal en Orgenes: importancia y significado teolgico del tiempo en la argumentacin sobre el mal del Peri archon III, 124 (Santiago: Pontificia Universidad Catlica de Chile, 1988)Google Scholar; Roukema, Riemer, L'origine du mal selon Origne et dans ses sources, RHPR 83 (2003) 40520Google Scholar; Scott, Mark S. M., Journey Back to God: Origen on the Problem of Evil (American Academy of Religion Academy Series; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012) 2340, 5052CrossRefGoogle Scholar. But by this point in Greek philosophy, according to Harold W. Attridge of Yale Divinity School, there was a "growing appreciationfor the notion that there may be a single simple divine principle underlying all things." Many Christians also rejected the literary traditions of the Classical world, denouncing the immoral and unethical behaviour of the deities and heroes of ancient myth and literature. 20.54; 20.135; 28.179. 2.1; 2.3 (736a316); 2.4.25 (738b). For Origen, a just and good God would not assign blame to a soul that had not committed sin itself. Hft; Gtersloh, Germany: C. Berteslmann, 1950) 92185. Cant. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003)Google Scholar. 2.18182 (GCS 4, 87.615/Origen: Commentary on the Gospel according to John, Books 110, [trans. 1.1.3; Lib. 3; see as well Apol. 3:1011 (= Pamphilus, Apol. At least in Phaedrus, Plato only describes this pre-existent activity as contemplative. 14.16; Hom. Both of those strands of Hellenistic tradition as appropriated by Jewish philosophers like Philo, did, however, have an impact on Christians of a later generation who tried to make sense of Jesus and his teaching within the broader framework of Greek and Roman culture. Hellenism (, Hellnisms) is a religious movements which revive or reconstruct of ancient Greek religious practices from antiquity. It was a shift from birthright to convinced religion. 2.8.1/GK 380, 152.20). The fundamental cause of persecution was the Christians conscientious rejection of the gods whose favour was believed to have brought success to the empire. The two following essays deal with the ancient Hellenism. 1.32. To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds toupgrade your browser. 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. Rather, these anathemas were issued by Justinian, and approved by the bishops, in the weeks leading up to the council. 3.1.1 and esp. For many Jews, it seemed not to be a problem at all. 6.19.58); Epiphanius, Pan. In Porter and Pitts (eds. The ambivalence of official policy is perhaps best revealed in the exchange between Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia, and the emperor Trajan in 111. 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. 53 Princ. Most notable of the Hellenists were Philo of Alexandria and the Apostle Paul. 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. Bacchylides raises the problem why rationalist culture in its first Hellenic embodiment met with an arrest. At Cels. On this series of fifteen anathemas, and their relationship to the council, see Price, Acts of Constantinople, 2:270286. discussion. by the Hebrew doctrine of Wisdom, but it does not follow that this doctrine was of influence with the writers of the New Testament. 0_e_@4!P pref.2). 163): the church's rule is silent about the issue of the origin of the soul. 47 Indeed, for several centuries after Origen's death, there was vigorous debateand open confusionin Christian circles about how to think about the soul's embodiment. Hier. 2.8; Hom. 1.4.5); Ps 44:8[45:7] (Princ. Paul's success at Ephesus provoked a riot to defend the cult of the goddess Artemis. 16.6 (GCS 9, 97.2898.3). The period of Hellenistic influence, when taken as a whole, constitutes one of the most creative periods in the history of religions. Can you give just a general definition of what's meant by the term the Hellenistic world? It was visible in several other cities around Galilee. 3.1.35. 71 See, for example, Bigg, Charles, Christian Platonists of Alexandria (Bampton Lectures, 1886; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1886) 198Google Scholar (Origen adopted the Platonic doctrine of pre-existence); Hatch, The Influence of Greek Ideas, 204; Karpp, Probleme altchristlicher Anthropologie, 195. (1) Fragment 15 in P. Koetschau's edition of Princ., which speaks of pre-existent rational beings falling (angels, human souls and demons), is not authentic (Origen against Plato, 9091). Language and philosophy were both exports from Greece at this time, and soon polytheistic Hellenism came into conflict with Christianity. And that Hellenization was most visible in a place like Sepphoris which was being reconstructed during the youth of Jesus. 5.30 (SC 147, 88.9). In 313 the joint emperors Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan, a manifesto of toleration, which, among other things, granted Christians full legal rights. posit that the soul is always in a body (as Eratosthenes, Ptolemy the Platonist, and others do) and make it pass from subtler bodies into dense bodies (John F. Finamore and John M. Dillon, Iamblichus De Anima: Text, Translation, and Commentary [Philosophia antiqua 92; Boston: Brill, 2002], 55). The attitude of the earliest Christians toward paganism and the imperial government was complicated by their close association with Greco-Roman literary and artistic culture: it was difficult to attack the former without seeming to criticize the latter. 1: a person living in Hellenistic times who was Greek in language, outlook, and way of life but was not Greek in ancestry especially: a hellenized Jew. 2.8.48; Jerome, Comm. Hellenistic Christianity is notable for its combination of Greek philosophy, ethics and morality with Christian belief. While the Latin phrase is ambiguous, the larger context clarifies how it should be understood: in the lines that immediately follow, Origen says that Jesus's soul had already (iam) completely entered the Word before it was united to the body (GK 362, 143.12). ; History of Theology; Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1996] 1:170). 1.4); Porphyry (Eusebius, Hist. The first version of this essay was delivered during the Logos Conference (University of Notre Dame, 2012) at the invitation of Michael Rea. Hier. Hellenistic religion, any of the various systems of beliefs and practices of eastern Mediterranean peoples from 300 bc to ad 300. Embodiment, Heresy, and the Hellenization of Christianity: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0017816015000401, Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. . These individuals tended to speak Greek, and this began the lengthy process of reinterpretation of the archaic religion. 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.)
