V. Greek Influence on the Burgeoning Church
Logos
It is undeniable that
Greek culture had a very large influence on early
Christianity; it is most obvious from the
language. Taking a quick glance at the original text of the
New Testament will show that it was – including its most important books, the
Synoptic Gospels – written in
Greek. (Court 17) "The sophistication and philosophical associations of the
Greek language made it particularly suitable for articulating ideas, so that the basis of doctrinal formulation is
Greek" (364).
The
Greek language was not just used for writing the
gospels; many of the
Apostles actually dropped their
Hebrew names and acquired a
Greek ones.
Simon changed his name to
Peter,
Saul to
Paul, and so forth. This last may have been "symbolic of
Paul's shift away from the
Mosaic Law and towards what we might call the
Gentilization of Christianity" (Asimov 1040). To get through to these people that the early
Christians were trying to convert from
Greek Religion, it was necessary to speak to them in their own language:
Paul and
Peter always preached in
Greek, and it was used in prayers all the way up until AD 200. "Even in
Rome or as far away as
Gaul,
Greek was used because the first
Christians in these places were traders from the
Greek world. . ." (Chadwick 33).
Christianity was no longer a
religion for just converted
Jews. It was acquiring many
gentile members, and therefore many
gentile characteristics, as well.
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