THE GREEK EMPIRE 3: HELLENISM
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. The Greek Empire
a) Jewish history is indelibly marked by Alexander the Great’s short rule over the Greek Empire. While none of the history of the Greek Empire is recorded in the Bible, we do have relevant prophecy. Another source of information concerning Greek influence on the history of the Jews is the Apocrypha, specifically 1 and 2 Maccabees.
2. Hellenism
i) Perhaps as equally impressive as Alexander’s military success was his advancement of Greek culture, called Hellenism. In every city Alexander conquered, he instituted schools to teach Greek philosophy and Koine Greek, which became the lingua franca of the known world. Alexander also had a penchant for renaming cities after himself: at least 11 cities are still called “Alexandria” today.
ii) The most famous is Alexandria, Egypt, which, along with Syrian Antioch, was a center of Hellenic thought. These hubs of Hellenism precipitated a major cultural change and had enormous impact on world history, especially biblical history. The New Testament was written in Koine Greek. The widespread use of the Greek language aided the sharing of the gospel from India to Spain. Greek philosophy gave us the concept of the logos, which John used as a way to communicate the nature of Christ (John 1:1). Antioch became the launching point for Paul’s missionary journeys, and “the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch” (Acts 11:26).
The End ...
1. The Greek Empire a) Jewish history is indelibly marked by Alexander the Great’s short rule over the Greek Empire. While none of the history of the Greek Empire is recorded in the Bible, we do have relevant prophecy. Another source of information concerning Greek influence on the history of the Jews is the Apocrypha, specifically 1 and 2 Maccabees.
2. Hellenism
i) Perhaps as equally impressive as Alexander’s military success was his advancement of Greek culture, called Hellenism. In every city Alexander conquered, he instituted schools to teach Greek philosophy and Koine Greek, which became the lingua franca of the known world. Alexander also had a penchant for renaming cities after himself: at least 11 cities are still called “Alexandria” today.
ii) The most famous is Alexandria, Egypt, which, along with Syrian Antioch, was a center of Hellenic thought. These hubs of Hellenism precipitated a major cultural change and had enormous impact on world history, especially biblical history. The New Testament was written in Koine Greek. The widespread use of the Greek language aided the sharing of the gospel from India to Spain. Greek philosophy gave us the concept of the logos, which John used as a way to communicate the nature of Christ (John 1:1). Antioch became the launching point for Paul’s missionary journeys, and “the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch” (Acts 11:26).
Comments
Post a Comment