The Jewish and Christian Transposition of Greek Intellectual Culture
Author: Daniel WILLIAMS, Professor at Baylor University, USA
Abstract:
The aim of this essay is to show how one Jewish and two Christian scholars from antiquity - Philo of Alexandria (1st c.), Clement of Alexandria (3rd c.) and Basil of Caesarea (4th c.)—were immersed in and widely utilized Greek intellectual culture (Hellenism), especially the concepts of paideia (education or instruction) and virtue. These three figures are chosen because they are fitting examples of the Hellenization of early Christianity and the Christianization of the Graeco-Roman world. As part of understanding this process, it is important to notice how these writers drew a sharp line between the religious syncretism common to the Greek legacy and Greek culture. Their indebtedness to Greek philosophical ideas and methods of interpretation notwithstanding, they never lost the distinctiveness of their Jewish or Christian conviction in terms of texts, ideas and the formation of the person.
Keywords:
Hellenization; transposition; paideia
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