Hellenistic influences of the early Christian church?

August 19, 2010 7:27 AM

I am interested in finding a layman's book about the Hellenistic influences of early Christianity. (Basically how Christianity either adopted or smuggled it in. Not sure which word to use.)
posted by snap_dragon to Religion & Philosophy (10 answers total)

Have a look at the Hellenistic influences on Roman culture in visual style - it's a great way to see the trends and changes easily. Look at the rises and falls of Hellenistic influence in Roman sculpture and architecture through the history of the Empire and you'll find the interplay with and impact on early Christianity. Check out E. Kitzinger's "Byzantine Art in the Making."
posted by jardinier at 7:48 AM on August 19, 2010

Best answer: The parts of the Roman empire where Christianity began and flourished (basically the Eastern half of the empire) was always more Hellenized than the West, so it's tricky to point out specific parts of early Christianity that were Greek-er than others. That said, you might want to look at books that deal with some of the controversies in the early Church (especially Arianism), because the leading figures on both sides had some semblance of a Classical education and used Classical arguments. Because you included philosophy and theology in your tags, you might like Justin Pollard and Howard Reid's The Rise and Fall of Alexandria, all of which is worth a read, but which deals directly with Christianity in a Hellenistic intellectual context in the last third of the book. It would definitely be an accessible read for a layman.
posted by oinopaponton at 8:10 AM on August 19, 2010

Wasn't there some of this in the actual bible? In one of those post-gospel books, there was a big discussion about whether the new converts to Christianity (who came from non-Jewish people) would have to observe Kosher diet and be circumcised. I think the answer was: no, they don't have to do either. But if i recall, it was a pretty big conflict at the time.
posted by CathyG at 8:19 AM on August 19, 2010

Best answer: Any commentary on St. Augustine will discuss the neo-Platonist influences in his writings.
posted by deanc at 8:24 AM on August 19, 2010

Best answer: Ok, this book has what might be a harsh title, but it goes into this topic in several chapters: The closing of the Western mind : the rise of faith and the fall of reason, by Charles Freeman. (The link to the Amazon listing includes a post by the author responding to some criticisms.) I founf it engrossing and while it may not be about Hellenistic Christianity from cover to cover, it does give a great overview of how Christianity was influenced by the Hellenic world (and how it striggled against it at the same time).
posted by DrGirlfriend at 8:33 AM on August 19, 2010

Many of the works of Peter Brown address precisely this issue.
posted by languagehat at 8:54 AM on August 19, 2010

Response by poster: Well, hell. I have trouble marking "Best Answer" when they all seem like excellent places to start. All of them. So after marking a few, I laid off on marking all the answers as Best but rest assured, I now am really excited to start on these suggestions. Others coming to this question feel free to post more. Those who have already posted (and quickly at that!), I thank you.
posted by snap_dragon at 9:21 AM on August 19, 2010

Early Christianity and Greek Paideia by Werner Wilhelm Jaeger.
posted by longdaysjourney at 9:35 AM on August 19, 2010

The first two volumes of A History of Philosophy by Fredrick Copelston.

The last 1/3 of Vol 1 and all of Vol 2 discusses the Platonic, Aristotelian and neo-Platonic influences on Christian philosophers.
posted by JulianDay at 11:03 AM on August 19, 2010 [1 favorite]

I can certainly confirm Freeman is a fascinating read.
posted by rodgerd at 1:25 AM on August 20, 2010