S3 75: Silent Years — Welcome to Hellenism
Hellenistic Culture [31:17]
Episode Length: 31:17
Published Date: Thu, 24 May 2018 01:00:00 -0700
Session 3
About this episode:
Marty Solomon and Brent Billings, joined by special guest Jim Feicht, continue their examination of the context of the world of Jesus. The last episode covered the context of Judaism specifically, whereas this episode covers the context of the surrounding culture.
Silent Years — Welcome to Hellenism Presentation (PDF)
Empire of Alexander the Great — Wikipedia
Notes
*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.
BEMA Episode 75: Silent Years — Welcome to Hellenism
Title & Source Summary
This lecture examines the cultural transformation of the ancient world through the rise of Hellenism and its profound impact on first-century Judaism. The episode traces the period from Babylonian captivity (586 BC) through the Roman conquest, exploring how Greek philosophy fundamentally shifted the worldview from God-centered to human-centered thinking. Marty Solomon and Brent Billings, joined by guest Jim Feicht, analyze how five distinct Jewish groups responded to this cultural revolution, setting the essential context for understanding Jesus’s ministry and teachings.
Key Takeaways
- Hellenism represented the first systematic worldview in human history that placed humanity, rather than the divine, at the center of existence
- Alexander the Great functioned as an “evangelist” for Hellenism, conquering through culture rather than military force alone
- Four pillars sustained Hellenistic culture: education (gymnasium), healthcare (Asclepion), entertainment (theater), and athletics
- Five Jewish groups emerged in response to Hellenism: Sadducees and Herodians (who embraced it), Essenes (who fled to the desert), and Zealots and Pharisees (who resisted it through different means)
- The Maccabean Revolt (celebrated as Hanukkah) temporarily restored Jewish independence, but the priestly Hasmonean dynasty quickly became Hellenized
- Modern Western culture is fundamentally Hellenistic, making it essential to recognize this worldview when reading Scripture
- Jesus’s ministry occurred in a world deeply divided by competing responses to Hellenistic culture
Main Concepts & Theories
The Hellenistic Revolution: From Theocentrism to Anthropocentrism
Hellenism marked a seismic philosophical shift in human civilization. Prior to Greek influence, all ancient worldviews—whether pagan or monotheistic—centered on the divine. Life’s purpose, meaning, and daily decisions revolved around what pleased or angered the gods. The Greeks fundamentally inverted this hierarchy.
As one Greek philosopher declared, “Man is the measure of all things.” This statement encapsulates the Hellenistic worldview: humanity became the center of reality, the standard by which all else is measured. The gods were not eliminated but demoted—pushed to the periphery while human comfort, leisure, luxury, and security took center stage.
Greek mythology illustrates this perfectly. Unlike the transcendent God of Judaism, Greek deities were created in humanity’s image—powerful but flawed, superhuman but intellectually inferior to humans. The recurring mythological pattern of demigods (divine-human hybrids) represents the Greek ideal: human intelligence combined with divine power. This narrative structure reveals the underlying assumption that humanity’s chief limitation is lack of power, not moral or intellectual deficiency.
The Gospel of Alexander: Cultural Conquest Through Four Pillars
Alexander the Great (332 BC) was more than a military commander; he was a missionary for Hellenism. He understood that sustainable conquest required not military occupation but cultural conversion. The Greek term “euangelion” (good news/gospel) predates Christianity and was first applied to the Hellenistic message: “Greek culture is here to improve your life.”
Alexander’s strategy centered on four institutional pillars:
Education (Gymnasium): Control what people learn, and you control what they think. The gymnasium was the ancient equivalent of the modern university—a center for intellectual formation where Greek philosophy, literature, and values were transmitted. This wasn’t neutral academic study but worldview formation.
Healthcare (Asclepion): By providing medical services, the empire created dependency. Healthcare met a universal human need, making people reliant on imperial provision and grateful for Hellenistic benefits.
Entertainment (Theater): Entertainment shapes desires, values, and aspirations. Theater (and other forms of entertainment) channeled people’s attention toward Hellenistic ideals of the good life, subtly reshaping their understanding of what makes life worth living.
Athletics: Competitive sports created tribal identity and channeled human competitive instincts into empire-supporting institutions. Athletics also celebrated the Hellenistic ideal of physical perfection and human achievement.
These four pillars appear in every Greco-Roman city throughout the empire. The Decapolis (“ten cities”) region near Judea exemplified this pattern—beautiful, sophisticated urban centers showcasing Hellenistic culture’s appeal, especially stark in contrast to the harsh desert environment.
Historical Timeline: From Exile to Roman Rule
586 BC - Babylonian Captivity: The destruction of Jerusalem and forced exile fundamentally transformed Judaism, giving birth to synagogue culture and making Jews “people of the Text.”
538 BC - Persian Period: Cyrus’s decree allowed Jewish return. During this period (538-332 BC), Judaism reconstituted itself around Torah study, developing the synagogue system that would define Jewish identity.
332 BC - Alexander’s Conquest: Greek rule introduced Hellenism to Judea. Under the Ptolemaic dynasty (ruling from Egypt), Hellenism was offered attractively but not forced.
198-167 BC - Seleucid Oppression: When the Seleucid dynasty (ruling from Syria) conquered Judea, their approach was far more aggressive. The crisis reached its zenith when Antiochus Epiphanes sacrificed a pig on the altar in the Jerusalem temple—the ultimate desecration.
167-63 BC - Hasmonean Dynasty: The Maccabean Revolt (celebrated as Hanukkah) successfully expelled the Seleucids. The victorious rebels, seeking to avoid repeating the mistakes of monarchy, entrusted rule to the priesthood. Tragically, within twenty years, the Hasmonean priests became thoroughly Hellenized—loving Greek athletics, theater, and culture. Historical accounts (possibly exaggerated) claim priests attended naked wrestling matches instead of conducting temple services on the Sabbath.
63 BC - Roman Conquest: Rome absorbed Judea into its empire. The Hellenized Hasmonean priests, fearing loss of power and privilege, brokered a deal with Herod the Great.
37-4 BC - Herod’s Reign: Herod, son of the Idumaean-Nabataean king (descendants of Edom), inherited control of the spice trade—making him potentially the wealthiest individual in human history. His immense wealth combined with Roman military power created a formidable alliance. After Herod’s death (4 BC), his kingdom was divided among his sons, with Rome eventually replacing the incompetent Archelaus with direct Roman governance under Pontius Pilate.
Five Jewish Responses to Hellenism
Judaism fractured into five major groups based on how to respond to Hellenistic culture:
1. Sadducees: The priestly class who embraced Hellenistic culture while maintaining Jewish religious identity. They believed one could love God wholeheartedly while also enjoying Hellenistic leisure, luxury, and entertainment. They controlled the temple and maintained political power by cooperating with Roman authority.
2. Herodians: Non-priests who shared the Sadducees’ worldview—believing Judaism and Hellenism could coexist harmoniously. They supported Herod’s dynasty and Roman cooperation.
3. Essenes: Priests who could not tolerate the Hasmonean corruption but chose withdrawal rather than confrontation. They retreated to desert compounds like Qumran, devoting themselves to rigorous Torah study and copying—producing the Dead Sea Scrolls. They sought purity through separation.
4. Pharisees: Descendants of the Hasidim (“pious ones”) who rejected Jerusalem’s compromise and moved to the Galilee. They pursued absolute devotion to God through meticulous Torah observance. They believed righteousness, not violence, would bring God’s kingdom. They planted cities like Capernaum, Chorazin, Bethsaida, Cana, Nazareth, and Sepphoris.
5. Zealots: Also descended from the Hasidim, sharing the Pharisees’ complete rejection of Hellenism but choosing violent resistance. They believed redemptive violence would overthrow foreign oppression and restore God’s kingdom. The original Maccabean rebels represented this zealous spirit.
These five groups represent fundamentally different answers to the question: “How do we maintain covenant faithfulness in a Hellenistic world?”
The Galilee: Heartland of Resistance
When the Hasmonean priesthood became Hellenized, the Hasidim migrated north to the Galilee region, establishing communities of rigorous devotion to Torah. This geographical-theological divide is crucial for understanding the Gospels. The Galilee became known for passionate, fundamentalist Judaism—uncompromising devotion to God’s ways in contrast to Jerusalem’s accommodation.
This context explains why Jesus conducted most of his ministry in Galilee. The Galilean audience would have been intensely committed to resisting Hellenistic compromise, making Jesus’s teachings about the true nature of God’s kingdom especially provocative and relevant.
Modern Hellenism: Recognizing Our Own Culture
Perhaps the most challenging insight is recognizing contemporary Western culture as fundamentally Hellenistic. Consider common cultural messages:
- “Make your mornings about YOU”
- “Have it your way”
- Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” as cultural anthem
- Political discourse dominated by education, healthcare, and entertainment
- The sports industry’s political significance (e.g., congressional hearings on baseball steroids)
These are not neutral cultural features but expressions of a Hellenistic worldview that places human comfort, security, leisure, and self-actualization at life’s center. This makes reading Scripture in our context particularly challenging because Hellenistic assumptions feel natural and normal—making it difficult to recognize when biblical texts are directly challenging this worldview.
Examples & Applications
Greek Mythology as Worldview Expression
Greek myths consistently portray gods as powerful but intellectually inferior to humans, requiring human cleverness to resolve divine conflicts. This narrative structure reveals the underlying Hellenistic assumption: humanity’s problem is insufficient power, not moral corruption or spiritual alienation. The demigod—combining human intelligence with divine power—represents the Greek ideal of human potential.
This contrasts sharply with biblical anthropology, where humanity’s fundamental problem is not lack of power but rebellion, broken relationship with God, and moral corruption requiring divine intervention for redemption.
The Decapolis Cities: Hellenism’s Seductive Appeal
Walking from the Judean desert into a Greco-Roman city created a powerful sensory and emotional experience. After experiencing the harsh, austere desert (where one’s dependence on God becomes visceral), entering a Hellenistic city was overwhelming: running water, advanced plumbing, stunning architecture, entertainment, sophisticated culture. The contrast made Hellenism appear obviously superior—making it dangerously easy to forget the spiritual lessons learned in the desert.
This pattern—desert clarity followed by urban seduction—parallels Israel’s wilderness experience followed by Canaan’s temptations. The technologies themselves aren’t evil, but they come packaged with a worldview that redefines the good life around human comfort rather than covenant faithfulness.
The Maccabean Tragedy: From Revolution to Compromise
The Hanukkah story illustrates how quickly revolutionary zeal can deteriorate into the very compromise it initially opposed. The Maccabeans risked everything to remove Hellenistic defilement from the temple, miraculously defeating the world’s most powerful army. Yet within twenty years of handing power to the “righteous” priestly class, those same priests became enthusiastic Hellenists—valuing naked athletic competitions over temple service.
This tragic irony warns against assuming institutional religious authority guarantees spiritual faithfulness. It also explains the Zealots’ and Pharisees’ deep cynicism toward the Jerusalem establishment.
Congressional Baseball Hearings: Hellenism’s Political Integration
The phenomenon of congressional committees investigating baseball steroids initially seems absurd—why should the legislature concern itself with sports scandals? Understanding Hellenism’s four pillars explains this. Athletics isn’t mere entertainment but a foundational pillar supporting social-political order. Threats to athletic integrity threaten a pillar of societal structure, making it a legitimate political concern in a Hellenistic culture.
This illustrates how thoroughly Hellenistic assumptions pervade modern governance, making Hellenistic logic feel natural and inevitable.
Herod’s Wealth: Control Through Economic Power
Herod’s extraordinary wealth came from his family’s monopoly on the spice trade—the ancient equivalent of controlling the world’s oil supply. This made him arguably the wealthiest human in history. The Hasmonean priests, recognizing they couldn’t resist Rome militarily, leveraged Herod’s wealth as a strategic asset. This alliance between religious authority, economic power, and imperial military might created the political landscape of Jesus’s ministry.
Understanding Herod’s wealth helps explain his massive building projects (including the magnificent expansion of the temple) and the complex political calculations visible in Gospel narratives.
Potential Areas for Further Exploration
Hellenistic Philosophy and New Testament Theology
How do New Testament writers engage with, critique, or subvert Hellenistic philosophical concepts? What does it mean that early Christianity spread most rapidly in Hellenistic urban centers? How does Paul’s rhetoric in Acts 17 (Athens) demonstrate strategic engagement with Hellenistic thought?
The Septuagint and Hellenistic Judaism
Under Ptolemaic rule, Jewish scholars translated Hebrew Scriptures into Greek (the Septuagint). What does this translation reveal about Hellenistic influence on Jewish thought? How did Greek philosophical categories shape interpretation of Hebrew concepts?
Jesus’s Teachings as Anti-Hellenistic Proclamation
How do Jesus’s sayings directly confront Hellenistic values? Consider: “Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it,” “Blessed are the poor,” “The last shall be first,” “Take up your cross.” How would these teachings sound to audiences saturated in Hellenistic assumptions about the good life?
The Essenes and Qumran Community
What can the Dead Sea Scrolls reveal about Essene theology and practice? How does their interpretive approach to Scripture (pesher) inform our understanding of first-century hermeneutics? What parallels exist between Essene and early Christian community practices?
The Zealot Movement and Revolutionary Judaism
How did Zealot theology justify violence as religious devotion? What scriptural texts and traditions did they draw upon? How did Jesus’s ministry relate to Zealot expectations? What role did Zealot ideology play in the Jewish Revolts of AD 66-73 and ultimately the destruction of the temple?
Pharisaic Judaism and Rabbinic Development
How did Pharisaic methods and theology survive the temple’s destruction to become the foundation of Rabbinic Judaism? What continuities and discontinuities exist between Jesus’s teachings and Pharisaic thought? How does understanding Pharisaic devotion help us read Gospel conflict narratives more carefully?
Sadducean Theology and Power
Why did Sadducees reject resurrection, angels, and spirits? How did their priestly status and temple control shape their theology? What economic and political interests motivated their collaboration with Rome?
The Temple’s Destruction and Its Theological Consequences
The First Jewish Revolt (AD 66-73) ended with Jerusalem’s destruction and the temple’s burning. How did this catastrophic event reshape Judaism? How did it affect early Christianity? What theological questions did it raise for both communities?
Herodian Architecture and Political Theology
Herod’s massive building projects (temple expansion, Caesarea Maritima, Masada, Herodium) combined aesthetic beauty with political messaging. What theological and political claims did these structures make? How did they represent synthesis of Jewish and Hellenistic values?
Hellenism and Contemporary Christianity
If Western culture remains fundamentally Hellenistic, how does this shape modern Christianity? Where do churches uncritically adopt Hellenistic values (individualism, consumerism, comfort-seeking) while claiming biblical authority? How can contemporary believers recognize and resist cultural captivity to Hellenistic worldviews?
Comprehension Questions
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Explain the fundamental worldview shift that Hellenism introduced to human civilization. How did this differ from all previous ancient worldviews, and what were the practical implications of this shift?
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Describe Alexander the Great’s four-pillar strategy for cultural conquest. How does recognizing these same four pillars in modern Western culture affect your reading of the New Testament?
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The Hasmonean dynasty began with the Maccabean Revolt—a passionate rejection of Hellenistic defilement—yet within twenty years became thoroughly Hellenized. What does this tragic irony reveal about the relationship between institutional religious authority and spiritual faithfulness? What warnings might this offer contemporary religious communities?
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Compare and contrast the five Jewish responses to Hellenism (Sadducees, Herodians, Essenes, Pharisees, Zealots). What fundamental questions about covenant faithfulness did each group answer differently? Which response most closely resembles contemporary Western Christianity’s approach to secular culture?
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Why is understanding Hellenism essential for reading the Gospels accurately? Provide specific examples of how recognizing Hellenistic assumptions in Jesus’s audience changes our understanding of his teachings or actions.
Personalized Summary
This episode fundamentally reframes how we read the New Testament by exposing the cultural war between Hellenism and Judaism that defined Jesus’s world. The most unsettling insight is recognizing that we are thoroughly Hellenistic—our entire culture assumes that life’s purpose centers on human comfort, security, leisure, and self-actualization. This makes reading Scripture particularly dangerous because we naturally interpret it through Hellenistic lenses, missing how radically it challenges our assumptions.
The five Jewish responses to Hellenism represent different answers to the perennial question facing God’s people: How do we maintain faithfulness when surrounded by a seductive culture offering prosperity, security, and sophistication in exchange for theological compromise? The Sadducees said, “We can have both—worship God and enjoy Hellenistic benefits.” The Essenes said, “Withdraw completely and maintain purity through separation.” The Zealots said, “Violent resistance will bring God’s kingdom.” The Pharisees said, “Meticulous obedience will please God and preserve our identity.”
Into this fractured world stepped Jesus, offering a fifth way—one that transcended these options by redefining God’s kingdom entirely. Understanding Hellenism helps us recognize that when Jesus spoke about losing your life to find it, taking up your cross, serving rather than being served, and becoming last to be first, he wasn’t offering spiritual platitudes but declaring war on Hellenism’s fundamental assumptions about human flourishing.
The episode challenges us to examine where we’ve unconsciously baptized Hellenistic values, calling them Christian while missing how thoroughly they contradict the way of Jesus. If “Make your mornings about YOU” and “Have it your way” are Hellenistic anthems, what does the counter-cultural anthem of God’s kingdom sound like? Perhaps it begins with “Not my will, but yours be done.”
These study notes are based on BEMA Episode 75: Silent Years — Welcome to Hellenism, featuring Marty Solomon, Brent Billings, and guest Jim Feicht.
Original Notes
- What is the contact for the life of Jesus?
- Judaism is different for Jesus than for the Babylonian Jews, David or Abraham.
- Alexander the Great
- More than a conquer. He had a euangelion.
- Greeks believed they had a new way that would change the world.
- Hellenism, based off of Hellis, centered the world on themselves and no longer on the gods.
- In most Greek myths, Greek gods have children with humans who overcome great hardship with the intelligence of gods and the strength of man.
- Do what you want. Get what you need.
- Alexander the Great said he didn’t need a great army to conquor the world, he only needed for things: education, athletics, entertainment, and healthcare.
- Are these things evil? No but they come with a worldview.
- When Alexander dies he gives the Greek kingdom over to new rulers and Ptolemie roles over the Jews from 330-198 BC.
- The Hellenistic Seleucids overtake the Ptolemies and slaughter a pig on the altar of the Jews and the Jews revolt.
- Those Jews lead the Maccabean revolt.
- This revolt becomes known as the miracle of Hanukkah.
- These Jews begin the Hasmonean Dynasty.
- The Maccabean rebels have the kingdom over to the priests.
- Within 20 years of turning the dynasty over to the Hasmonean priests, the priests became completely obsessed with Hellenism.
- At this point there weren’t even enough priests available to run Shabbat services because they were all at arenas and amphitheaters enjoying Hellenistic entertainment.
- These Jewish priests became known as the Sadducees.
- The Sadducees and Herodians believed they could enjoy Hellenistic comforts and also be completely devoted to God.
- The Hasmoneans resist this movement and move north from Jerusalem to the Galilee and become two distinct groups, the Pharisees and the Zealots.
- The Zealots armed themselves with the sword and the Parties armed themselves with obedience and devotion.
- Rome then conquered Judea.
- Even the Sadducees/Hasmoneans see Rome coming they begin planning how to keep from losing everything they had built during the last century so they pursue Herod who was the some of the kind of Edumea Nabatea.
- The Nabateans owned the spice trade, of the entire world.
- Herod inherited this spice trade and was unquestionably the richest person to ever live.
- Because Herod was the richest man in the world, they went to him so they can hold this great relationship with Rome in tension.
- Julius Caesar wanted Herod’s wealth and Herod offers it as an asset.
- When Herod dies in 4 BC, his kingdom is split between his sons.
- Herod Philip II rules in the north
- Herod Archelaus rules in Judea
- Herod Antipas rules in Galilee and East of the Dead Sea.
- Archelaus is a terrible ruler and Rome replaces him with Pontus Pilot
- The Essenes
- They also couldn’t stand what was hiring either but they fled to the desert instead.
- Discussion
- The problematic piece is making ourselves the center of the universe.
- The other aspects of Hellenism like athletics, healthcare, entertainment, and education.
- Questions
- Head
- Using a whiteboard, throw every aspect of our society where Hellenism shows up today.
- Evaluate those things.
- Is it right or wrong to participate in or enjoy the different pillars of Hellenism?
- Heart
- Where does Hellenism have its talons? Where does Hellenism, consumerism, me-centeredness, etc. show up in our lives? Where is it a problem?
- Hands
- What do we do about all of the different places where Hellenism has its talons?
- Are there some (small) decisions or conclusions we can make about Hellenism and how we can weed it out? Is there any idolatry we can eliminate from our lives?
- Head