In this opening chapter Skarsaune does a wonderful job of giving you a breeze through history on some very important topics. First he discusses the Maccabees and their revolt against their Syrian rulers. This revolt was largely a reaction to the attempt by those who were ruling over Israel to impose Hellenistic culture and religion on the Jewish people. There were some places where those things just would not mix. Jewish laws forbade much contact with Gentiles and certainly did not allow for syncretism in relgion. The picture to the left shows a country priest, Mattathias, who in his zealousness for the law killed a Jewish man who was giving in and about to offer a pagan sacrifice. This began a revolt that was successful and for a time restored a semi-independent Jewish state.
At the same time, the reality of the era was that there wasn’t a whole scale rejection of Hellenism. There were many places where the Jews bristled at the injection of Hellenistic culture, but there were also many places where they embraced it. Because of their semi-independence, they were able to do this on their own terms. What are some examples?
In philosophy, Hellenism explained the existence of the world as coming from a hidden law called logos and the task of humanity was to live in conformity with that law of ethics and nature. Hmm- what would a good Jew do with that? Well, he could easily understand this as Torah and wisdom (Prov. 8:22-31) by which God created and ordered life for men.
In exegesis, the Jews took advantage of Greek methods of interpretation and applied this to their understanding of Hebrew texts which we now call the seven rules of Hillel. In the same way, the use of the tradition of the elders and use or oral law comes from Greek schools of philosophy.
As important as these elements are, perhaps even bigger is the ideal that Hellenism was an “ism”. It didn’t matter whether one was truly descended from the Greeks, it was about living according to their customs and ways and it was something that could then be shared and should be spread worldwide. As the Jews of Israel came to see these possiblities, and in their understanding of the Jewish life and faith as superior to that of the Greeks, they too began to understand their faith as an “ism”, Judaism. It was something that for the first time they began to intentionally spread to those outside Jewish bloodlines.
These are just a few of the ways Hellenism impacted Jewish culture and by extension then the Christian faith as well. After all, Christianity was birthed from a Jewish context alive in a Greco-Roman world, one where they too would emphasize the pre-existence of the logos, but the logos would be understood as Jesus Christ. The Christians also would emphasize the importance of careful biblical exegesis, and they would use this tool to help proclaim Jesus in the Old Testament. And they too would understand their faith as belonging to more than simply those of common bloodline. In fact, they would take missionary zeal to a wholly different level, not simply spreading their faith as they had opportunity, but in fact seeking out nonbelievers and going to the ends of the earth.
Clearly, the impact of Hellenism on Jews during the intertestamental times is important for us to understand as Christians as well. Both from an historical perspective, but also I think for us today. As we study this past, as we think about the impact of the pagan culture on our own forefathers in the faith, it helps us reflect on how we as Christians adapt, live, and preach today in an increasingly “pagan” culture.
