You may
have heard it said, "Christian doctrine is really just baptized Greek
philosophy." Let's take a look at this claim and consider how one might
respond to it.
In order to curb the pejorative tone of this accusation, it is important to
note the motive behind Christian use of Greek philosophy. In an
important early twentieth century essay, Martin Kahler
declared, "
Most people would not quarrel with whether this happened. It is
certainly an aspect of the historical development of Christianity. The question
is what to do about it now that it is the case. What do we do
with all this Greek philosophy commingled with classic Christian doctrine? As I
see it, there are three logical options:
(1) Problematic - One view would be that the existence of
Greek ideas in Christian doctrine is a problem to be solved. One might be
charitable enough to say that this synthesis was innocent in its day, but it
must be eradicated now. Greek philosophy is dated at best,
and pernicious at worst. We must clear off the husk of cultural expression and
get back to the kernel of Gospel truth. In Kahler's terms: mission is the mother of theology, but
theology has grown up and no longer needs its mother.
(2) Permanent - The opposite view would be that the synthesis
achieved by the early Christians is the essential form of Christianity. There
was no Christianity properly-so-called until this encounter took place.
Orthodoxy's dependence on Greek philosophy is therefore not a problem to be
solved but a relationship to be explored. To retrieve a robust Christian faith
in our day requires a simultaneous retrieval of the insights of Greek
philosophy and culture. In Kahler's
terms: mission is the mother of theology, and thou shalt
honor thy mother.
(3) Perpetual - There is a third view that the cultural
embedding of the gospel is a perpetual process that must occur over and over
again. On each new mission field, theology once again does its work of
reflecting on the gospel and its claims in the new context. This is a hybrid
view, for on the one hand it agrees with the first view that past cultural
expressions are not normative, while on the other hand it does not disparage
those cultural expressions for what they are. In Kahler's terms: mission is the mother of theology, and
each new mission is the mother of a new theology.
What do you think?
Would you agree that mission is the mother of theology?
Is this a fair account of the possible responses to this fact?
Is there a possible response not listed?
Toward which approach do you lean? Why?
Should we make use of all of these options in a case-specific manner? If so,
which options go with which issues?
At 11:53 PM, November 09, 2005, pk
said...
Option 3 resonates with me the most. The word that
comes to mind is that following Jesus is an incarnational
endeavor. It will look different in
This implies that there is some "kernal" that
is being incarnated into each and every new culture. That's a whole new blog as to what the kernel is, eh?
At 2:14 PM, November 14, 2005, David Drury said...
Great thinking, John. And good categories. Your thoughts on (and correction to the
over-simplification of) the Hellenization of
Christian Theology were right on in your Theology Today piece. Good stuff.
Like Paul (scary to him though it may be) I would align a bit with your option
number 3. Or, at least, I am drawn to it as a plausible thing to engage in and
remain orthodox in some manner. In history I see that it has happened, so that
it happens again is no bother to me--perhaps it's even a joy to re-create that
history. To re-paint the Velvet Elvis as someone has recently said.
At 3:55 PM, November 17, 2005, Just .
Jay said...
i
have seriously been thinking on this one ALL week. here's what I think,
although i haven't made up my mind or come to a
definitive conclusion yet...
to incluide the Gentiles in God's "new"
Kingdom, changes needed to be made... in delivery if nothing else. right? so the "emergent greeks" could find God "relevant." ha! funny but possibly at least partly true.
if you are a fisherman by trade, jesus
would say you will be "fishers of men" from now on... right? if you were a baker, "fishers of men" wouldn't
mean quite as much.
i simplified that last
point, i know, but this question has been bouncing
around like a ping pong ball in my head!
my ever-present conviction that theology must be
practical and applicable to be worth anything more than a hot cup of jack-squat,
well, i think that may have come in to play with the greeks. and everyone else.
to answer the question, i
think it is a mixture of all three.
problematic if greek
thoughts are no longer relevant (i hate that word
these days) to the current culture(s) and are kept only for tradition's sake.
permanent in that it IS part of tradition and history and has really brought ther Gospel to a more dynamic place than without the
"synthesis"
perpetual in that the Word of God is a living thing and will and must "adapt"
or "evolve" within the framework God allows to reach as many as
possible, of course NOT changing or evolving from the original gospel message. i don't know how to explain
"evolve" quite the way i want to (uh oh, i think the 700 club is mad at me for saying that word. i hope i am not called out to be
assassinated.).