The relationship of Hellenism with Jesus' life and work

Question 1

Where did Jesus grow up?

Answer 1

Galilee, a place where Hellenic ideas mixed with Jewish beliefs

Question 2

Give some reasons why Jesus can be seen as a Hellenized Jew

Answer 2

• He clearly believed in an afterlife and personal immortality
• John’s gospel links Jesus to the Hellenic concept of the Logos, so this may have been an idea that Jesus taught to his followers
• Jesus directs his followers to take his message to the Gentiles aswell as the Jews, this is in keeping with a Hellenic outlook, rather than a purely Jewish one

Question 3

Give a biblical passage that makes clear Jesus’ idea of a ‘great comission’ for all mankind

Answer 3

‘Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’ (Matthew 28:19)

Question 4

Why is Matthew 28:19 not definitive?

Answer 4

Although Matthew puts these words into the mouth of the resurrected Christ, we cannot be sure who really said them. During his ministry, Jesus seems to have had the opposite view that his mission was, infact, only for the Jews. The ‘Great Comission’ might refelct the beliefs and priorities of Gentile Christians writing after Jesus’ time

Question 5

Which scholar argues that Jesus was actually a cynic philosopher?

Answer 5

John Dominic Crossan

Question 6

What evidence does John Dominic Crossan give for his claim that Jesus may have been a cynic philosopher?

Answer 6

Points out that the Q source, the oldest account of Jesus’ teachings, seems to reflect a cynic philosophy; give up material possessions, turn your back on the world and live a simple, humble existence

Question 7

Give a piece of evidence to support John Dominic Crossan’s claim that Jesus was a cynic philosopher

Answer 7

The town of Gadara, just 8 miles north of Nazareth, was a centre for Cynic philosophy

Question 8

What does John Dominic Crossan argue happened to Jesus’ cynic philosophy?

Answer 8

It was ditched by his later followers who came to view him as the suffering messiah, which he had never claimed to be

Question 9

What do critics say about John Dominic Crossan’s view that Jesus was a cynic philosopher?

Answer 9

They point out that even in the earliest sources Jesus points out the coming Kingdom of God, which is certainly not a cynic idea. Cynics normally behaved in schocking ways, encouraging nudity and sexual shamelessness, but Jesus didn’t. In fact, Jesus taught quite a severe sexual ethic about marraige and chastity

Question 10

Give some arguments in favour of the idea that Jesus has to be understood in a Hellenic context

Answer 10

• Tought a doctrine of life after death, which is a Hellenic concept not found in the Old Testament
• The ‘Great Comission’ shows that he intended his message to be for the wider Hellenic world, not just the Jews
• He is best understood as a (perhaps cynic) wandering philosopher that was so common in the Hellenic world
• His teachings about giving away wealth and leading a simple life trusting in God to provide are very similar to cynic views

Question 11

Give some arguements against the idea that Jesus must be understood in a Hellenic context

Answer 11

• Although not descried in the Old Testament, personal immortalility had been taught in judaism for several centuries and was not a foreign idea
• The ‘Great Comission’ tells us more about the Hellenic views of Jesus’ Gentile followers than about Jesus’ own views
• Jesus preached the coming Kingdom of God, which was not a cynic view
• Cynics taught people to stop feeling ashamed about nudity and sex, but Jesus taught a rather conservative sexual ethic that sex belonged only in marraige