Return to our "Hebrew Roots" in terms of reading Scripture

GREEK THINKING VERSUS(?) HEBREW THINKING …

Some Christians today (particularly those who, like me, have been influenced by the Messianic Movement) sometimes act as if we disciples of Yeshua/Jesus were dropped off from a different planet, with its own otherworldly culture. Or like at least disciples in Paul's and John's day were dropped off from a different planet. Commendably seeking to return to their/our "Hebrew Roots" in terms of reading Scripture, yet themselves often employing "Greek" style "either/or" thinking and argumentation (thus setting up false dichotomies), these modern disciples of Yeshua/Jesus insist that "Greek thinking" should have no place in the Christian's life.

Huh? I can't help it. God sovereignty determined that I would be born into the country and the culture that is now a part of me. And a segment of that culture -- a huge chunk of it, in fact! – employs  "Greek thinking."

Is that automatically adverse to "Hebrew thinking"? I *think* not... :)

Just as a quick "for instance":

Paul, the "Hebrew of Hebrews," could quote the Greek poets Epimenides and Aratus (or Cleanthes ... there is some uncertainty because of verbal overlap), applying to YHWH statements in those poetic writings made expressly about Zeus (Act 17:28)! So why should we assume that other ideas and practices which find parallels in Greek literature are to be dismissed as completely pagan? Sort of the Pagan Christianity approach ...

Was Paul being un-Hebrew or "pagan" when he did what he did?

I find it hard to believe that the Greeks had it all wrong and that becoming a Gentile Christian in Paul's day meant learning an entirely foreign train of thought ... with almost zero points in common between "Greek thinking" and "Hebrew thinking." But that's what many of today's Messianics would have us believe.

I would rather assume (based on evidence) that Greek philosophical speculations, disseminated by this time through mainly the neo-Platonic and Stoic movements, helped pave the road for the acceptance of the gospel among the Gentiles. When you become acclimated to "Greek thinking" you can better see that the NT writers employed it all of the time as they shared the very Hebrew concepts of monotheism, a Messianic king/deliverer, and righteousness one day pervading the entire earth.

Like most ideas, these biblical concepts could be wrapped up in different clothes, so to speak, and still be understood adequately. There are some differences of emphasis between "Greek thinking" and "Hebrew thinking" ... some cultural angles that must be analyzed, caught, or abandoned. But by-and-large, the gospel and its surrounding concepts make enough sense in each culture into which they enter simply because of the general human condition.

Therefore, it is not advantageous for folks to dichotomize ‘too far’ between "Hebrew thinking" and "Greek thinking." For points of emphasis? Sure ... some differences can be highlighted. But to paint a picture that these two styles of thinking were worlds apart is not accurate -- not according to the uninspired historical records we have at our disposal and not according to God-breathed records we have in Holy Scripture. There was and remains adequate overlap between "Greek thinking" and "Hebrew thinking" to communicate what God wants to say to all humankind.

Christian, what you expect from other disciples of Jesus Christ is not necessarily God's will. A lot of times what you're expecting is culturally (not biblically) derived.

Christ is our life (Col 3:5), but his life will necessarily look slightly different here and there ... depending upon which cultures his life in us gets "translated" into. One of the biggest problems I see in the EKKLESIA, and in the resulting mission to the nations, is a confusion of biblical truth with the sending and sent people's cultures. We Christians too often underestimate the fact that our own cultures create lenses which refract, often even “distort” essential biblical truth. As long as we think that being "in Christ" and being filled with the Holy Spirit are all we need to stop repeating the mistakes of the past ... then we will keep repeating the mistakes of the past.

-Michael Millier