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A brief look at the influence Hellenism has on the Judeo-Christian faith.

  The Hebrews have always had their roots firmly established in a strong covenanted faith and personal relationship with a living creative God.  Where family, work and faith are interwoven in a single minded godly lifestyle.
The Greek and Roman civilization had their faith in multiple gods, no personal relationship and no religious laws of right or wrong to bring conviction. Without boundaries we see a civilization without constraint, as it is today, were parents do not know how to parent, or draw boundaries for their children.  Where spouses do not know how to covenant with each other.  God's covenant no longer leads us in laying down boundaries for our lives, and we are sowing the consequences in this extremely selfish self-centered society, where the term "dysfunction" has become the norm.
  Man was ultimately created for a personal relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as established from the creation of man in the garden of Eden. Mankind was to follow His precepts and principals and not be seduced by other systems, traditions or societies.  This was made plain in the Old Testament (old covenant) and then fulfilled in the new covenant (New Testament). Confirmed by signs, wonders and the writings from the prophets of old like Isaiah who had seen and foretold of things to be and to come.  Instead today we are influenced in every area of our lives by the philosophers and tutors of old like Plato and Aristotle that entice us into tradition, false ideologies and worldly views of life. Whether we are Jew or Gentile is not the point. The principal is whether we follow God's truths through His covenant with us, or man's philosophies and theories.  One such theory has misled us for so long is Darwinism and his Evolution theory.  Despite it being an unsubstantiated theory it has been treated as hard fact. It's impact on our history and education system has been devastating.
Constantine's political move to publicly accept Christianity into a Hellenistic society, was to be accepted as the norm for the general population. This had a negative impact on the church at large.  Choice, was not part of the issue, so man developed a new "religion" made from a blend of beliefs, thus "watering down" Christianity.  This making it "politically correct" and easily digestible.  This can be seen not only in the "fruit" that we bare today, but the acceptance of a world system into a divinely ordered faith and covenant.
To understand God's blueprint for mankind, we have to go to the designers manuel and look at His master plan. We, as Greeks were invited to be "grafted in" to a love covenant originally made between God and the Hebrews.  Understanding this, will stop the "watered down" faith and our tolerated of it as the "interwoven faith" within Hellenistic beliefs, that we see today.
The Roman Catholic church and its political agenda played a large role in the "contamination" of this faith, eventually bringing about the dark ages.  When God is left out of mans life, darkness and selfishness abound and the consequences are death and destruction.
How long before this happens again? With Martin Luther's revelation that we are saved by faith through God's grace, came a period of grace and revival.  He discovered this through a period of deep study, seeking his faith roots through God's word. We know that to seek God is to find Him.  If the church would humble herself today and seek after God, His kingdom and His righteousness, instead of the "self agenda" so vividly seen on T.V. today, we would have true revivals once again.  Today we have a gospel not taught from it's roots in the Hebrew faith, but through a more Hellenistic perspective, a worldly view point.  This enhances man's desire to fulfill their own lusts and materialism, and be more self focused rather than God focused.  We see the proof of this in the statistics of divorce rates, higher in the church than in the world. The break down of healthy godly principles has influenced every area of our live.
Marriage was to be a covenant between one man and one woman under God, not for self-gratification, but rather as a unit for the good of all. This covenant was to be a depiction of Christ's relationship with us as his bride.  A more Hellenistic/worldly, covenant less and selfish "let me fulfill myself first", and "my spirituality is higher than others" attitude has crept more and more into the church each year.  People walk under a banner of pretense, puffed up spirituality as they live lives of independence "am I my brothers keeper?" attitude instead of an interdependence with their brothers and sisters in covenant, with the desire to look out for each other.  This self-centeredness is the height of the sinful nature which aposes God's idea of a servant attitude with gratitude instead of self elevation.    Jesus laid out a standard for us though the depiction of His covenant with His father, one which we should strive to obtain, even unto death.  So many believers have experienced this in the persecuted countries. I wonder what would happen to the church in America if she was to have to make this choice?  Are we convicted by our love of the world and it's systems, which we were told to hate and be "separated" from, or have we come so far from our roots in Judaism to go back and rediscover our roots?
Lets look at some of the examples where the Hellenistic (as a non constrained life style) has enticed us the believer into it's arms.  We have adapted our music to please the general public, when we should be leading in creativity and originality as covenanted people with a living God. Is this because of greed and self gratification, a money making racket (in God's temple), or do we create to please God?  We treat and show affection to our animals better than our own children. We Accept the alternate life style of homosexuality when we know our bodies cannot procreation through sodomy.  We accept murdering innocent babies (abortion) as an form of birth control because of a lack of self constraint. We vote for people who will stand for these behaviors and then we try to justify them.  We deceive ourselves about our lustful appetites by looking at pornography or have sexual "verbal" relationships through the internet and chat rooms, and say "it doesn't harm anyone."
Statistics show that over 75% of men who are active in churches indulge in this sinful behavior that can and will effect their homes. The Bible teaches that to think lustful thoughts is to partake in infidelity. We have flirted with the world and it's values for so long that we cannot see the truth, only half truths that are filtered through blind and dirty minds. We have adopted a worldly lifestyle in every area of our lives.  
How will we get back to our covenanted roots with our living God?  This can only be done when we look to the 10 commandments as our roots, seek God's truth, starting from the book of Genesis through to the book of Revelations.  
Wake up America and the western world, before we see our own excuses come to pass in our children's generation as our parents saw happen in our generation.  May we take action now, cut off this life of "dancing with the world", love them, but not live like them, so that they to can see the plan of the Father and thereby bring them to a saving knowledge of Christ as Lord - lest their blood be on our hands.

Essay–A brief look at the influence Hellenism has on the Judeo-Christian faith ©2005 Rev. Babette du Plessis-Biddlecombe – Eagles Glide International Ministries. All Rights Reserved.