important Greek and Roman cities—in Athens, in Rome, in Alexandria, in
Ephesos, and in Corinth. In the space of three to four hundred years, the
entire Hellenistic world had become Christian.
The Creed
It was not only as a missionary that Paul came to have a fundamental
significance for Christianity. He also had great influence within the Christian
congregations. There was a widespread need for spiritual guidance.
One important question in the early years after Jesus was whether non-
Jews could become Christians without first becoming Jews. Should a Greek,
for instance, observe the dietary laws? Paul believed it to be unnecessary.
Christianity was more than a Jewish sect. It addressed itself to everybody in a
universal message of salvation. The “Old Covenant” between God and Israel
had been replaced by the “New Covenant” which Jesus had established
between God and mankind.
However, Christianity was not the only religion at that time. We have
seen how Hellenism was influenced by a fusion of religions. It was thus vitally
necessary for the church to step forward with a concise summary of the
Christian doctrine, both in order to distance itself from other religions and to
prevent schisms within the Christian Church. Therefore the first Creed was
established, summing up the central Christian “dogmas” or tenets.
One such central tenet was that Jesus was both God and man. He was
not the “Son of God” on the strength of his actions alone. He was God
himself. But he was also a “true man” who had shared the misfortunes of
mankind and actually suffered on the Cross.
This may sound like a contradiction. But the message of the church was
precisely that God became man. Jesus was not a “demigod” (which was half
man, half god). Belief in such “demigods” was quite widespread in Greek and
Hellenistic religions. The church taught that Jesus was “perfect God, perfect
man.”
Postscript
Let me try to say a few words about how all this hangs together, my dear
Sophie. As Christianity makes its entry into the Greco-Roman world we are
witnessing a dramatic meeting of two cultures. We are also seeing one of his-
tory’s great cultural revolutions.
We are about to step out of antiquity. Almost one thousand years have
passed since the days of the early Greek philosophers. Ahead of us we have
the Christian Middle Ages, which also lasted for about a thousand years.
The German poet Goethe once said that “he who cannot draw on three
thousand years is living from hand to mouth.” I don’t want you to end up in
such a sad state. I will do what I can to acquaint you with your historical roots.
It is the only way to become a human being. It is the only way to become
more than a naked ape. It is the only way to avoid floating in a vacuum.
“It is the only way to become a human being. It is the only way to
become more than a naked ape ...”
Sophie sat for a while staring into the garden through the little holes in
the hedge. She was beginning to understand why it was so important to know
about her historical roots. It had certainly been important to the Children of