Greek thinking has had a substantial impact on the Western world, from politics, philosophy and science, to art and architecture. In last week’s study we commented on the fact that much of the thinking the Ancient Greeks handed on is locked into this world.

We likened this to a goldfish in a bowl content to go round and round its limited world as if that were all, contrasting this with the biblical worldview where the wisdom of God begins where the wisdom of man ends.

Popular Science

If we begin with flawed assumptions (because our reference points are built on human logic, outside of Scripture and apart from God), this will affect all our further reasoning.

For example, if we consider a number of today’s popular scientists, some of whom have series on TV which attract big audiences, we perceive the beguiling fruit of Greek thought with its foundational assumptions set not by Scripture, but by man. It is a good exercise to watch some of these programmes and try to deduce what their foundational assumptions are (they all have them, though they would like their audiences not to notice). If the foundational assumptions are wrong, then the whole edifice of their science is shaky, though the presenters might have appealing worldly charisma.

In particular, evolutionary ideas, which have been a primary vehicle through which a God-centred understanding of the universe has been undermined, can be found at the foundation of much modern science, where they are treated as fact rather than as hypothesis. Add to this a growing tide of agnosticism today, and our minds are riper than ever to be beguiled by counterfeit spirituality.

To consider the power of this, can we ask whether the acceptance of evolutionary thought has helped to usher in the abortion laws and LGBTQ+ ‘rights’ agenda, by re-casting humans as animals with no objective moral standard, in a world where only the fittest ought to survive?

Testing Everything

The Greek humanistic influence on the sciences today is bearing bad fruit. We must test out that which hitherto we may have accepted unquestioningly. Even the famous theory of relativity derived by Einstein can be challenged, if we go back to its founding suppositions.

Can we ask if the theory of relativity has contributed to the moral worldview that everything is relative, so that we can redefine our own personal morality? Has this contributed in turn to the multi-faith movement and the New Age movement, building towards the acceptance of the coming Anti-Christ? We must test everything, checking the foundations so that we know on what our worldviews are founded.

If we begin with flawed assumptions, this will affect all our further reasoning.

Political Ideals

By way of another example, modern politics is greatly influenced by Greek thinking. As with all things of this world, political principles and theories must have foundational axioms – starting points, often derived from human experience or logic. Even the foundational idea of democracy, which undergirds so much of Western civilisation, is a Greek idea that the ‘will of the people’ represents what is best for society (our English word ‘democracy’ comes from the Greek dēmokratía, literally ‘rule by people’). Is this, on its own, a good assumption?

There are good (though not perfect) examples of constitutional foundations which apply scriptural ideas, such as the US Declaration of Independence, based on the principle that all men are created equal. The central tenets of the UK constitutional position are wonderfully enshrined in the Coronation Oath, that to the utmost of their power, our monarchs will maintain the laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel.

Of course, such foundations need to be upheld and not just taken for granted. They can so easily become empty words to be disregarded, such as the UK has done in its allegiance to the EU, which does not acknowledge God and glorifies human wisdom and strategy above all, openly taking inspiration from Ancient Greece and Rome. The Greek worldview of the governance of nations is always waiting in the wings to take over.

Man’s Glory

John Carroll, in his book Humanism: The Wreck of Western Culture,¹ uses Holbein’s picture ‘The Ambassadors’ to illustrate that the superficial grandeur of man’s accomplishments and self-elevation is really a picture of the clutter of all of man’s pursuits without God, failing to answer the ultimate questions of life and death. Humanism, as he defines it, is the seeking after the glories of Greece and Rome. As such, we see the powerful influence of Ancient Greece on the worldview of today, where man’s tendency to live without God constantly draws him back to live within the parameters of his own human endeavour.

In the West, a significant cultural battle between Greek and Hebraic thinking took place between the Renaissance and the Reformation. Through the Reformation there was a move away from Greco-Roman dominance, but not a complete escape, as Protestantism’s focus on the individual held the door open for the influence of humanism to continue. To quote Carroll’s own words as illustration of the ongoing power of the Greek worldview, even in the Christian Church:

Protestantism is in essence, under Calvin’s huge shadow, a conglomerate of one-man sects loosely held together by a common metaphysics. Its achievement was to create another powerful individualism with which to counter the new humanist individualism. The cost was the decline of community. Once there is a faith alone and Calvin’s conscience, the vital unifying role of family, village and town has been eclipsed.

The Reformation threw out the incense and holy water, the chanting, the bleeding madonnas and most of the sacraments. It burnt the relics and smashed the statues; it banned dancing. It found, however, that the Church it occupied had cold floors and bare walls. The communal warmth had gone.²

Humanism – including within Christianity - is surely the modern-day fruit of a Greco-Roman worldview. We ought also to consider, therefore, what the fruit of a Hebraic worldview might be, by contrast. We will begin this next time.

References

1 1993, Fontana Press.

2 Ibid, p62.

This article is part of a series. Click here for previous instalments.