Dehellenization is a term used in

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

to refer to the idea that Christianity should be divorced from its roots in ancient Greek philosophical thought. The idea was proposed by the Canadian philosopher

Leslie Dewart Leslie Dewart (December 18, 1922 – December 20, 2009) was a Canadian philosopher and Professor Emeritus at the Graduate Department of Philosophy and the Centre for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto. Dewart was born in Madrid, ...

in his 1966 book ''The Future of Belief: Theism in a World Come of Age'' as a measure to counteract the progressive alienation of Catholic doctrine from the modern worldview, which Dewart believed was caused by Catholic theology's baneful dependence on antiquated and essentially pre-modern philosophical modes of thought. Dehellenization was strongly rejected in 2006 by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

in a speech called ''Faith, Reason, and the University: Memories and Reflections'' (the

Regensburg lecture The Regensburg lecture or Regensburg address was delivered on 12 September 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI at the University of Regensburg in Germany, which sparked international reactions and controversy. The lecture entitled " Faith, Reason and the U ...

). The speech advocates the harmony between faith and reason, arguing that Christianity is fundamentally a

Hellenized Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in th ...

religion.

Hellenization

(born Joseph A. Ratzinger) argues that several key ideas in Christian thought reveal the

Hellenization Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in the ...

of Christianity: # According to Benedict XVI,

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

's vision of the Macedonian man pleading with him to travel to Macedonia to help his people specifically foreshadows the necessary marriage of Biblical and Greek thought. # To demonstrate the fusion of Greek and Biblical thought, Benedict XVI refers to the opening verse of the

gospel of John The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...

: "In the beginning was the word." Here "Word" translates the Greek word "logos" (λόγος), meaning not only "word" but also "reason", so the verse can be paraphrased as "in the beginning there was reason." # Benedict XVI also points to the concept of ''voluntarism'', proposed by the Franciscan Blessed John Duns Scotus and developed by later scholars into the premise that we can only know God through a voluntary decision to do so. Although

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

's followers were reluctant to succumb to the Hellenistic rulers' attempts to force them into Greek idolatry and customs, Benedict XVI argues that they were nevertheless able to extract the most enriching element of Hellenistic thought, namely that man has not only the ability but also the obligation to think rationally.

Causes of dehellenization

Pope Benedict XVI proposes that a dehellenization of Christianity has stemmed from three different sources. The first stage of Christian dehellenization can be attributed to the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

in the sixteenth century. Reformers believed that faith had turned into a mere element in abstract philosophy, and that the religion needed to return to the idea of ''

sola scriptura , meaning by scripture alone, is a Christian theological doctrine held by most Protestant Christian denominations, in particular the Lutheran and Reformed traditions of Protestantism, that posits the Bible as the sole infallible source of au ...

'' (scripture only). The second stage occurred in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries due to the theology of

Adolf von Harnack Carl Gustav Adolf von Harnack (born Harnack; 7 May 1851 – 10 June 1930) was a Baltic German Lutheran theologian and prominent Church historian. He produced many religious publications from 1873 to 1912 (in which he is sometimes credited ...

. Harnack advocated focusing on the simple life of Jesus Christ, and his humanitarian message in particular. Theology and belief in a divine being, according to Harnack, was a scientific history completely separate from the modern reason of humanitarian aid. The last stage, occurring currently in the twenty-first century, is a product of modern cultural pluralism. Cultural pluralism encourages other cultures to simply return to the simplicity of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

, and infuse it with their own culture. Benedict XVI affirms that such a method cannot work because the New Testament "was written in Greek and bears the imprint of the Greek spirit.".

References

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Hellenization

Causes of dehellenization

See also

References

Sources used

Further reading