[two134711]

The culture of the Western world grew out of Christian values.

Perhaps because I'm a relative newbie I shouldn't be so bold (or perhaps foolish) as to say this, but didn't the culture of the Western world grow out of Hellenistic values? Didn't Greek philosophy pave the way for Christendom? And weren't the Greeks the first Gentile converts to Christianity?

I'm asking these questions in all seriousness; I'm not just trying to be a pain in the butt.

[Cornpone]

"I'm asking these questions in all seriousness; I'm not just trying to be a pain in the butt."

Believe me you're not a pain in the butt. My wife is. She's Greek...but you're right. Western civilization traces its roots back to ancient Greece and every summer that I can I make it a practice to climb Delphi. If you have never been there you should go.

[Tribune7]

Perhaps because I'm a relative newbie I shouldn't be so bold (or perhaps foolish) as to say this, but didn't the culture of the Western world grow out of Hellenistic values?

It's not as though the Greeks didn't have influence but our values are Jewish and German and, especially, Christian.

Didn't Greek philosophy pave the way for Christendom?

The Grecian tradition of open inquiry made the Hellenic world a fertile mission field but Western Christiandom stems from the Latins through the Germans.

And weren't the Greeks the first Gentile converts to Christianity?

The first Gentile converts were Latins.

[processing please hold]

Welcome to FR. I hope you like it here. It's a great place to be.

[thoughtomator]

Actually Western civilization is ultimately rooted in Jewish values... respect for life, the striving to achieve freedom, limiting sexual expression to marriage, the Ten Commandments. Our justice system is based more on the Judaic concept of equity than the Christian concept of forgiveness.

[longtermmemmory]

You are correct, the Greeks were the first to convert. It is also the language of the new testament. (in fact Greek Orthodox churchs still use original text language)

[longtermmemmory]

oops forgot to mention: it is also worth noting that the Greeks fought off the Ottoman empire to gain regain their independence.

They managed to preserve language, culture and religion in the face of oppression over several hundred years of slavery.

The monestaries in northern Greece still stand as a testament. (they were used in a James Bond movie with roger moore "for your eyes only" 1981) They are affectionaly called the "basement of heaven" for they stark beauty and peace. They are dramatic as heck when you see them in person, no mere picture does them justice.

(its like mount rushmore or the grand canyon after you see it in person.)

[ROTB]

>Didn't Greek philosophy pave the way for Christendom? And
>weren't the Greeks the first Gentile converts to
>Christianity?

No. The Law of Moses was given long before. Check out http://christian-thinktank.com/baduseot.html where you'll find this gem...

Aristobulus, arguing that the famous philosophers were actually dependent on Moses(!), advances a rather strange story: "how were Homer and Plato able to gain enlightenment from Moses' Hebrew text? He counters (12.1) with the thesis of an early Greek translation...

The Greeks read the words of the God of Israel, and the inspiration continued with Christianity.

[muir_redwoods]

Your point has much merit and, it has to be said, the founders drew their inspiration from many sources including classical Greece. It would be foolish to try to deny the influence of Pericles in forming a democratic republic

[freedumb2003]

Like all things, Western Culture is a combination. But it was the New Testament that laid the seeds of the idea of every individual possessing inherent dignity. Furthermore, it established that dignity was divinely bestowed and therefore irrevocable.

Non-christian cultures may have tinkered with the idea, and the Greeks certainly gave us the basis for a representative government, but almost all cultures prior to Christianity believed in a version of a caste system.

Monotheism generally believed that those who worshiped the chosen deity were special and chosen.

Christ was the first to say that all people are created equal and why that was so.

Thus we arrive at why Christianity is the true basis for western culture (summarized a bit with a few leaps tossed in for brevity).