Page 50 - BV15

50

Moving with such rapidity, and with such remarkable successes, Alexander the
Great in 10 short years conquered the Persian Empire and all of civilized Asia to the
Indus River, as well as Egypt on the south. The Jews, because of this, came under the
domination of the Greeks.

A New Way of Life -- Hellenism

With the coming of the Greeks, a whole new manner of life was brought into
Palestine and among the Jews. Under the Persians, the Jews had been allowed to observe
the Law of Moses with the Great Assembly (the Sopherim) as their religious leaders. But
this was all changed with the advent of the Greeks.

Alexander the Great was steeped in the belief that the Greek way of life was the
only suitable one for mankind to follow. He was imbued with the enthusiasm of infusing
the culture and society of the Greeks among all the nations he had conquered. And
Palestine was no exception.

"Hellenism" is the term to describe the belief in practicing the manner of life of
the Greeks -- to imitate every phase of Greek society, its politics, domestic life,
philosophies, religions, etc.

The basic philosophy behind Hellenism was this: EVERY MAN HAD THE
RIGHT TO THINK FOR HIMSELF ON ANY MATTER AS LONG AS THERE WAS
NOT A REAL DEPARTURE FROM THE CUSTOMS THAT WERE ESSENTIALLY
GREEK.

This philosophy -- freedom of thought or individualism -- which is seemingly
altruistic in principle, resulted in myriads of confusing and contradictory beliefs among
the Greeks in every phase of life. Every man was allowed his own ideas about the
sciences, the arts, laws AND ABOUT RELIGION. So varied were the opinions among
the Greek scholars in the various fields of study that individuals took pride in contending
with one another over who could present the greatest "wisdom" and "knowledge" on any
particular subject.

The Greeks sought wisdom in order to understand the world they lived in and the
reasons for life. And their confusion of beliefs resulted from the fact that their ideas
came from their own rationalizing -- their philosophies represented almost EVERY
HUMAN IDEA.

Here was the beginning of the philosophy of individualism -- a product of
Hellenism. When the Greeks came to Palestine they brought all their conflicting secular
teachings as well as their many religious doctrines, all of which were prompted by the
individual philosophies of men.

It would be unfeasible to even attempt an adequate description of the manifold
religious cults among the Greeks, or of their heathenistic doctrines. Their various