GREEK SOUP
Secular-Sacred Divide
DR. GWEN DEWEY
Early Church Christians (33AD-325AD)
 They were Jews from Judea, who had retained their
Hebrew worldview
 They were called Christians (Christ followers) and “The
People of the Way” (who lived like Jesus taught and lived)
 Their lives were highly integrated


Work, community, worship all flowed together
Church leaders had businesses (fishermen, farmers, carpenters,
masons, ten makers, government workers, etc)
Early Church Christians (cont’d)
 A minority group of Christian Jews were Greek-educated
who had returned from Diaspora
 Often there were violent confrontations between Judean
Jews (retained their Hebrew worldview) and Diaspora Jews
(adapted to the Greek worldview)
 Stephan was a Diaspora Jew who was martyred by the
Judean Jews
Differences Between Eastern and Western Worldviews
Eastern (Hebrew)
Metaphysical wholeness (one
essence)
Western (Greek)
Beauty
Function & purpose primary
Physical & form primary
Acquired wisdom knowledge
Enlightenment, revelation
Pure logic – reason
God
Totally spirit and truth - can not
be physically described or
represented
Can be described in
human terms
Religion
A way of life
Gods honored in rituals
Reality
Metaphysical dualism
(two essences)
Gentiles in early church increased in number
and Judean Jews decreased
 Judea defeated by Rome in 70AD
temple destroyed
 Many lives lost
 By 130AD, all Jews had been violently eliminated from
Judea
 Unimaginable slaughter
 Remaining Jews escaped to Egypt, Spain, other
 Gentile portion of Church faired a little better, escaping the
Judean slaughter
 But, all Christians (Jew and Gentiles) suffered until
Constantine in 325AD

Major Worldview Difference Within Christianity
 Eastern, where most people hold primarily to a
metaphysical wholeness
(Old Testament and most of the New Testament)
 Western, where most people hold primarily to a
metaphysical dualism
(Can be seen In a few parts of the New Testament)
 This worldview difference has caused us to be confused
theologically
Why did Christianity change in the 3rd Century?
 Church became the official religion of Roman Empire (3rd
Century)


Constantine became Emperor of Rome from 306-337; first Christian
Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire
Creeds developed; emphasis on “life style” became secondary
 Early Church Fathers were trained in Platonism prior to
becoming Christians, and carried Greek philosophy over into
Christian thought.


To make Christianity a respected & logical religion
To counter “learned” scholars attacks on Christianity
Why did Christianity change in the 3rd Century? (cont’d)
 Through Platonism, work was compartmentalized into two parts
“Sacred” (the work of Church leaders and especially the
monks)
 “Secular” (mundane work of laity and peasants)
 To be “spiritual” one needed to separate oneself from the
material world as much as possible.

Metaphysical Dualism
Form
Matter
The perfect, eternal, unchanging nonphysical realm of ideas
The imperfect, temporal, changing
physical realm
Assumptions that Affect our
Lives, pg 111
Metaphysical dualism applied to religion
Sacred
Things pertaining to the spiritual,
eternal, and unchanging upper
realm of God in heaven
Secular
Things pertaining to the physical,
temporal, and changing lower
realm of humans on earth
Assumptions that Affect our
Lives, pg 111
Adverse Impact of Platonism on Christianity
Worthy,
everlasting
work
Mundane,
temporal &
unworthy work
Spiritual
Direct church-related work by
missionaries, ministers, pastors,
evangelists, etc.
Secular
Home, school, health services,
business, marketplace, the trades,
the arts, sports, government, labor,
sex, money, etc.
Assumptions that Affect our
Lives, pg 111
This Gap Creates
 Idea in the West that only the work of cardinals, bishops,
priests, pastors, missionaries, etc. is “God’s work”
(Christianity in the east did not did not fully move into the Platonic thought)
Did Christianity ever correct this worldview?
 YES! Priesthood of the laity a major issue during the
Reformation (1517-1540)
 The Reformation affirmed the concept of work as worship
and ordained by God
 Martin Luther and the rest of the champions of the
reformation believed that the laity were on a par with
liturgists and preachers
 People groups such as the Puritans were responsible for
bringing on the Industrial Revolution
(Max Weber: Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism-1905)
Greek thought came roaring back in the 18th & 19th
Centuries
 The Western “Enlightenment” movement (18th C)
equated enlightenment to pure logic and reason (Greek
thought)
 Eastern enlightenment remained equated to revelation
 Western educational systems completely embraced
Greek thought
 The Industrial Revolution (19th C) split the activities of
family, work, church, government apart
 Fathers left families to work
 Churches were no longer integrated into work activities
Greek thought came roaring back in the 18th & 19th
Centuries (Continued)
 Heavy emphasis on mission work by the Church
 Materialism: Wide spread financial success led to
loss of interest in the things of God.
 Reduced role of the Church (education, health
care, etc.)
Eugene Peterson on Sacred-Secular Divide
Eugene Peterson on Sacred-Secular Divide
Biblical Worldview of Human Activity
In conflict
with God’s
design
(“evil”)
Business
School
Art
Home
Music
Sports
Church
law order
Human sexuality
Medicine
Banking
In
harmony
with God’s
design
(“good”)
Assumptions that affect our
Lives, pg 112
Where is the Secular World?
NASH & McLENNAN STUDY
CHURCH ON SUNDAY, WORK ON MONDAY (2001)
 Institutional church ineffectively bridges between Sunday
and Monday
 Christians in business report less-than-satisfactory
connections between their faith and work
NASH & McLENNAN STUDY
CHURCH ON SUNDAY, WORK ON MONDAY (2001) cont’d
 Problem appears at both ends:

Christians in business comments:
“The clergy are the last people to go to for guidance on business”
 “We don’t speak the same language”
 “They can’t manage themselves, how can they advise others”


Most clergy “felt” they had made no impact and had no
mandate to do so
Biblical Alternative to Dualism by John Beckett
Adverse Impact of Platonism on Christianity
Worthy,
everlasting
work
Mundane,
temporal &
unworthy work
Spiritual
Direct church-related work by
missionaries, ministers, pastors,
evangelists, etc.
Secular
Home, school, health services,
business, marketplace, the trades,
the arts, sports, government, labor,
sex, money, etc.
Assumptions that Affect our
Lives, pg 111
Metaphysical dualism applied to religion
Sacred
Things pertaining to the spiritual,
eternal, and unchanging upper
realm of God in heaven
Secular
Things pertaining to the physical,
temporal, and changing lower
realm of humans on earth
Assumptions that Affect our
Lives, pg 111
This Gap Creates
 Idea in the West that only the work of pastors or
missionaries is “God’s work”
 Christians have been sprinkled like salt in the workplace
but are often ineffective
(Eastern Christianity did not fully move into the Platonic thought)
What Went Wrong?
 Priesthood of the laity a major issue during the Reformation (1517-
1540)
 Reformation affirmed the concept of work as worship and ordained
by God
 Luther and the rest of the champions of the reformation believed that
the laity were on a par with liturgists and preachers
 People groups such as the Puritans were responsible for bringing on
the Industrial Revolution
(Max Weber: Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism-1905)
What Went Wrong? (Continued)
 Work as mission was lost in West, because:
 Heavy emphasis on mission work - redemption
 Government took over the role of social support – no need for church
 Educational systems based on Platonic thought
 Wide-spread financial success has led to loss of interest in the things
of God
Faith in the Workplace by John Beckett’s Company
For John Beckett there is No Divide
End