FROM GREEK PHILOSOPHY TO CHRISTIANITY AND WESTERN VALUES

 THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY

Anyone can read in numerous media the route of the spread of Christianity through the Roman Empire. 

The Altar to the Unknown God (Greek: Agnostos Theos - Ἄγνωστος Θεός) is a historical and biblical artifact mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 17:23) when the Apostle Paul visited Athens around 50 AD. While surveying the city's numerous idols and shrines, Paul observed an altar inscribed "To an Unknown God" and used it as a starting point to introduce the Christian concept of the one true God to the Athenian philosophers.  From GOOGLE AI

If you dig deeper in AI you'll find that it was the widespread of a common language that played a large part in the spread: the Alexandrian Hellenic KOINE. But it goes deeper than that.

When the Apostole Paul ventured out of Judea he first visited Arabia in 34-36 AD. His main, by far, apostolic mission was in the West, mainly in Greece and Rome.

Somehow he must have realised that that was the path to create a chance for his faith to grow.

Obviously History proved him right.

As we can see he concentrated in the Hellenic area probably because of the spoken language but also because he realised of the importance of Greek Philosophy to the Christian teaching.

In his second missionary journey he stopped in Athens where he saw an altar dedicated "TO THE UNKNOWN GOD" (ΤΩ ΑΓΝΩΣΤΩ ΘΕΩ).

Here we can see the map of Paul's second journey and the altar to the unknown god.

The acceptance of Christianity by the Hellenes is a testament to the spread of knowledge which eventually, became the basis of Western ideology.

It was in 313 AD that Emperor Constantine declared tolerance for all religions through the EDICT OF MILAN. This the breakthrough for the Christian populations because public and personal funds were alocated for the building of churches and the support of the clergy.

It's not a wonder that Greek society is so deeply devoted to the Christian belief as it is merely an extension of the social structure there. The unknown God became the triad of Christian deity, Athena became the Holy Mother. It really was a smooth transformation. Eventually, this became the basis for the Western philosophy influencing all aspects of society, even architecture.

Let's all light a candle to Apostle Paul for becoming the link to merging the Hellenic and Christian cultures.