107. Prolegomena: Alexander the Great and the Harvest of Hellenism

In this episode, Brendon and Skyler continue setting up the context for the coming series on the Nicene Creed. Today, we take a brief and broad tour of Alexander the Great and the Harvest of Hellenism. What is Hellenization? We take a look at some of its political and cultural context – and then focus on the philosophical schools of Stoicism and Epicureanism. This will be key to accurately understanding the world of the New Testament, the early church - as well as contemporary debates over Christian theology and apologetics.

Correction: The Battle of Tyre occurred in present-day Lebanon, not Syria. Also, though the Battle of Gaugamela occurred in modern-day northern Iraq (Iraqi Kurdistan), Alexander didn’t arrive at the body of Darius III until he was in modern-day northeastern Iran.

Clarification (in case there was confusion): The Cleopatra mentioned as the wife of Philip II of Macedon is not the famous Cleopatra. The seventh and final wife of Philip of Macedon was Cleopatra (sometimes, "Eurydice"). She (and her children) was seen as a threat by another wife of Philip - the mother of Alexander, Olympias. The famous Cleopatra, Queen Cleopatra VII (of Caesar and Mark Antony fame) was actually the last ruler of the Ptolemies (of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, spoken of in this episode) and ruled from 51-30 BC.

Twelve Greeks and Romans Who Changed the World by Carl Richard 

Alexander the Great: Journey to the End of the Earth by Norman Cantor 

Alexander At the End of the World: The Forgotten Final Years of Alexander the Great by Rachel Kousser 

The Landmark Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander, edited by James Romm 

 

Alexander to Actium by Peter Green 

The Harvest of Hellenism by F.E. Peters 

Jew and Gentile in the Ancient World by Louis Feldman 

The Jews in the Greek Age by Elias Bickerman 

The Land of the Elephant Kings; Time and its Adversaries in the Seleucid Empire by Paul Kosmin 

Circumference by Nicholas Nicastro 

 

The Epicurus Reader, translated and edited by Brad Inwood and L.P. Gerson 

The Stoics Reader, translated, with introduction, by Brad Inwood and L.P. Gerson 

Hellenistic Philosophy: Stoics, Epicureans, Sceptics by A.A. Long 

Epicurus and His Gods by Andre-Jean Festugiere 

Stoic Philosophy by J.M. Rist 

The Stoics by F.H. Sandbach 

Ancient Mystery Cults by Walter Burkert 

Philosophy in the Hellenistic and Roman Worlds by Peter Adamson 

 

Destroyer of the God by Larry Hurtado 

Dominion by Tom Holland 

Christian Charity in the Ancient Church by Gerhard Uhlhorn 

Unnatural Death by Richard Weikart 

Abortion and the Early Church by Michael Gorman 

Infinitesimal by Amir Alexander 

The Virgin Birth of Christ; Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen

Christless Christianity; Core Christianity by Michael Horton

"Resurrection, Proof, and Presuppositionalism: Acts 17.30-31" by Lane Tipton; found in Revelation and Reason, edited by K. Scott Oliphant and Lane Tipton

The Gospel and the Greeks by Ronald Nash