The Greeks

"Before the advent of Christianity, philosophy was needful to the Greeks for righteousness. Now it is useful to piety for those who attain faith through demonstration. Philosophy was a schoolmaster to the Greeks, as the law was to the Hebrews, preparing the way for those who are perfected by Christ." -Miscellanies, Clement of Alexandria.

In other words, philosophy paved the way for the Greeks to understand the gospel, because the gospel presented them with satisfying solutions to the questions they were asking in their philosophical discussions. Philosophy failed to provide an answer in the same way the law failed to provide salvation for the Hebrews. Both were catalysts for looking to the gospel for answers.

Sounds like Clement did some interesting work at Alexandria. He won over the young people of the educational centers of the classical world to Christianity by presenting the gospel as the ultimate answer. He started at a point of convergence with the current culture, taking what was good and useful from classical culture to point to theology. It never works to simply dismiss contemporary culture flat out. Rather than gaining an audience, it will only cause division from the outset. Clement's student, Origen, also recognized that in order to preserve Christianity, it couldn't simply appeal to the emotions but also to the intellect.

That's what I love about studying classical literature. You get to see how earnestly the Greeks were trying to figure out the big questions and problems of life. They give the best presentation of the human predicament in their literature and philosophy, but you can clearly see that there are no sensible, satisfying solutions. Antigone dies hoping the gods will be pleased since she forfeited her other way of escape. Orestes gets acquited for blood-guilt without any means of atonement. There is no hope of redemption, even for the repentant. Both Aeschylus and Sophocles conclude that you will never know a happy life until you come to the end of your life without misfortune. It is fascinating to read the classics with the perspective of one whose eyes have been opened to an all-satisfying solution. Clement and Origen were able to respond well with the gospel in that culture. But just because those questions came up in the 2nd century (or 5th cent. BC tragic poets) doesn't mean it's no longer applicable. The questions of the Greeks will essentially always be the same for those who are outside of the gospel because they ask the biggest philosophical questions that every human being will have to figure out for themselves: what happens in the afterlife, what is the purpose of suffering, who is God and how do we make peace with him, and what am I on earth for?