THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
Once more, probably in 396, Jerome writes to him on Nepotian's death (Epist. lx.); and he dedicates to him his version of the Proverbs. (5) A presbyter mentioned by Rufinus (Apol., xxx.) as one of the Greek-speaking collaborators of Hilary on his commentaries. (6) A Christian who, in 269, wrote some iambic verses to Theodosius I. (7) A priest who, according to Gennadius (vi.), lived about the middle of the fourth century, and wrote against the Manicheans a work (now lost), De naturis rerum exordialium, in which he defended the doctrine that God is the only world-principle. (8) Another priest mentioned by Gennadius (xxix.) as living in Antioch about the middle of the fifth century and the author of a lost treatise, De virginitate.
(Adolf Harnack.)
Bibliography: 1. G. A. Deissmann, Bibelstudien, pp. 171— 17.5, Marburg, 1895, Eng. transl., Edinburgh, 1901; DB, ii. 343; EB, ii. 2005; JE, vi. 335; and the commentaries on II ilacc.
HELIOGABALUS. See Elagabalus. HELIOPOLIS. See On.
HELL. See Hades; Gehenna; and Ftjtube
Punishment.
HELL, CHRIST'S DESCENT INTO. See Descent of Christ into Hell.
HELL, PUNISHMENTS OF. See Punishment.
HELLENISM: Properly, the spirit and culture of the Greeks, spread among Eastern peoples as a consequence of the short but brilliant Diffusion career of Alexander the Great. The of Greek independent states which arose out of Language the ruins of his empire were bound and together by Greek speech and culture, Learning, for all who received the Greek language came into possession of a specially rich literature. This does not mean that the Greek language superseded the local dialects over this area, but that, especially in the large cities, the people used the Greek along with their own tongues. To those who had literary inclinations the wide diffusion of Greek had large results, since it enabled them to express themselves in the lingua franca of the world and to attain a world-wide celebrity denied them under the old conditions of writing in their mother tongue only. The fostering centers of this influence were the courts of the different princes, where writers, artists, and high officers collected, and where temples, theaters, gymnasia, and baths in the Greek style were erected and had their influence upon the culture of the land. Nevertheless, the resulting culture was different from the Greek original. The golden age of Greek literature had passed. The new peoples had to learn Greek, a fact which gave to the result a somewhat pedantic eharacter. Moreover, along with this went a mixing of the vernacular and the acquired speech (see Hellenistic Greek). This was in part unconscious, in part the result of an effort by the Orientals to emphasize their national characteristics, to prove their higher antiquity, and demonstrate its meaning for the development of culture, to tell their myths and stories after the ruling methods. The Jews, both of Palestine and of the Diaspora, were among
the peoples drawn into this movement, which is of importance for theology, and also had other important bearings. The Jews were conscious of possessing a heritage at least equal to anything Greek, for the protection of which they must strive with all their powers. Their faith in one Holy God his promises to them, and above all their law, they regarded as superior to all earthly wisdom, and for this they strove to win a larger domain by uniting in its service Greek philosophy and Greek literature, thus assuming the attitude of teachers of the world (see Proselytes). Greek influence, however, had not the same results in Palestine as among the Jews of the Diaspora, and this fact must be distinguished in the discussion.
Exact details are lacking of the way in which
Alexander came into possession of Palestine, but it
is clear that his treatment of its inbab-
Greek itants was gentle and that they were
Influence undisturbed by the developments
on wliich immediately followed. 1 he es-
Palestinian tablishment of Greek cities all about
Judaism, them afforded to the Jews opportunity to become acquainted with Greek forms of culture, of which Jewish commerce took advantage. Greek culture found in Palestine congenial soil in the temple aristocracy, and Jesus Sirach speaks appreciatively of Greek medical science and of Greek music. Indeed, the Jewish aristocracy appeared ready to give up all Jewish customs and to depart from its prohibitions. A high priest sent gifts to Greek games, Jews took Greek names, in Jerusalem a place was prepared for Greek celebrations, the mark of circumcision was disguised or obliterated, and Judaism seemed destined to disappear entirely in Greek culture. The violence of the Seleucidae aroused the Maccabees, and for a time checked the movement. But the later Maccabees espoused the Greek cause, Aristobolus was named " the friend of the Greeks," while John Hyrcanus was named with honor in Athens because of his friendliness to Greeks in Palestine. This tendency developed still further under Herod the Great, who raised Greek temples in the non-Jewish parts of his realm, built the Temple in Jerusalem in a style partly Greek, and erected in the same city or near it a theater, amphitheater, and a hippodrome, while the language received large accessions of Greek words. And yet it is to be noted that there was an inner circle of Judaism which remained unaffected by this tendency, and in the discussions over the law there was an exclusiveness wliich held at a distance all foreign modes of thought and expression.
An essentially different condition existed anions
the Jews of the Dispersion. The fact that they had
unlearned their old tongue made a
Greek fundamental distinction, though never-
Influence thelerj they held fast to their Judaism. on the They had gained the ability to live
Judaism amid foreign surroundings after the of the manner of their own faith. But
Diaspora, they could not but be impressed with
the brilliancy of Greek literature, and
be urged to the attempt to combine the forces of
their own faith with it. Out of this grew, especially