Tarnas, R. (1991). The passion of the western mind: Understanding the ideas that have shaped our world view. New York: Ballantine Books.

The formation of the Christian tradition owes much to the juncture of Jewish, Hellenic, and Roman history, culture, philosophy, and theology.

Jewish Influences

At least eight elements of Jewish beliefs are still present in Christianity:

• trust in and fear of God,
• present human actions leading to ultimate fate,
• direct accountability to God,
• denunciation of an unjust society,
• contempt for physical wealth,
• prophetic call for moral regeneration,
• the ultimate purpose to bring peace,
• justice and fulfillment to all mankind,
• belief in a messiah who would fulfill God’s promises

(Partially quoted from p. 95)

The apparent rising of Christ as reported by various ancient observers fulfilled Judaic prophecies of the coming of the Messiah: “The Messiah was not a mundane king but a spiritual one, and God’s Kingdom not a political victory for Israel, but a divine redemption for humanity, bringing a new life suffused with God’s Spirit” (p. 96).

Hellenic Influences

“In the beginning was the Logos” (p. 101). “And the Logos became flesh and dwelt among us” (p. 105).  Indeed, one of the strongest advocates of early Christianity was Paul, who was of Greek descent. Tarnas states that the ideas of Plato “not only harmonized with, [but] also elaborated and intellectually enhanced” Christianity (p. 101) by contributing concepts such as:

• the existence of a transcendent reality of eternal perfection,
• the sovereignty of devine wisdom in the cosmos,
• the primacy of the spiritual over the material, the Socratic focus on the “tending of the soul,”
• the soul’s immortality and high moral imperatives, its experience of divine justice after death, the importance of scrupulous self-examination,
• the admonition to control the passion and appetites in the service of good and true,
• the ethical principle that it is better to suffer an injustice than to commit one,
• the belief in death as a transition to more abundant life,
• the existence of a prior condition of divine knowledge now obscured in man’s limited natural state,
• the notion of participation in the divine archetype, [and]
• the progressive assimilation to God as the goal of human aspiration.

(p. 101-102)

Plotinus (Neoplatonism) also contributed to early Christian beliefs by outlining the structure of the Godhead: the One, universal Reason, and World Soul (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) (p. 103). “Thus Clement declared that the philosophy had prepared the Greeks for Christ, just as the Law had prepared the Jews” (p. 104).

Roman Influence

While the Romans caused a great deal of suffering for those who supported the new religion—which apparently threatened the empire, the Roman Empire also provided a socio-political milieu which effectively promoted the spread of Christianity. The Pax Romana “afforded the freedom of movement and communication that was indispensable to the propagation of the Christian faith” (p. 100).