“Alexander the Great and God’s Sovereign Hand in History”

“Alexander the Great and God’s Sovereign Hand in History”

from: History Lessons

by Neil McBride

 📝 Introduction

Though separated by centuries, the life of Alexander the Great and the writings of the New Testament are deeply connected by the cultural and historical transformation Alexander unleashed. As the Macedonian king conquered much of the known world in the 4th century BCE, he did more than establish a vast empire—he spread Greek language, culture, and philosophy across the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East in a sweeping process known as Hellenization. This legacy endured long after his death and profoundly shaped the world into which Jesus was born, and Christianity emerged.

By the first century CE, the Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean, but it had inherited much of its language, education, and urban life from the Hellenistic kingdoms that followed Alexander. As a result, the writers of the New Testament lived in a world moulded by Greek thought, governed by Roman power, and rooted in Jewish tradition. The use of Koine Greek, the widespread reading of the Septuagint, and the philosophical environment of cities like Athens, Ephesus, and Corinth all reflect Alexander’s enduring influence.

This article examines how Alexander the Great’s conquests indirectly laid the groundwork for the New Testament world—linguistically, culturally, politically, and intellectually—making it possible for the message of Jesus to spread rapidly and effectively across a diverse and interconnected empire.

🌍 1. Hellenization (Greek Cultural Influence)

One of the most far-reaching legacies of Alexander the Great’s conquests was the process known as Hellenization—the spread of Greek language, culture, religion, and philosophical thought throughout the regions he conquered. After defeating the Persian Empire, Alexander expanded his empire from Greece to Egypt and into parts of India. This vast territory became increasingly unified not only by politics but also by a shared cultural and linguistic framework.

🏛️ Greek Influence in Judea and Beyond

In the centuries following Alexander’s death in 323 BCE, his empire was divided among his generals, known as the Diadochi, leading to the establishment of Hellenistic kingdoms, including the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt. These successor states continued to promote Greek culture and customs. In Judea, Greek education, art, architecture, and modes of government became increasingly common, especially in cities founded or restructured by the Greeks. Some Jews adopted Greek customs, names, and even dress, leading to a cultural tension between traditional Jewish identity and the new Hellenistic lifestyle. This tension is subtly reflected in several New Testament themes.

🗣️ Koine Greek: The Common Language of the Empire

Perhaps the most significant unifying factor of the Hellenistic world was the adoption of Koine Greek, a simplified and more accessible version of classical Greek that emerged as the lingua franca—the common language of commerce, governance, and culture. This development had profound implications for the transmission of religious and philosophical ideas.

• The New Testament was written entirely in Koine Greek, which enabled its message to reach a remarkably broad and diverse audience across the Mediterranean world. From Jerusalem to Rome, believers could read or hear the Gospel in a language they understood.
• Greek became the everyday language not only in Greek-speaking cities but also among Jews living in the Diaspora—Jewish communities scattered outside of Judea in cities such as Alexandria, Antioch, and Ephesus. For many of these Jews, Hebrew had become a liturgical language, while Greek was their spoken tongue.

📜 The Septuagint and the Jewish-Greek World

One of the clearest signs of Hellenization within Judaism was the creation of the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. This translation was produced by Jewish scholars in Alexandria, likely between the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE, to meet the needs of Greek-speaking Jews who could no longer understand Hebrew fluently.

• The Septuagint played a central role in early Christianity, as it was the version of the Old Testament most frequently quoted by the New Testament writers.
• The Greek philosophical and ethical vocabulary used in the Septuagint helped bridge Jewish theological ideas with the broader Greco-Roman intellectual world, enabling early Christian writers, such as Paul and the author of Hebrews, to articulate their message in terms familiar to both Jews and Gentiles.

🌐 Cultural and Religious Integration

The influence of Hellenization is also evident in how early Christian communities organised themselves, met in urban settings, and engaged with philosophical and ethical questions prevalent in the Greco-Roman world. The apostles, especially Paul, tailored their messages to resonate with both Jewish and Gentile (Greek-speaking) audiences. This cultural flexibility was made possible in part by the shared Greek language and the common intellectual background that Alexander’s legacy had made widespread.

📖 2. The Septuagint (Greek Old Testament)

In the centuries following Alexander the Great’s conquests, Greek culture continued to dominate much of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East. One of the most significant religious and literary developments during this period was the creation of the Septuagint (LXX), the first major translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into a language other than Hebrew. This translation would become a cornerstone of early Christian thought, profoundly shaping the content, vocabulary, and theology of the New Testament.

🏛️ Historical Background: Jewish Life in Alexandria

The Septuagint originated in Alexandria, Egypt, a major centre of Hellenistic culture and intellectual life founded by Alexander the Great himself. By the 3rd century BCE, Alexandria was home to one of the largest Jewish communities outside of Israel. Many Jews living in this diaspora setting had lost fluency in Hebrew and spoke Koine Greek as their primary language.

According to tradition, recorded in the Letter of Aristeas, a 2nd-century BCE Jewish text, 72 Jewish scholars were commissioned by King Ptolemy II Philadelphus to translate the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, into Greek for inclusion in the renowned Library of Alexandria. Over time, the entire Hebrew Bible (what Christians call the Old Testament) was translated into Greek, and this collection came to be known as the Septuagint, derived from the Latin word for seventy (LXX), referencing the number of translators who worked on the project.

📜 The Septuagint and the New Testament Writers

The New Testament authors were deeply familiar with the Septuagint. In many cases, their quotations of the Old Testament more closely follow the Septuagint’s Greek wording rather than the original Hebrew texts. This is especially significant because it demonstrates how the early Christian message was adapted for a Greek-speaking audience comprising both Jewish and Gentile individuals.

• Paul, for example, often quoted directly from the Septuagint in his letters. His theological arguments in books like Romans and Galatians rely heavily on passages from the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures.
• The Gospels, particularly Matthew and Luke, contain Old Testament citations that match the Septuagint word for word.
• Even Hebrews, one of the most theologically rich and Old Testament-heavy books in the New Testament, draws nearly all its references from the Septuagint.

🌉 Bridging Jewish Faith and Greek Thought

The Septuagint did more than translate Hebrew words into Greek; it interpreted Jewish theology for a new cultural and philosophical context. This translation employed Greek philosophical and ethical vocabulary, which would have been familiar to both Hellenized Jews and Gentiles. Words like logos (word/reason), dikaiosynē (righteousness/justice), and agapē (love) helped form a conceptual bridge between Jewish religious concepts and the Greek intellectual tradition.

This made the Septuagint an ideal tool for early Christian evangelism, as it:

• Made Jewish Scripture accessible to non-Hebrew speakers who were interested in the Jewish faith and its ethical monotheism.
• Provided shared scriptural ground for explaining who Jesus was as the Messiah, especially through messianic prophecies such as Isaiah 7:14 (which the Septuagint renders as “a virgin shall conceive,” quoted in Matthew 1:23).
• Offered theological continuity between Judaism and Christianity, showing that the arrival of Jesus was in fulfilment of long-standing divine promises.

📘 The Septuagint in Early Christian Use

By the 1st century CE, the Septuagint had become the standard Bible for most Greek-speaking Jews, especially those in the Diaspora. Early Christians adopted it enthusiastically, viewing it as a divinely inspired translation that pointed to Jesus as the Christ or Messiah.

• The use of the Septuagint became one of the early points of contention between Jews and Christians. As Jewish leaders increasingly distanced themselves from Christian interpretations, they began to prefer Hebrew versions and new Greek translations of the Scriptures that avoided what they saw as “Christianized” renderings.
• Church Fathers such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Origen continued to uphold the authority of the Septuagint and often debated Jewish scholars using its texts.

🏛️ 3. Philosophical and Religious Context

Alexander the Great’s legacy extended far beyond his military conquests—he was a catalyst for a cultural and intellectual fusion between the Greek West and the Eastern civilisations of the Near East. As Hellenistic ideas spread across the Mediterranean and into Asia, a synthesis of Greek philosophy and Eastern religious traditions began to take shape. By the time of Jesus and the early Church, this fusion had created a profoundly complex philosophical and spiritual landscape that significantly influenced the development and expression of Christian theology, especially in the New Testament.

🧠 Fusion of Greek and Jewish Thought

During the intertestamental period (between the Old and New Testaments), many Jewish communities, especially those in urban Hellenistic centres such as Alexandria, Antioch, and Tarsus, engaged with Greek philosophy. Jewish thinkers sought to reconcile their monotheistic beliefs with the dominant intellectual trends of their time. The result was a new intellectual environment where Jewish theology could be framed using the vocabulary and structures of Greek metaphysics, ethics, and epistemology.

This was especially evident in the writings of Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BCE – 50 CE), a Jewish philosopher who drew on Platonic and Stoic ideas to interpret the Hebrew Scriptures. Philo’s concept of the Logos—a divine intermediary between God and the world—would later parallel Christian uses of the same term, particularly in the Gospel of John.

🔤 Logos in John’s Gospel

The Gospel of John opens with a profound theological statement:

“In the beginning was the Logos (Word), and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God.” (John 1:1)

This term Logos carried rich significance in both Greek and Jewish contexts:

• In Greek philosophy, particularly among the Stoics, the Logos was the rational principle that ordered the universe—the divine reason or logic that permeated all things.
• In Jewish wisdom literature, such as Proverbs and Sirach, the Word (or Wisdom) of God is personified as an agent of creation, revelation, and divine communication.

By using Logos to describe Jesus, John bridges these two traditions—presenting Jesus as the ultimate expression of divine reason, creative power, and revelation. For Greek audiences familiar with the Logos as a cosmic force, and for Jews who revered the Word of God as powerful and life-giving, John’s Gospel made a radical claim: that the Logos had become flesh in the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:14).

🧾 Paul and Hellenistic Moral Philosophy

The Apostle Paul, a highly educated Jew from the Hellenized city of Tarsus, also demonstrates an awareness of Greek philosophical thought in his writings. Though his theology is firmly rooted in Jewish Scripture, he often engages with Greco-Roman moral and ethical frameworks to explain Christian behaviour.

• In Acts 17, Paul addresses the philosophers at the Areopagus in Athens. He quotes the Greek poet (in him, we live and move and have our being) and refers to their altar to an unknown god, using it as a starting point to introduce the God of Israel and Jesus as the risen Lord.
• In his letters, Paul incorporates Stoic and Platonic themes—such as the struggle between flesh and spirit, the ideal of inner virtue, and the importance of self-control—to encourage Christian ethical conduct. For instance:

• • Romans 12 emphasises rational worship (logikē latreia) and transformation of the mind, concepts that would resonate with Hellenistic ideals of philosophical discipline.

• • Philippians 4:8 exhorts believers to think about what is true, noble, and pure—values shared by Stoic and Platonic ethics.

Paul’s ability to communicate across cultural and philosophical lines was instrumental in the spread of Christianity into the Greco-Roman world. His message was both culturally adaptive and theologically distinct.

🕊️ Religious Pluralism and Mystery Cults

The broader religious environment of the Greco-Roman world encompassed not only philosophy but also mystery religions, folk spirituality, and cults of divine figures, such as Dionysus, Isis, and Mithras. These systems often promised salvation, immortality, and personal transformation through secret rites and initiations.

While early Christianity was different in substance and origin, it emerged in dialogue with this religious world:

• Gentiles understood Christian concepts of baptism, resurrection, and eternal life converts in the context of existing mystery cult motifs, even as Christian theology redefined and grounded these ideas in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
• The emphasis on a personal relationship with God, moral transformation, and hope beyond death found parallels in many Hellenistic religious systems. However, the Christian message was rooted in historical events and Jewish monotheism.

🛡️ 4. Political Legacy: Rome Inherits the Greek World

While the Roman Empire was the dominant power during the New Testament period, the world it ruled was in many ways still a Hellenistic world, deeply shaped by the legacy of Alexander the Great. After Alexander died in 323 BCE, his vast empire fractured into multiple Hellenistic kingdoms, including the Seleucid, Ptolemaic, and Antigonid realms. These states preserved and expanded Greek language, governance, architecture, and cultural ideals across the Near East and Mediterranean.

When Rome gradually absorbed these territories from the 2nd century BCE onward, it did not erase Greek influence; instead, it built upon it. As a result, the Roman Empire, which formed the backdrop to the New Testament era, was politically Roman but culturally Greco-Roman, a blend of Latin authority and Greek sophistication.

🏙️ Hellenistic Urban Design in the New Testament World

The cities mentioned throughout the New Testament, such as Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Antioch, were either founded or significantly influenced by Hellenistic rulers before being brought under Roman control. These cities reflected the urban planning ideals of Hellenistic architecture, including:

• Grid-like street systems
• Public squares (agoras or forums)
• Theatres, gymnasiums, and baths
• Temples dedicated to Greco-Roman deities

Such cities were hubs of commerce, religion, education, and administration. They were cosmopolitan centres where Jews, Greeks, and Romans lived side by side, and they provided the perfect stage for the rapid spread of early Christianity. The apostles, particularly Paul, travelled along the well-developed Roman road system, planting churches in these influential urban centres.

• In Acts of the Apostles, we see Paul navigating these cities, preaching both in synagogues and public forums. His letters (epistles) to the churches in these places—such as Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, and Philippians, show a deep awareness of the political, cultural, and religious complexities of these Hellenistic-Roman cities.

🏛️ Education and Governance: Rome’s Greek Backbone

Despite being Roman by law and power, the elite classes of the Roman Empire were heavily influenced by Greek education and philosophy. Greek remained the language of education, literature, and international diplomacy, particularly in the eastern part of the empire.

• Roman emperors and aristocrats studied Greek texts, were tutored in Greek philosophy and rhetoric, and often spoke Greek as fluently as Latin.
• Stoicism and Epicureanism, two major Greek philosophical schools, were widely embraced by Roman elites and are subtly referenced or engaged in New Testament writings (e.g., Acts 17:18).
• Luke, the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, writes in an educated Greek style, demonstrating an awareness of Hellenistic historiography.

This educational environment helped Christianity thrive intellectually. The New Testament was written in Koine Greek, and its ideas could be debated and communicated in the public squares and lecture halls of the Greco-Roman world.

⚖️ Legal and Administrative Continuity

The Romans also borrowed administrative frameworks from the Hellenistic kingdoms. They retained many of the local governing structures, and Greek continued to be the administrative language in the Eastern provinces. This allowed the early Christian message—spread primarily by Greek-speaking Jews and Gentiles—to travel efficiently through a familiar cultural and legal infrastructure.

Moreover, the Pax Romana (“Roman Peace”), a period of relative peace and stability across the empire, enabled safer and faster travel for missionaries and merchants. Combined with the unifying force of the Greek language and Hellenistic city life, this helped accelerate the spread of Christianity beyond Judea and into the broader Mediterranean world.

⚖️ Summary: Alexander the Great’s Lasting Influence on the New Testament World

Although Alexander the Great is never directly mentioned in the New Testament, his legacy left a profound and lasting imprint on the world in which Christianity emerged and flourished. His conquests reshaped the ancient world, not merely through military might, but through a sweeping cultural transformation known as Hellenization—the widespread adoption of Greek language, values, philosophy, and institutions across the regions he conquered.

By the time of Jesus and the early Church, the Mediterranean and Near Eastern world had been saturated with Greek culture for nearly three centuries. This made Alexander a foundational figure, albeit indirectly, in shaping the linguistic, intellectual, religious, and urban context of the New Testament. Here is how his influence unfolded across key areas:

Influence Impact on the New Testament

Hellenization: Alexander’s promotion of Greek culture and language led to Koine Greek becoming the common language across the eastern Mediterranean. As a result, the New Testament was written in Greek, making its message accessible to both Jews and Gentiles. Greek culture also provided a philosophical and ethical backdrop that shaped the way Christian ideas were communicated.

The Septuagint, a translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, was created during the Hellenistic period to meet the needs of Greek-speaking Jews. This version of the Old Testament became the primary source of scriptural references for New Testament authors, who often quoted directly from it. The Septuagint also helped bridge Jewish theology with Hellenistic philosophical ideas, laying the groundwork for the development of theological concepts in the New Testament.

Urban and Political Structures: Many of the key cities in the New Testament; such as Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi, and Antioch, were either founded or redesigned during the Hellenistic era and later incorporated into the Roman Empire. Their infrastructure, education systems, and civic organisation reflected Greek models. These urban centres became strategic hubs for Paul’s missionary journeys and for the rapid spread of Christianity along Roman roads.

Alexander’s conquests facilitated the blending of Eastern religious traditions with Greek philosophical thought. By the time of the New Testament, Judaism had already engaged with Greek philosophy—especially in the diaspora communities. Christian authors like John and Paul drew on this shared intellectual heritage, using terms like logos and engaging with Stoic and Platonic ideas to convey the Gospel message in ways that resonated with both Jewish and Greco-Roman audiences.

🌐 A World Prepared for the Gospel

In many ways, the world that Alexander unintentionally prepared was uniquely suited for the birth and rapid expansion of Christianity:

• A common language, known as Koine Greek facilitated clear communication across diverse cultures.
• A shared philosophical vocabulary made deep theological reflection possible.
• The urban network of Hellenistic and Roman cities provided the infrastructure for spreading the Gospel.
• Greek-translated Jewish Scriptures gave early Christians a ready-made textual foundation to proclaim Jesus as the fulfilment of ancient prophecy.

Alexander sought to unify the world under a single empire, language, and culture. While his political empire eventually fractured, his cultural legacy endured, creating the ideal “fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4) in which God would send His Son and the Gospel would begin its journey across the nations.

 “Alexander the Great and God’s Sovereign Hand in History”

DTA – Neil McBride

(CEO and founder of Downtown Angels)