Did Greek Philosophy Corrupt Christianity? On Greek, Jewish, and Christian Theologies episode artwork

EPISODE · Jan 22, 2026 · 1H 52M

Did Greek Philosophy Corrupt Christianity? On Greek, Jewish, and Christian Theologies

from The Nathan Jacobs Podcast · host Nathan Jacobs

Contribute to the East West Lecture Series fundraiser: theeastwestseries.com Today, Dr. Jacobs tackles the common objection: Was ancient Christianity infiltrated by Greek philosophy, such that it required a reformation or restoration? The answer is a resounding no. Follow Dr. Jacobs as he tracks the history through Old and New Testaments, German Idealism, and of course, a little realism and nominalism dusted on top for good measure. All the links: Substack: https://nathanajacobs.substack.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenathanjacobspodcastWebsite: https://www.nathanajacobs.com/X: https://x.com/NathanJacobsPodSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0hSskUtCwDT40uFbqTk3QSApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nathan-jacobs-podcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/nathanandrewjacobsAcademia: https://vanderbilt.academia.edu/NathanAJacobs00:00:00 Intro 00:02:05 The case for Hellenistic or Platonized Christian baggage 00:06:49 German idealism 00:15:21 Hegel and the Church Fathers 00:20:08 The leftist Hegelians, atheism, and Christianity 00:26:18 The protestant application00:30:42 Open theism 00:35:16 Hebrew ideas vs Greek ideas 00:42:00 Mathematical truth vs Philosophical truth00:50:07 Realism and nominalism 00:56:03 The Septuagint and the Jewish shift away 01:03:58 Are the Church Fathers platonists? 01:19:19 Idealism in Old Testament studies 01:25:11 Cases in the New Testament 

Contribute to the East West Lecture Series fundraiser: theeastwestseries.com Today, Dr. Jacobs tackles the common objection: Was ancient Christianity infiltrated by Greek philosophy, such that it required a reformation or restoration? The answer is a resounding no. Follow Dr. Jacobs as he tracks the history through Old and New Testaments, German Idealism, and of course, a little realism and nominalism dusted on top for good measure. All the links: Substack: https://nathanajacobs.substack.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenathanjacobspodcastWebsite: https://www.nathanajacobs.com/X: https://x.com/NathanJacobsPodSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0hSskUtCwDT40uFbqTk3QSApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nathan-jacobs-podcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/nathanandrewjacobsAcademia: https://vanderbilt.academia.edu/NathanAJacobs00:00:00 Intro 00:02:05 The case for Hellenistic or Platonized Christian baggage 00:06:49 German idealism 00:15:21 Hegel and the Church Fathers 00:20:08 The leftist Hegelians, atheism, and Christianity 00:26:18 The protestant application00:30:42 Open theism 00:35:16 Hebrew ideas vs Greek ideas 00:42:00 Mathematical truth vs Philosophical truth00:50:07 Realism and nominalism 00:56:03 The Septuagint and the Jewish shift away 01:03:58 Are the Church Fathers platonists? 01:19:19 Idealism in Old Testament studies 01:25:11 Cases in the New Testament

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Did Greek Philosophy Corrupt Christianity? On Greek, Jewish, and Christian Theologies

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This episode was published on January 22, 2026.

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Contribute to the East West Lecture Series fundraiser: theeastwestseries.com Today, Dr. Jacobs tackles the common objection: Was ancient Christianity infiltrated by Greek philosophy, such that it required a reformation or restoration? The answer is...

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