Language, literature, history, philosophy, architecture, politics, drama – Classics encompasses a broad range of elements relating to the study of the ancient Greek and Roman world. And the reasons for studying it are as diverse as the topics it covers. Whether you fell in love with the languages, were fascinated by the complex literature and mythology, or draw inspiration from the incredible physical monuments that still survive, students of Classics are often interested in one area to begin with but soon discover how much more the subject has to offer. But one thing Classics is rarely associated with is Christianity – strangely, because God was lord in the times of the ancient Greeks and Romans just as surely as he is lord over our lives today.
Working for the wellbeing of creation
The vast scope of Classics can teach us so much about Creation, and the more we learn the more we can give back. We study peoples far removed from us in both time and space, and this can help us to develop great empathy for those in different situations that can be applied to people around us in our own lives. Enduring human concerns do not change, whether those are political, spiritual, religious, moral or personal. The famous Roman orator Cicero said that ‘to be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child’, and it is our responsibility to use our knowledge of history, language and culture to inform our responses to the world around us today. For example, we know how few personal and social rights women had in ancient Greece and Rome, and that gives us perspective to realise that even to this day many women are not treated as having inherent value and being made in the image of God.
Worshipping the God we work for
In many ways, the Greeks and the Romans had achieved social development comparable with today’s Western world. They built on the cultures around them to create sophisticated political structures, legal systems, philosophy, literature, language, architecture and even mechanical technology. They had explored the heights and depths of the human experience: wisdom and folly, pleasure and pain. And yet they were entirely without knowledge of the God of the Bible until after Jesus’ death, and until the fourth century AD the Roman Empire actively persecuted Christians. So, study of the classical world provides us with a detailed and fascinating picture of ‘life under the sun’, as the writer of Ecclesiastes puts it – the peak of human development without reference to God.
Examining the Classics, therefore, leads us to discover a perfectly ‘God-shaped hole’ in the middle of the ancient world. The origins of this phrase are credited to the seventeenth-century French philosopher Blaise Pascal in reference to the heart of the individual(1), but it can also be used to describe the writings, artefacts and ideas left behind by the Greeks and Romans. Although the God who revealed himself through the Bible and through his son Jesus is absent from most classical sources, it is as if his outline is perfectly traced by ancient people’s attempt to describe and explain the world around them.
For example, the famous Greco-Roman pantheon that is familiar to many today through general knowledge or popular culture was not as blindly accepted in the classical world as we may believe. The premise of Aristophanes’ play Birds, the birds around the city of Athens are tired of the fickle nature of Athenian politics and decide to build their own civilization called Νεφελοκοκκυγία (‘Cloud-Cuckoo-Land’) in the sky. The effect of this is that the sacrifices which Athenians make to the gods can no longer reach them on Mount Olympus (roughly equivalent to heaven) because the birds’ new civilization is acting as a blockade. This results in the gods starving and becoming so desperate that they are willing to relinquish their divine power in order to be allowed to eat again. As in many Greek comedies, this humorous and irreverent picture raises broader philosophical questions. How can the gods really be called gods if they are reliant on sacrifices from humans? If something as absurd as the birds’ blockade can force them to relinquish their power, what kind of divinities are they? Similar issues are raised in Plato’s philosophical dialogue Meno in relation to why humans are supposed to give the gods gifts in the first place, confirming that the underlying criticisms of the gods in Birds featured in wider Greek society.
The very existence of dominant philosophical schools in ancient Athens further reflects on the insufficiency of the classical gods. In Greek and Roman religion, the gods did not provide a reference for morality or instructions on how individuals and societies should treat each other. Instead, they were thought to demand worship from humans in return for health, power and other gifts, with dire consequences if this worship was refused. In Euripides’ tragic play Bacchae, Pentheus, king of Thebes, is faced with a choice between worshipping the new god Dionysus in drunken revelry or being killed by Dionysus’ followers for his lack of piety – a dilemma in which neither consequence would lead to a positive or stable existence for Pentheus. In Ovid’s epic poem Metamorphoses, there are countless tales of the gods acting through lust, jealousy or pride and humans simply have to bear the consequences. Thus Greeks and Romans were forced to rely on human wisdom in an attempt to live moral lives, and so philosophy, not their gods, were what they looked to for guidance. How wonderful it is that real God is perfectly good, and has told us directly how to live to please him and how to treat each others!
Despite the nature of their gods, the Greeks and Romans did long for personal spiritual fulfilment. Fragment 2 by Sappho describes the poet’s desire for Aphrodite to visit her in the beautiful and peaceful grove at Aphrodite’s temple. Although many of Sappho’s poems evoke Aphrodite to grant fulfilment of sexual desire, Fragment 2 focuses simply on Sappho’s wish to see Aphrodite for herself. Death, as well as love, was constantly a concern in the classical world – specifically life after death, as evident in epic heroes’ quest for κλέος (lasting renown) and the Roman emperors’ belief in their own deification once they died. Both of these longings are fulfilled by Jesus, who came to live as a human so that he could make a way for us to have a relationship with God, and so that we live with him for eternity if we choose to trust in him.
Witnessing to the world
Whether it is political turmoil, social injustice or personal heartache, many of the issues that concern us in the modern world have arisen before during classical times. There is no such thing as ‘progress’ in terms of human nature, because humanity is fallen and this earth will only be perfected when Jesus returns to reign. In that sense, the cyclical nature of history should give us cause to rejoice, not to be downcast. God has told us in his Word to expect tears(2), wars(3) and injustice(4), and from classical times to the present day he has been shown to be entirely trustworthy. We can share our reaction to recurring troubles within humanity, whether in the classical world or today, by acknowledging the reality of them while still looking to Christ for hope. John 16:33 sums this up perfectly: ‘I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.’
And unlike the classical sources that we study, the Bible is completely historically reliable. In terms of textual transmission, we have far more manuscripts of the Bible from far closer to the dates of its original authorship compared to any other historical text. For example, twenty manuscripts containing Tacitus’ Annals and Histories survive today, with the earliest of those dating form about one thousand years after Tacitus lived. In contrast, six thousand Greek manuscripts containing sections of the Greek New Testament survive, and the earliest of these dates from the century following that in which they were composed(5). We take Tacitus’ work as largely unquestionable history – we can be confident in presenting the contents of the Bible as unquestionable, too.
Finally, one of the best ways to witness to others, both on your course and around the university, is by displaying diligence in your studies. Of course, academics are not as important as drawing near to God at church and through private devotions, and we should show love for family and friends by spending time with them. But ultimately, God has brought you to university through your love of Classics, and it is important to honour this gift that he has given you by making the most of it. And we can show love and respect to others through taking responsibility in our studies. For example, submitting work on time shows respect for university staff and allows them to complete their marking when they had planned to. And completing assignments in good time can give you flexibility to support friends when they need you, or attend outreach events without having to rush back to work.
Conclusion: filling the God-shaped hole
To some, Classics is a subject that is very difficult to relate to Christianity because much of what we study dates to before Jesus’ life on earth. But so many people today are living as if Jesus never came to earth at all, looking to the same sorts of things for direction and fulfilment as ancient peoples. The Classics are a mirror to our own culture and our fellow students may see something of themselves in the sources we study. We can affirm their recognition of enduring human concerns but, unlike most Greeks and Romans, we have the privilege of knowing who can fill the God-shaped hole left by even the most sophisticated of attempts to find meaning without Christ. And the more we learn, the more tools we have to understand and to help others. So let’s use the unique and nuanced perspective that the Classics give us on history and humanity to make God’s glory known through our conversations with others and our behaviour at university.
Reflect and discuss
Think: Think back over what you have studied so far in your degree. Where have you seen God's fingerprints? Where have ideas presented to you challenged what you believed to be true?
Live: What do you think your coursemates would know about what is important to you from the way you live? Is there anything you want to change here?
Speak: Are there topics in your subject that are closer to talking about your outlook on life, God or the gospel? Pray for people on your course and for opportunities to share about Jesus with them this term.
Taking it further
- Phaedrus or Euthyphro by Plato. Consider how Plato is able to describe some of God’s characteristics, but cannot know him personally without Jesus.
- Can We Trust the Gospels? by Peter Williams. The author applies some of the same investigative methods and sources examination we use in Classics to show us the richness and reliability of Biblical texts.
- ‘The Bible’s Historical Precision’ by Don Stewart. Using external archaeological and textual evidence, this article provides a great starting-point for considering how the narrative of the Bible interacts with secular ancient history
References
1 Blaise Pascal, Pensées VII (425)
2 e.g. Psalm 80:5
3 e.g. Matthew 24:6
4 e.g. Mark 14:
5 Papyri 90 (P. Oxy. 3523) and 104 (P. Oxy. 4404), now kept in Oxford, are dated to the second century AD; they contain parts of John and Matthew respectively. 7