Greek Plays SHAPED Christianity?! Dr. Courtney Friesen Explains

Описание: Today on MythVision Podcast, I’m joined by Dr. Courtney Friesen, Professor of Classics and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Arizona. Dr. Friesen is one of the world’s leading voices on how Greek and Roman drama shaped Judaism and early Christianity. He’s the award-winning author of Reading Dionysus and Acting Gods, Playing Heroes, and his research uncovers how theater, myth, and scripture intertwined in the ancient world.

In this conversation, we explore:

Theater by the Temple Mount – Archaeological finds and Josephus’ testimony reveal that plays were performed right in Jerusalem during the time of Jesus, sparking fierce debates over their role in religion and society.

Philosophy from the Stage – Why thinkers like Philo of Alexandria mined even satyr plays for deep meaning, while early Christian writers often condemned the same dramas as evidence of pagan corruption.

The Polarized Heracles – How Jewish intellectuals used Heracles as a model of freedom while Christian apologists turned him into a symbol of pagan excess.

Substitutionary Atonement in Paul & Euripides – Dr. Friesen shows how Euripides’ Alcestis—where a wife dies in place of her husband and is resurrected by Heracles—offers a striking parallel to Paul’s theology of Christ dying “for the ungodly” in Romans 5. Here we see both atonement and resurrection through the son of God, long before the Gospel of John’s story of Lazarus.

The Via Latina Catacombs – We examine artwork where Heracles raises Alcestis and Jesus raises Lazarus, side by side. This visual fusion reveals how early Christians understood their faith in continuity with Greek heroic traditions.

This episode asks the daring question: Were Jewish and Christian ideas of salvation, atonement, and resurrection shaped by the drama of the Greek stage?

Grab Dr. Friesen's books:

https://amzn.to/489Rng3 - The Reception of Philo of Alexandria

https://amzn.to/3IJd2RN - https://amzn.to/3VIXUXO

https://amzn.to/46LNDPF - Acting Gods, Playing Heroes, and the Interaction between Judaism, Christianity, and Greek Drama in the Early Common Era

https://amzn.to/3VFdzY2 - Reading Dionysus: Euripides' Bacchae and the Cultural Contestations of Greeks, Jews, Romans, and Christians

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