Hebraism and Hellenism the Old Debate Between

Hebraism and Hellenism

The old debate between the values of so-called 'Hebraism' and 'Hellenism' is manifest in our culture today. Hebraism, according to the Victorian scholar Matthew Arnold is defined as putting 'right doing' over 'right knowing.' Hellenism, in the spirit of the ancient Greeks, emphasizes the need to understand the world: "to see things as they really are" (Drake 2001). This can be seen in our modern debate over teaching evolution in schools. People who take a literal view of the Bible are less concerned about scientific truth and are more worried about the implications of teaching a theory of the origin of life that denies God's moral influence upon human existence. The Hellenistic mindset stresses the need to teach a scientifically-accepted theory to educate the young and advance human progress and insight.

A different view of the Hebraism vs. Hellenistic mindset can be seen as early as the Greeks and Romans. The Greeks were great thinkers, and were able to deduce profound scientific and mathematical insights through rational thought and observation of the natural world. Geometry and modern astronomy can be traced back to the Greeks. The Romans made less important theoretical advances in the scientific disciplines, but used the Greeks' knowledge in a more practical and hands-on fashion to create architectural marvels such as the Roman road and aqueduct system; the Coliseum; and the domed Pantheon. The Romans were less interested in Truth with a capital T, and more interested in 'what works' to achieve their objectives as a society.

Although both impulses are present within all cultures, Hebraism has always dominated. Might has often made right in human history, and the ability to use hands-on, physical technical knowledge has tended to dominate over theoretical perspective. In the arts, popular culture has often been more visceral, and promised easy happy endings. High art tends to be morally ambiguous and abstract. Action movies like Star Wars tend to be more successful than independent films; representational art is more popular than Abstract Expressionism. Architecturally speaking, the conflict between the two cultural forces can be seen in modern cubicle-style offices, which, in the spirit of Hebraism, create an environment that focuses people on their work ("Designer arcade," 2011). This may be contrasted with more decorative and free-form structures that encourage people to talk, interact, and mingle, such as the office space of the Googleplex ("Googleplex," Mirage studio, 2011).

Historically, Hebraism has dominated because of the innate conservative impulse inherent in most cultures. People are often uncomfortable with moral ambiguity, and systems that question our values, such as feminism, environmentalism, and other ideologies always meet with resistance. For example, today the 'Hellenistic' idea of environmentalism that stresses that the way we live must change, based upon empirical science, is less acceptable than the questionable but more comforting idea that global warming is a myth. Hebraism, at its extreme, suggests that by following old rules and resisting the reassessment of our values, the world will be a better place.