“Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it. The Greek mind, dying, came to a transmigrated life.”
So said the famed historian Will Durant; and a lot of Latter-day Saints seem to agree! The writings of Will Durant have held considerable fascination for some Latter-day Saint writers and speakers in the past, and some older generation Church members especially have tended to reference him with admiration and approval. The latest example from a prominent Latter-day Saint is the following quote from Elder Quentin L. Cook, in his October 2016 General Conference address titled, “Valiant in the Testimony of Jesus”:
“We know the Apostasy occurred in part because the philosophies of men were elevated over Christ’s basic, essential doctrine. Instead of the simplicity of the Savior’s message being taught, many plain and precious truths were changed or lost. In fact, Christianity adopted some Greek philosophical traditions to reconcile people’s beliefs with their existing culture. The historian Will Durant wrote: ‘Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it. The Greek mind, dying, came to a transmigrated life.’* Historically, and in our own day, some people reject the gospel of Jesus Christ because, in their view, it doesn’t have adequate intellectual sophistication.” (*Will Durant, The Story of Civilization, vol. 3, Caesar and Christ (1944), 595.)
That quote from Will Durant is given out of context. The context of it is as follows (emphasis added):
“Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it. The Greek mind, dying, came to a transmigrated life in the theology and liturgy of the Church; … From Egypt came the ideas of a divine trinity, the Last Judgement, and a personal immortality of reward and punishment; … from Syria [came] the resurrection drama of Adonis; from Thrace, perhaps [from] the cult of Dionysus, [came] the dying and saving god. From Persia came millenarianism, the ‘ages of the world,’ the ‘final conflagration,’ the dualism of Satan and God, of Darkness and Light. Already in the Fourth Gospel Christ is the ‘Light shining in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.’ … Christianity was the last great creation of the ancient pagan world.” (Will and Ariel Durant, The Story of Civilization)
In this passage Will Durant is questioning the most fundamental tenets of the Christian faith, including those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is undermining the following fundamental doctrines of Christianity—including the restored gospel—attributing them all to paganism:
1. The Trinity or Godhead (including how it is understood by Latter-day Saints—there is no such thing as “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost” regardless of how it is understood).
2. The last judgement.
3. The resurrection of Jesus Christ.
4. The resurrection of all mankind, followed by a reward or punishment.
5. The Atonement and Redemption of Jesus Christ.
6. The sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.
7. Millenarianism (i.e. the millennial ages of the world, as in Rev. 20:2–7; D&C 77:6–12; 88:101–110).
8. The “final conflagration” (e.g. Mal. 4:1; 2 Pet. 3:7, 10-13; 3 Nephi 26:3; Morm. 9:2; D&C 101:23–25).
9. The duality of Satan and God.
10. The separation of light and darkness as taught in the Gospel of John (John 1:5; 3:19; 8:12; 12:35, 46; 1 John 1:5; 2:8–9).
11. Of Jesus being the “light that shines in darkness, …” (John 1:5; also Matt. 4:16; Luke 1:79; John 8:12; D&C 6:21; 10:58; 11:11; 14:9; 34:2; 39:2; 45:7; 88:49).
When Durant condemns Christianity for adopting paganism, he is referring to all of the above. He is saying that all the above doctrines came from paganism and the religious philosophies of Egypt, Syria, Thrace, Persia; and from the cult of Dionysus, and the resurrection drama of Adonis etc.—and Elder Cook apparently agrees!
Will Durant believed that the Apostles Paul and John were influenced by pagan philosophies of the day. Here is a quote:
“Mithraism, Neoplatonism, Stoicism, Cynicism, and the local cults of municipal or rustic gods … these mystic ideas left their mark on the apostles Paul and John …” (Will Durant, The Story of Civilization, The Age Of Faith, ch. 1, p. 9)
In another part of his talk Elder Cook makes the following remarks:
“The Apostle Paul was a sure witness of Jesus Christ because of a miraculous and life-changing experience with the Savior. Paul’s unique background prepared him to relate to people of many cultures. He loved the ‘frank simplicity’ of the Thessalonians and the ‘tender sympathy’ of the Philippians. He initially found it more difficult to relate to the intellectual and sophisticated Greeks. In Athens on Mars’ Hill, he attempted a philosophical approach and was rejected. To the Corinthians he determined to simply teach ‘the doctrine of Christ crucified.’ To use the Apostle Paul’s own words:
“‘And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
“‘That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.’”
In this passage Elder Cook shows considerable lack of insight in the scriptures and into the words of Paul that he is commenting on. None of his observations in that statement are correct. Paul did not “attempt a philosophical approach” at Athens. On the contrary, to the philosophers at Mars’ Hill he spoke by the power of the Holy Ghost, and preached one of the greatest inspired sermons recorded in the Bible—but he spoke to them in a language that was suited to his audience.
Paul did not “find it more difficult to relate to the intellectual and sophisticated Greeks,” nor was his comment to the Corinthians intended to be such an acknowledgement. Paul made himself “all things to all men” to gain as many as he could (1 Cor. 9:19-23). To the Jews he became a Jew, to the Greeks he became a Greek. To the weak he became weak, and to the strong he became strong. To the philosophers he became a philosopher, and to simple people he became simple. It does not mean that his approach to the Greeks was therefore a mistake, and he was now determined to do better; or that his approach to the philosophers was a cause for regret, and he was now minded to do differently. Paul was “rejected” by the Jews far more than he was by the Greeks (Acts 13:15–52; 18:5–6; 28:17–29); and that wasn’t because he had been teaching them Greek philosophy.
In these statements, and in his endorsement of Will Durant Elder Cook displays considerable lack of insight into the scriptures and into divine truth. With the rest of his talk, and with the main message that he tries to impart of course I am in agreement. But this obsession with the supposed “Hellenization” and “philosophization” of Christianity among Latter-day Saints is an aberration of the past which I expect will be rectified in due course, and will not be perpetually repeated. I put it down to his lack of experience as a new Apostle. I am sure as he gains more experience he will learn to avoid making those kinds of mistakes.
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P. S.
This fascination with the writings of Will Durant, Edwin Hatch, and others among Latter-day Saints has a longer history. Here is another interesting quote from a talk given by Elder Neal A. Maxwell in the October 1993 General Conference, titled “From the Beginning,” expressing similar sentiments:
“Another force was at work too: the cultural Hellenizing of Christianity. Wrote Will Durant in The Story of Civilization, ‘The Greek language, having reigned for centuries over philosophy, became the vehicle of Christian literature and ritual’ (part 3, Caesar and Christ, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1944, p. 595). The errant grooves earlier used in defining deity were already there and were so easy to slide into (see Robert M. Grant, Gods and the One God, Philadelphia: Westminster Press, pp. 75–81, 152–58).
“Another scholar concluded: ‘It was impossible for Greeks, … with an education which penetrated their whole nature, to receive or to retain Christianity in its primitive simplicity’ (Edwin Hatch, The Influence of Greek Ideas on Christianity, Gloucester, Mass: Peter Smith, reprinted 1970, p 49).
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“Historian Will Durant also wrote: ‘Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it. The Greek mind, dying, came to a transmigrated life’ (Caesar and Christ, p. 595).” Link, video here.
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