Influence of Greek Education—Its Dangers
By John K. Jones
“We are all Greeks. Our laws, our literature, our religion, our art, have their roots in Greece.”—Shelly. “Except the blind forces of nature, there is nothing that moves in the world to-day that is not Greek in origin.”—Henry Summer Maine. These are strong statements, but let us see if conditions to-day do not prove their accuracy. Much of the learning and philosophy of Greece was taken from Egypt, that land of dense darkness,—so designated by the Word of God. Many of the Egyptian myths and gods were adopted by the Greeks. Thus the Greek conception of truth was based largely upon Egyptian philosophy. As a representative of the philosophy thus acquired, turn to Plato. Plato believed that the human soul was immortal, that it could not be destroyed. Since a divine intelligence had created it, it was as indestructible as its Creator. This is the same doctrine that Satan taught our first parents in the garden of Eden—“Ye shall not surely die.” The outgrowth of Plato’s philosophy is seen to-day in the efforts of men to find God by human reasoning. His doctrine of the immortal soul is seen in the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church in purgatory, and of the Protestant churches in the spirit land. The system of penance observed by the Roman Catholic Church is the outgrowth of Greek philosophy, which teaches that one must afflict the body in order to become pure in spirit. A fundamental principle in Greek education was that of harmony. Harmony in anything was beauty. Consequently22their highest aim in the cultivation of physical powers was to become beautiful, and not for service. This study of harmony and beauty, particularly as manifested in man, his thoughts, and works, and apart from God, the source of all true beauty and harmony, quite naturally led to a worship of man. This gave them their adoration for their great men, statesmen, poets, painters, and sculptors. We find this same spirit in the world to-day. Look at our colleges and their system of training the youth. Students that are the strongest physically, that are the best specimens of physical culture, and that are the ablest to defeat opponents in all manner of sports, are idolized the world over. The gaining of strong physiques is made an end rather than a means. God intends that strong bodies shall be used for service in doing for others. The same undue deference to brilliant thoughts and oratory, regardless of their truth, which was seen in Greece, is becoming more noticeable in our own time and land. This is also observed in the many evolutionary theories which are rapidly increasing and being promulgated to-day. These theories are directly in sympathy with those of Greek teachers, and may, indeed, be said to be their outgrowth. Thus the schools of to-day are molded by this same Egyptian darkness brought to us through the Greeks. “Out of Egypt have I called my son.” Out of these schools teaching darkness we are called, that our light may shine into the darkness, rather than that the darkness shall destroy our light.