One of the most fundamental differences between the Western, Hellenistic mind and the Hebrew mind is found in the area of knowing vs. doing.
Says Prof Wiliam Barrett:
"The distinction…arises from the difference between doing and knowing.
Duty and strictness of conscience are the paramount things in life for the Hebrew; for the Greek, the spontaneous and luminous play of the intelligence.
The Hebrew thus extols the moral virtues as the substance and meaning of life; the Greek subordinates them to the intellectual virtues…the contrast is between practice and theory, between the moral man and the theoretical or intellectual man."
In fundamentalist Christian circles, it is often more important to believe and espouse "the right thing," than to live the right way.
This is why we are so obsessed with creeds, doctrinal statements, Systematic Theologies, orthodoxy vs. heresy, and creating various theologies.
This mode of thinking is thoroughly Western, utterly Greek.
Continue reading ... Living Truth: The Hebraic Mindset
