Why the West?

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October 2, 2022

There is a strange verse in the Bible, one that may have historical meaning for us today:

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Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia — Acts 16:6

It seems the great apostle was prevented from heading east. Why?

Now, the term Asia has changed meaning over time. During the Roman Empire, the province of Asia was in Western Turkey. Yet, oddly, the apostle did travel to the province of Galatia, which was even further east.

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What was the difference? Well, Anatolia (what we now call mainland Turkey) was a mishmosh of peoples of various origin and mixes. But the Galatians, oddly enough, were Indo-European Celts who had migrated east from Central Europe. Essentially, Paul was writing to “white” people. These Celts were probably related to today’s Southern Germans/Bavarians, or France’s ancient Gauls.

Paul’s efforts were primarily to the West or western peoples. He spent time with the Galatian Celts, but skirted around the province of Asia. He preached in Greece — the birthplace of Western Civilization. Then he ended up in Rome, the capital of the Roman empire.

Yet, what is forgotten is that Paul also wanted to travel to Spain.

Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey … Romans 15:24

Spain, at that time, was not the Spain we see today. The peninsula was also heavily Celtic, related to the Galatians.

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At that time, about two-thirds of Spain was either Celtic or Basque/Aquitanian. Indeed, Irish and Scottish legends speak of a temporary sojourn in Spain, and the northwest of Spain boasts of its Celtic ancestry.

[The Scots] journeyed from Greater Scythia by way of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Pillars of Hercules, and dwelt for a long course of time in Spain… Declaration of Arbroath

This is not obvious now because the Islamic conquest of Spain drastically altered its culture, and to a lesser extent, some of its genetics. The ancient Northern Spanish might have originally looked like the Irish of today. Some have said that the Irish look like blue-eyed Spaniards.

But the real question is why Paul, writing under inspiration, even wanted to go to Spain? He expressed no interest in going to North Africa.

My own habit on these matters is to rely only on Scripture — not even the church fathers — for doctrine; but this concerns history not doctrine. Did Paul ever go to Spain?

Pauline scholars note that there is a gap in the chronology of his life in the early 60s. At this time he might have visited Spain, for there are strong church traditions indicating he did so. Clement and the Muratorian Canon as well as Chrysostom and Jerome assume that Paul fulfilled his intention. — Biblical Archaeology

If Paul made such a trip to Spain, it could radically change one’s understanding of history. Paul primarily confined his ministry to the European peoples. Why?

Compounding this is the curious fact that, until recently, Christianity failed to plant strong cultural roots almost everywhere else but in Europe. Some will assert that there are historic Christian churches in the Mideast, and even in Asia. Yes, but they were overrun by Islam or shrank into insignificance. They are remnants, as it were. Christianity only prospered among European stocks — and this is very provocative.

We see the same interesting trends in Jewish history. The Babylonians were pagans, and while they temporarily conquered Israel, they did not threaten the identity of the Jews. The Jewish religion survived. Jews might pick up bad practices from their opponents, but the core of Judaism was not threatened. However, the Persian Empire (which was run by an Indo-European elite) was somewhat friendly to the Jews. Yet, even today, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism are not much of a philosophical challenge to Judaism.

But the Greeks were different. When the Greeks conquered the Mideast, they brought Greek mathematics, Greek philosophy, Greek culture, the Olympic games, and democratic thought with them. For the first time, the Jewish people were faced with a cultural onslaught which posed a real challenge. It was one thing to dismiss a statue worshipping Egyptian godlings, Babylonian idiocies, or Canaanite brutalities; but the Greeks were genuinely civilized; they were culturally advanced. They asked great questions such as: What Is Truth? 

Socrates and Aristotle had concepts of a Supreme Being that approximated Jewish ideas and which demonstrated that the Greek philosophers understood that the Greek folk pantheon of deities were not ultimate truth. These Greeks were not your standard idol-worshipping pagan imbeciles. A lot of Jews started embracing Greek culture as superior. The process was called Hellenization … and the rabbis were in a panic. They could not compete. Why would a Jew bother to read Scripture when he could read Aristotle or the Iliad? The Jews in Israel started adopting Greek names… in Israel, not the diaspora!

The Greeks might have won the debate except that a Greek lunatic named Antiochus Epiphanus overreached, declared himself to be a deity and started persecuting Torah-observant Jews in an effort to completely Hellenize them. This led to the Maccabean Revolt and the victory of Hannukah. Had Antiochus gone slower, the Greeks might have won by persuasion what they failed to win by force.

What the reader has to understand is that these Greeks founded Western Civilization; and for all intents and purposes, Hellenization is equivalent to Westernization or Americanization.

Of all Israel’s competitors, it was only the West that could truly compete with Judaism.

And that brings us back to the Apostle Paul. He obviously detected the same qualities in Westerners/Europeans. If he went to the non-Europeans, the gospel might die out. If he went to Europeans, it would thrive. If the Greek Europeans had tried to westernize the Jews, then a Jew, Paul, would now try to Christianize (an outgrowth of Judaism) the Europeans.

Paul recognized this. He went to the Greeks, the Romans, the Celtic Galatians, and wanted to go to Celtic Spain. Anyone who knows history knows that the ancient Celts are the substrata of Western Europe, planting roots from Spain up to Northern Holland, west to Ireland and east to Poland and Czechoslovakia.  If you are of West European ancestry, you are probably Celtic in part. Paul knew what he was doing if he wanted to get the message out.

As politically incorrect as it may seem, the question begs: Is there a quality in Europeans that lends itself to such cultural greatness?

For this we can go to Jewish texts, namely the Bible. Whether one takes the story metaphorically or literally, in Genesis 9, there were three brothers: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Forget the controversial story about Ham — that itself is up to interpretation. But pay attention to the two brothers Shem and Japheth. However one interprets the story, it is clear that a covenant was made with Japheth, who was to be blessed (vs 27). It was not only made with Shem, the progenitor of the Jews.

Then remember that Japheth is considered the progenitor of the European/white peoples. Japheth is etymologically related to white and expansive. In modern terms:  Expansionist (Imperialist) white guy.

Whether taken literally or metaphorically, the story gives us insight. The ancient Jews recognized a quality in Europeans that they did not see in Asians or blacks. Indeed, the Jews tended to oppose the asceticism so common to Eastern religions.

Asceticism never occupied an important place in the Jewish religion. — Jewish Virtual Library

This would explain why the Greeks posed an intellectual and cultural challenge to the Jews that the surrounding pagans and the Babylonians could not. This might explain why Paul, who was trained as a Pharisee, went to Western peoples, not to Africa or Asia. The Europeans were likely to be more receptive.

I am not asserting superiority, but there does seem to be a reason why western civilization is so powerful, and why it should not be surrendered to politically correct thugs. There is virtue in the West. If it surrenders truth and the Christianity that Paul brought, it will die out.

Image: The Ogre

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