First of all, the New Testament was originally written in Greek.
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The relationship between the New Testament and Greek philosophy is close but complex. It’s not that the authors “copy” the philosophers, but that they write within a world soaked in Hellenistic culture, where ideas from Plato, the Stoics, etc., were already in the air. I’ll break it down.
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1. The context: the New Testament is born in a Hellenistic world
• Since Alexander the Great, the whole eastern Mediterranean becomes “Hellenized”: koine Greek, Greek education, Greek philosophy.
• The first Christians live in Greek or strongly Hellenized cities: Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth, Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens…
• This means that when they talk about God, soul, world, virtue, etc., they do so with words and categories that already had a philosophical echo for their listeners.
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2. NT texts where you can see contact with Greek philosophy
a) Paul in Athens (Acts 17)
• Acts 17 narrates Paul’s speech at the Areopagus in Athens, dialoguing with Epicurean and Stoic philosophers (explicitly mentioned in Acts 17:18).
• Paul quotes Greek poets (“for in him we live and move and have our being”), who come from the Stoic environment. He uses language that a Greek philosopher can understand (Creator God, providence, judgment).
Here we see: Christianity explains itself using bridges to Greek thought, but ends up confronting idolatry and ignorance (Acts 17:29–31).
b) Colossians 2:8: criticism of “philosophy”
• Paul warns: “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit…” (Col 2:8).
• Scholars point out that this is not an attack on all philosophy, but on speculative systems that endangered the Christian faith (a mix of Hellenistic and Jewish elements).
That is, there is dialogue and at the same time distrust toward a kind of philosophy that could empty the Gospel.
c) The Prologue of John and the “Logos” (John 1:1)
• “In the beginning was the Logos… and the Logos was God.”
• Logos in the Greek world is not just “word,” but reason, the rational principle of the cosmos, used by Heraclitus and especially by the Stoics, and reworked by thinkers like Philo of Alexandria.
• The author of John takes that philosophically loaded term and makes a radical claim:
that eternal Logos became flesh in Jesus of Nazareth.
Here you see a very clear relationship: he uses a well-known philosophical concept, but gives it a new Christological content.
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3. Main philosophical influences in the NT environment
It’s not that the NT quotes Plato or Aristotle, but it does share the same intellectual ecosystem:
a) Platonism (and Middle Platonism)
• “Body/soul” dualism, emphasis on the invisible world, the idea of a higher reality more true than what is perceived by the senses.
• In the NT there are echoes of dual language (flesh/spirit, present world / future world), although with a Jewish biblical root.
• Even clearer is how the later Church Fathers (Justin, Origen, Augustine) will read the Bible with Platonic categories, but that’s already second century onward.
b) Stoicism
• The Stoics talked about Logos, natural law, living “according to nature,” and virtues like self-control, courage, etc.
• In Paul we find terms and frameworks that recall Stoicism: lists of virtues and vices, language about conscience, the law written on the heart (Rom 2:14–15), the idea of a cosmos ordered by God.
• Many scholars speak of “strategic adaptation”: Paul and other authors use Stoic categories to make the Christian message understandable in the Hellenistic world.
c) Other schools
• Epicureanism (critique of religious superstition, emphasis on moderate pleasure).
• Skepticism and Cynicism, which influence the critical tone toward institutions.
The NT does not “adopt” these philosophies, but it moves in a setting where these ideas are known, and sometimes it confronts them directly (as in 1 Cor 1–2, where Paul contrasts “the wisdom of the world” and “the wisdom of the cross”).
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4. The role of Philo of Alexandria as a bridge
Although he is not an NT author, Philo of Alexandria (a Hellenistic Jew of the first century) is key to understanding the connection:
• He tries to unite Jewish faith with Greek philosophy, especially Platonism and Stoicism.
• He develops the idea of the Logos as mediator between the transcendent God and the world, and as the instrument of creation.
• Many see in this conceptual framework a precedent of the Prologue of John (although the Christian content is different: in John the Logos is a concrete Person, Jesus).
Philo shows how, even before Christianity, the Bible could be read through Greek philosophical lenses, preparing the ground for later Christian theology.
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5. Influence or simply “common language”?
Here there are some important nuances:
1. The core of the Christian message (Jesus crucified and risen) comes from Judaism, not from Greek philosophy.
2. However, the categories used to explain this to a Greco-Roman world rely on philosophical ideas and vocabulary that already existed.
3. The New Testament, in general:
• Dialogues with philosophy (e.g., Paul in Athens).
• Reuses concepts (Logos, natural law, virtue…).
• Criticizes philosophies when they obscure the Gospel (Col 2:8; 1 Cor 1–2).
A good summary phrase would be:
The New Testament was born in a world shaped by Greek philosophy, spoke its language, and took some of its concepts, but radically reinterpreted them from the experience of Christ.
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6. If you want to go deeper…
If you’re interested in digging further, you could look up topics like:
• “Logos in the Gospel of John and Stoic/Platonic philosophy.”
• “Paul and Stoic philosophy” (especially in Romans, 1 Corinthians, Acts 17).
• “Influence of Platonism on the Church Fathers” (Justin, Clement, Origen, Augustine, etc.).
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