I post these quotes mostly for my own amusement, but also because most Christians have very little conception of the influence of Greek Philosophy on Christianity. And many of those who promote this syncretism think it is a good thing. They are not offended by accusations that they have imported Greek philosophy into Christianity but are proud of it. They think it's a good thing. See for example, Pope Benedict's Regensburg speech.
Anyway here's another quote about the negative effect that Greek Philosophy has had on understanding the words of Jesus and Paul. This is from pg. 168 of the paperback version of Marvin Wilson's wonderful book, Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith:
Related to Plato's dualistic view of the cosmos, then, is a dualistic view of man. Plato likens the body to a prison for the soul. The immortal soul—pure spirit— is incarcerated in a defective body of crumbling clay. Salvation comes at death, when the soul escapes the body and soars heavenward to the invisible realm of the pure and eternal spirit. The widespread influence of Plato upon the history of Christian Thought can hardly be overestimated. Accordingly, Werner Jaeger states that 'the most important fact in the history of Christian doctrine was that the father of Christian theology, Origen, was a Platonic philosopher at the school of Alexandria.' Furthermore, he points out that 'he [Origen] built into Christian doctrine the whole cosmic drama of the soul, which he took from Plato, and although later Christian fathers decided that he took over too much, that which they kept was still the essence of Plato' philosophy of the soul.' "
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