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One of the most blatant paradoxes (or oxymorons if you will) in the entire history, is the phrase 'Greek and Christian'.
According to the Bible, the first philosophical trigger for Christianity was introduced here when Paul the Apostle walked the streets of Athens (Acts 17 in ([1])). After listening to Paul's theory of the resurrected Jesus, the Ancient Epicurean and Stoic philosophers sneered and laughed at Paul's theory of resurrection and sarcastically told him "We want to hear you again on this subject" (Acts 17:32). The latter is a clear indication that Paul's words did not find a fertile ground in Ancient Athens.
After the fall of Ancient Greece by the Romans, the Christian dogma seems to nevertheless have spread and eventually found its way to more and higher ranking subjects, until a decisive turn was taken when the Roman Emperor Constantine I ("The Great" ([2])), became the first Christian emperor and declared the Roman empire as 'officially' Christian.
Subsequently the Roman Empire was split and the Eastern part of the Empire which hosted the descendants of the Ancients retained the orthodox version of Paul's teachings.
Hence modern Greece which was resurrected from the ashes of the Byzantine empire and from four hundred years of cultural and linguistic oppression from the Ottoman Empire is now officially a 'Christian' nation and its citizens are encouraged to espouse the Orthodox Christian faith.
The above has led many historians to believe that there is no actual connection between the Ancient Greeks and modern Greeks, citing even additional reasons, such as 'lack of achievements' and other such nonsense.
Disregarding for a moment such obvious absurdities (see for example sections 'Genetic origins' and 'Modern and ancient' in ([3]) let's concentrate on the apparent paradox of why and how Christian dogma assimilated the Ancient Greek culture.
The key to the solution of the apparent paradox is exactly a careful analysis of what one means by 'the Christian dogma assimilated the Ancient Greek culture'.
The insightful reader will notice that what happened was exactly the reverse: The Ancient Greek culture actually assimilated the Christian dogma and not the other way around.
How is that? You may ask. The answer has two parts: The first part is the historically obvious one: Most of the New Testament was written in Koine Greek, which means that the object which did the 'assimilation' was actually the Greek language, as a living and evolving entity and not the Christian dogma itself. The most reliable New Testament sources today, are those written in Koine Greek.
The second part is the historically obscure one (or at least obscure to those who fail to see the deeper purpose of this 'assimilation'): the Ancient Greeks decided that the Christian dogma was a fairly secure and reliable 'test' for the education of their descendants.
A mind is NOT free, unless it tears down all the available barriers and obstacles present in its evolution. The incredible genius of the Ancient Greeks, was that they eventually saw the immense potential of Paul's theory as a safety valve for their own power and a sort of 'graduation test' for the evolution of their own minds and the minds of their descendants.
Therefore they voluntarily accepted the new dogma, in order to force their own minds and culture to have to fight a very difficult battle, which is culminated only when the mind breaks the barriers of that powerful dogma. Only then one is truly worthy to belong to the most powerful and most magnificent culture in the world: The Greeks.
The true descendants of the Ancient Greek culture therefore, are neither Christians, nor non-Christians. They are the modern Greeks who understand and pass the test designed by The Ancient Greeks, recognizing it only as a powerful mechanism which filters out the true Greeks, by forcing their minds to face it until they are gradually liberated from this grand absurdity (or any other absurd metaphysical theory, except the Greek language and science itself).
A more logical analysis of this incredibly complex test can be performed as follows: Let T=TRUTH and F=FALSITY. Which is stronger? We use only one assumption: T always prevails[*].
Now suppose some F attacks T. Who wins? If T does not know of its identity and tries to defend itself, T loses, because by accepting the battle engagement, T is ultimately revealed as F (T does not need to fight because of [*]), hence T becomes aware of its true identity, F. If T knows its identity as T, it also knows that it does not need to defend itself (by [*]), hence T knows it must retreat. Now, if F knows its identity as F it also knows its own inferiority (by [*]), therefore it knows it must resign. On the other hand, if F does not know its identity as F, it does not know its own inferiority (by [*]), and by attacking T it forces its own revelation as F (T does not need to attack, because it knows [*]), hence F becomes aware of its own identity as F and thus finds out that it eventually loses. In either case, if T is self-aware and retreats, F must either resign or lose.
The time it takes for F to either resign or lose after its initial attack on T, is the actual training time of the potential Greek Warrior. The events that transpire in that time period, are the actual training arena of the potential Greek Warrior.
Now substitute 'T=Truth' and 'F=Christian Dogma' and apply the above to see the why and how the Great Ancients allowed the Christian dogma to enter and multiply in their territories and minds.
The Ancient Greeks created The Ultimate Puzzle: They allowed themselves to be dominated by an external rogue meme, in order to create a school of thought and an artificial battleground for their descendants which ultimately would help them recognize the Truth: That Greece and Greeks are all there is. Anything non-Greek is always of lesser value than anything Greek.
Accordingly, the greatest honor for a human being is to be born Greek.