his doctrines, whether during a pagan youth or as part of the Hellenistic-Jewish tradition which was presented to them along with systems of interpretation of the Bible. Furthermore, there existed the phenomenon of “philosophical syncretism” or a Zeitgeist, working recognizably among pagans and Christians alike in the fourth century and, to a certain degree, in the third. These questions will be dealt with in the coming chapters. Here I propose to discuss in a general way the problem of state and