In this case, Pannenberg largely rejects the widely held position that the roots of the corruption of medieval Christendom can ultimately be traced to the second century, when the gospel message was radically distorted in its transmission from its first century Semitic context to its gentile context via engagement with Greek philosophy.[47] Instead, Pannenberg argues that the spread of the gospel message from its context in the ancient Near East into the language and culture of the Roman Empire was a necessary element of the historical process of God’s self-revelation to the world.
