Our claim to renew and improve our understanding of the Christian Faith with ancient philosophy might sound blasphemous to some. And yet there is nothing blasphemous in it: many think religions as a vacuum sealed universes, but it takes little sensibility to agree that Scriptures have not been faxed or emailed to humans by God, but they were written by (inspired) men living amongst other men, sharing some common cultures.
Christianity is an offspring of Judaism, and from the 4th century B.C. onward it is inappropriate and risky to separate Israel from the Hellenistic framework in which she came to be inserted, which led to a brew of older Semitic culture and fresher philosophical ideas coming from the west, united by a same language: this is not an historical claim, but rather an historical fact. Even Jesus’ contemporaries were aware of this, still they divided themselves into greek-oriented Jews and traditionalist Hebrews, refusing the fact that the Hellenistic syncretism had nearly fulfilled his job in culture, philosophy, administration and even religion.
Augustine discovered this matter with great wonder, when he stated that pagan philosophers had already seized part of the Truth, and that it was Christians’ task to make good use of them to understand obscure verses of the Bible.
They contain also liberal instruction which is better adapted to the use of the truth, and some most excellent precepts of morality; and some truths in regard even to the worship of the One God are found among them.
Now these are, so to speak, their gold and silver, which they did not create themselves, but dug out of the mines of God’s providence which are everywhere scattered abroad. […] These, therefore, the Christian [...] ought to take away from them, and to devote to their proper use in preaching the gospel. Their garments, also,–that is, human institutions such as are adapted to that intercourse with men which is indispensable in this life,–we must take and turn to a Christian use.
De Doctrina Christiana (Book II, Chapter 40)
Source: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/augustine/ddc.html
According to Augustine, this was a proof of the universality of God’s inspiriting power, but once we acknowledge the blend of different elements from which Christianity developed, his advice can be taken both by pious people willing to improve their faith (through a better understanding), or simply by curious humans wanting to increase their knowledge discovering unexpected and illuminating correspondences.
