Jesus, Peter, and Paul sometimes referred to the Hebrew Scriptures…which is not ‘the Bible’…when they were talking to Jews because it’s what they (the Jews) knew at the time. It’s the information they had been given.
Paul differed his approach depending upon who his audience was. Talking with Greeks in Philippi or Corinth required a different line of discourse than talking with Jews. He clearly said, “To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.” Adjusting his approach was a good idea.
Paul took the gospel of Jesus as Messiah to the Greek speaking world of his day...and it likely wasn’t an easy undertaking. They were educated in Greek philosophy and literature...and they had their own opinions about their traditions and their gods. Paul used the ideas and philosophy of thinkers like Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates...and intellectuals of their day like Seneca...to his advantage, to help these people better understand his teachings of the Gospel. It’s very likely they would have understood the ideas and metaphors he was using, as they would’ve been very familiar with them.
