Philosophers which to read and not to read

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which philosophers would you recommend before christ if any and after christ that belived in God I have a problem with studying Aristotle and the Greeks as they did know the one true God.

Any recommendations ?
 
John121 said:
I have a problem with studying Aristotle and the Greeks as they did know the one true God.
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You do realize that much of St. Thomas Aquinas’ philosophy was based off of Aristotle? The St. Thomas Aquinas we got transubstantiation from?
 
I don’t understand why we study philosphers who don’t believe in God ? but ya maybe ST Thomas aquinas is respected I haven’t read much on him so don’t know were they get there inspiration from?
 
John121 said:
I don’t understand why we study philosphers who don’t believe in God ?
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God is Truth, right? If pagan Greek mathematicans can come up with geometry, does that make geometry false because they’re pagan? If all truth in the end comes from God, does it matter where it comes from? Will you stop using geometry because of that? Or algebra because of its Muslim origins? How about astronomy? Or anatomy?

I’ll also point out that Aristotle died before Christ came. If I remember correctly, he rejected Greek polytheism and advocated monotheism, among other things. For a pagan, he was on the cusp of Christianity before it was even introduced.
 
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im just curious because it says that “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
Corinthians 1:25 so I’m very sceptical of of these philosphers !
 
John121 said:
“Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
Corinthians 1:25 so I’m very sceptical of of these philosphers !
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Where in that verse does it say that non-Christians are incapable of arriving at truth?
 
Dante put the virtuous pagan philosophers in the first circle of Hell, which was not such a bad place apparently (in other words, not really Hell).
 
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I just don’t know if they arrive at reality which is the truth or is it a distraction from the Torah Bible in general.?
 
John121 said:
I just don’t know if they arrive at reality which is the truth or is it a distraction from the Torah Bible in general.?
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That’s why we have people like St. Thomas Aquinas and the Church protected from error by God. If it’s true, then it’s from God, no matter who came up with it. St. Thomas Aquinas not only wrote the Summa, but also a commentary on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, and references Aristotle throughout the Summa. It is said that he Christianized Aristotle’s thought.
 
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I must purchase summa by St Thomas aquinis its just a bit expensive at the moment 100 euro plus!
 
John121 said:
I don’t understand why we study philosphers who don’t believe in God ?
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My response is you should study them because we don’t live in a vacuum. Take Nietzsche for example. I’ve had discussions about religion with friends who are not Christian. In one of these conversations Nietzsche came up. At the time, I had no clue. One needs to know how to refute Nietzsche’s arguments against Christianity, and at the same time understand his unique contributions and what possible truth he may have found.
 
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The Summa is great for a reference, but one will get confused with the terminology and meta-physics stuff. No need to buy it. Go to newadvent.com
 
St. Thomas intended the Summa Theologiae as an introductory guide for beginners. He even quotes I Corinthians 3:1–2 in the intro: You were little children in Christ’s nursery, and I gave you milk, not meat; you were not strong enough for it 😇
 
You should study all philosophers. A well- rounded philosophical education is essential for the formation of one’s intellect. Don’t just read Catholic philosophers.
 
Thomas Aquinas is the greatest philosopher, period. He synthesized the work of the Greeks with Christianity.

There is none better to study than the Angelic Doctor.

Peter Kreeft’s Summa of the Summa is excellent; but maybe start reading some other basic metaphysics online, first.

Hard to go wrong with the three “A’s”. Augustine, Aquinas and Anselm.

Deacon Christopher
 
Neithan said:
St. Thomas intended the Summa Theologiae as an introductory guide for beginners. He even quotes I Corinthians 3:1–2 in the intro: You were little children in Christ’s nursery, and I gave you milk, not meat; you were not strong enough for it 😇
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The Summa Theologica was intended for seminarians who would have already had some education. The Compendium Theologia was intended for the layperson (still educated in his day), but he only finished Part 1.

The ST will be rather dense for a beginner.
 
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Ah, good to know! Thanks. Too bad he didn’t finish either of them.
 
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Ever heard of Newton’s “we stand on the shoulders of giants”? Without these pagan philosophers we wouldn’t have had Aquinas, and I can’t imagine Latin Catholicism without Aquinas. We study these philosophers because they were a sort of “base” on which further philosophical research was built on. We can’t start from stage one everytime the world changes religions.
 
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