Plato, Aristotle, and the Catholic Church

[eternalrest]

What about the Church Fathers? These ‘fallible philosophers (i.e lovers of wisdom)’ are mixed in with the writers of Scripture. Do you have anything against the Church Fathers as well? Sola Scriptura stinks.

Could you give more details about this?

 

[Credo_ergo_sum]

Could you give more details about this?

Sure. These were theologians from the first few centuries. Most were Greek. They wrote about what is orthodox and what is not. They wrote what the doctrines were, what they believed. These writings form, along with the Bible, the basis for Christianity.

Some of them, like Origen Adamantius and St. Justin Martyr, were philosophers before their conversion.

If the Bible is read, their interpretations are mostly used. Here’s a wikipedia article on them. If you want to read their works I could send you a link.

 

[eternalrest]

Sure. These were theologians from the first few centuries. Most were Greek. They wrote about what is orthodox and what is not. They wrote what the doctrines were, what they believed. These writings form, along with the Bible, the basis for Christianity.

Some of them, like Origen Adamantius and St. Justin Martyr, were philosophers before their conversion.

If the Bible is read, their interpretations are mostly used. Here’s a wikipedia article on them. If you want to read their works I could send you a link.

So, you are saying that either a majority or a plurality of the earliest theologians following the death of Christ were Greek and they meshed their Greek influences with the teaching of the Jews/Scripture to form Catholic theology as a result of being primarily influenced by Greek society prior to conversion to Christianity?

 

[Credo_ergo_sum]

So, you are saying that either a majority or a plurality of the earliest theologians following the death of Christ were Greek

I most certainly do.

and they meshed their Greek influences with the teaching of the Jews/Scripture to form Catholic theology as a result of being primarily influenced by Greek society prior to conversion to Christianity?

No. The teachings of ‘the Jews’, i.e rabbinical authority, never had any hold on Christianity. The Christian Old Testament, which *is *the Greek Septuagint and not the Hebrew Masoretic, was used. So the Old Testament was kept and read in Greek.

But, following the lead of the Apostle John, they used the Greek languages, and thus Greek words, to explain Christian dogma and doctrines. They didn’t change anything but kept the faith unaltered.

But why do you hate the Greek philosophers so much?

 

[eternalrest]

No. The teachings of ‘the Jews’, i.e rabbinical authority, never had any hold on Christianity. The Christian Old Testament, which *is *the Greek Septuagint and not the Hebrew Masoretic, was used. So the Old Testament was kept and read in Greek.

But, following the lead of the Apostle John, they used the Greek languages, and thus Greek words, to explain Christian dogma and doctrines. They didn’t change anything but kept the faith unaltered.

Do you know why the later philosophers much after the early church, i.e. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) based teachings on Aristotle and Plato in forming Catholic teachings?

 

[Credo_ergo_sum]

What is the reason why the later philosophers after the early church, i.e. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) based teachings on Aristotle and Plato?

That is scholasticism. I don’t like scholasticism either but many Latins seem to do. It tries to over-rationalise the faith. The scholastic method is not how theology was done in earlier times.

 

[DeepBlueSea]

One could argue that Conservatives get their view on family values from Aristotle, not Christianity. Although it is a view so natural to us, it has to be as old as humanity itself. I have never actually read their works, but from what I hear, Plato, and Aristotle are the perfect example of coming to know of God through natural reason alone.

It might be worth mentioning that there was an even earlier source of family values. I am not sure whether anyone in the western hemisphere heard of Confucianism developed 500 BC in the East. I was raised with Confucian values. However, despite the nobility of its ideals and its similarities with Christianity, the system does not seem to be able to withstand the test of time.

 

[eternalrest]

It might be worth mentioning that there was an even earlier source of family values. I am not sure whether anyone in the western hemisphere heard of Confucianism developed 500 BC in the East. I was raised with Confucian values. However, despite the nobility of its ideals and its similarities with Christianity, the system does not seem to be able to withstand the test of time.

Thanks for posting! So what do you think are the major flaws in Confucianism relevant to withstanding the test of time?