Christianizing Philosophy, Blog 3

Katelyn Parmenter

 

Mrs. Wagener

 

AP English 11

 

31 July 2013

 

Christianizing Philosophy

 

            Philosophy is the study of problems and debates associated with reality, knowledge, existence, reason, and values. Religion is the collection of beliefs that are connected with existence and spirituality. There have been many times in history where philosophy and religion have clashed and created an uproar. To avoid this disturbance, several philosophers in history have attempted to “Christianize” certain claims in philosophy.

 

            In Sophie’s World, Alberto explains to Sophie that the philosophers St. Augustine and Aquinas made an attempt to apply the teachings and beliefs of Christianity to the philosophical truths of Plato and Aristotle. They felt the need to connect the two because many Christians were becoming angry at some of the claims these philosophers made. For example, Christians believed that the world was created out of nothing by God, who has always existed, but the Greeks believed that the world had always existed and Plato stated that there were eternal ideas in the world. The controversy between these ideas led St. Augustine to make the claim that God had created the world, but the ideas about creating the world had always been there.

 

            Aquinas took Aristotle’s “theology of faith” and “natural theology” and backed it up with the teachings of the Bible. The Bible states how God wants us to live, which is similar to the theology of faith, but there is also a conscience in every human that allows them to decipher between wrong and right, which is similar to the natural theology. Aquinas also agreed with Aristotle on his belief that a woman was an incomplete man, but instead of using reason and the science of sexual reproduction to defend his opinion, he used biblical text. The Bible states that a woman (Eve) was made out of Adam’s rib, therefore making her a part of a man.

 

            When philosophical claims are Christianized, everyone is pleased. The Christians do not become offended at the claims because most of them can have religion tied into them. Tying Christianity into philosophical truths and claims can change the aspect. The claim is no longer an independent truth on reason and values, instead it becomes an analysis of Biblical text.