Christianity and Ancient Greek philosophy

Hellenic philosophy and Christianity refers to the complex interaction between Hellenic philosophy and Christianity during the early years of the church, particularly the first four centuries A.D.

Christianity originated in Judah, an Aramaic culture with traditional philosophies and modes of thought distinct from the Classical Greek thought which was dominant in the Roman Empire at the time of Christ and centuries following. However, Judah itself was already Hellenized in the first century, and the "Hebrew Bible" most commonly used was a Greek translation.

The conflict between the two modes of thought is recorded in scripture, in Paul's encounters with Epicurian and Stoic philosophers in Acts [1], his diatribe against Greek philosophy in 1st Corinthians[2], and his warning against philosophy in Colossians 2:8[3].

Over time, however, as Christianity spread throughout the Hellenic world, an increasing number of church leaders were educated in Greek Philosophy, leading to a fusion of the two modes of thought.

One early Christian writer of the second and early third century, Clement of Alexandria, demonstrated the assimilation of Greek thought in writing: "Philosophy has been given to the Greeks as their own kind of Covenant, their foundation for the philosophy of Christ ... the philosophy of the Greeks ... contains the basic elements of that genuine and perfect knowledge which is higher than human ... even upon those spiritual objects." (Miscellanies 6. 8)

Augustine of Hippo, who ultimately systematized Christian philosophy, wrote in the 4th and early fifth century: "But when I read those books of the Platonists I was taught by them to seek incorporeal truth, so I saw your 'invisible things, understood by the things that are made' (Confessions 7. 20)

Hebrew Versus Greek Thought Regarding God

The article on God goes into greater detail regarding the contrasts between the Hebrew and Hellenic concepts of God.

In summary, however, Hebrews and early Christians had no systematic theology. They understood God to be: "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation." (Exodus 34:6–7)

It was not until the fusion of Platonic and Aristotelian theology with Christianity that the concepts of strict omnipotence, omniscience, or omnibenevolence became commonplace.

The Platonic concept of Forms had an enormous influence on Hellenic Christian views of God. In those philosophies, Forms were the ideals of every objection in the physical world, and objects in the physical world were merely shadows of those perfect forms. Platonic Philosophers were able to theorize about the forms by looking at objects in the material world, and imagining what the "Perfect" tree, or "Perfect" man would be.

The Aristotelian view of God grew from these Platonic roots, arguing that God was the Infinite, or the "Unmoved Mover."

Hellenic Christians and their medeival successors then applied this Form-based philosophy to the Christian God. Philosophers took all the things that they considered Good -- Power, Love, Knowledge, Size, and posited that God was "infinite" in all these respects. They then concluded that God was omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnibenevolent. Further, since God was perfect, any change would make him less than perfect, so they asserted that God was unchanging, or immutable.

St. Thomas Aquinas, in his Summa Theologica, article 3, wrote succinctly: "By 'God,' however, we mean some infinite good."

Anselm, a medeival monk, later defined God as the "Being than which no greater can be conceived."

With the establishment of the formal church, the development of creeds and formal theology, this view of God as Omni-Everything became nearly universal in the Christian World.

Geocentrism

Geocentrism, or the Ptolemaic system, held that the Earth was the center of the universe, and the sun, moon, and stars revolved around the Earth. It was devised by Ptolemy, a Greek. Neither Hebrew nor Christian scriptures systematically describe a geocentric model of the universe, although many passages speak in passing of the sun and stars "moving in the heavens" as would be apparent to any non-scientific observer at the time, as well as metaphorical descriptions of the stars "declaring the glory of God." Nowhere does either scripture purport to be an astrophysics text. However, with the fusion of Greek with Hebrew thought and the rise of the Catholic Church, the geocentric model was incorporated into Church dogma along with a great deal of Greek scientific thought. It was not until the 16th and 17th century that Copernicus and Galileo challenged the Ptolomaic system, over vehement Church resistance.

The Ontological Argument

Saint Anselm of Canterbury composed the Ontological Argument for the existence of God which he believed to be irrefutable. In essence, he argued that because God is by definition the being than which no greater can be conceived, and it is more perfect to exist than not to exist, that conceiving God not to exist was not conceiving God at all -- it was conceiving a being less than perfect, which would not be God. Therefore, the argument proceeded, God could not be conceived not to exist.

The Ontological Argument is a defining example of the fusion of Hebrew and Greek thought. Realism was the dominant philosophical school of Anselm's day, and stemmed from Platonism. According to Realism, and in contrast to Nominalism, things such as "Green" and "Big" were known as universals, which had a real existence outside the human imagination, in an abstract realm, as described by Plato. Accordingly, if a concept could be formed in the human mind (as was his concept of God), then it had a real existence in the abstract realm of the universals, apart from his imagination. In essence, if he could imagine God, God existed. Secondly, the Ontological Argument reflected the classical concept of "perfections." There are various kinds of so-called perfections. Size, intelligence, beauty, power, benevolence, and so forth -- all these qualities are called perfections. And there are various degrees of these perfections. What is more intelligent is more perfect as regards intelligence; what is more beautiful is more perfect as regards beauty; and so forth. Because existence was more perfect than non-existence, and God was by definition perfect, God existed by definition.

Biblical Hebrew thought, however, contains no reference to such presuppositions. The Platonic concepts of realism, perfections, and a God defined as infinite are found nowhere in scripture. They originated with the Greeks, and were incorporated into medeival philosophy. Eventually, the more Hebrew concept of Nominalism replaced realism in European thought, and the Ontological Argument for the existence of God is almost incomprehensible to the modern mind.

Modern Debate Regarding Hellenic Christian Thought

Recently, a great deal of debate has arisen regarding the influence of Platonic thought on Christian Thought. Movements such as Open Theism and Process Theology have argued that the God of the Jews and non-Hellenized Christians was not a God of Infinities, but rather, was the greatest in all those respects, and above humanity, and all other gods.

In support of their position, Open Theists and Process Theologians cite the problem of evil, the problem of prayer, and the problem of sin, which they believe make the existence of an omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenevolent God logically untenable. They also cite many scripture passages in which God appears to change his mind, have emotions, be delayed in carrying out his plan, become furious, and be surprised.

Mainline Christians, as well as adherents to the majority of world religions, argue that God is in fact omniscient, omnibenevolent, and omnipotent, and that Open Theism and Process Theology are attempts to belittle the attributes of God. They cite the thought of the majority of Christians for the last 2000 years, as well as the majority of Jewish and Muslim Scholars, who agree.

References

• Daniel W. Graham and James L. Siebach, "Philosophy and Early Christianty," 210-220.
• Cook, "How Deep the Platonism," 269-286 in Farms Review of Books, vol. 11, no. 2 (1999).
• http://www.angelfire.com/az3/LDC/hebrewthought.pdf