What Has Athens to Do with Jerusalem?
What is the relationship between philosophy and Christian faith? Are the two entirely in harmony, in partial conflict, or irreconcilably opposed? On this question the old books disagree.
In his Prescription Against Heretics, Tertullian (a.d. 160-225) inveighed against the effect of philosophy on the Church. He saw philosophical speculations about nature, the soul, and God as food for heretics such as Valentinus and Marcion (De Praescriptione Haereticorum, ch. 7). When Christians imbibed philosophy, the result was "a mottled Christianity of Stoic, Platonic, and dialectic composition." Thus, to his own rhetorical question, "What indeed has Athens to do with...
received his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He writes on education, politics, religion, and culture.
Get Salvo in your inbox! This article originally appeared in Salvo, Issue #31, Winter 2014 Copyright © 2024 Salvo | www.salvomag.com https://salvomag.com/article/salvo31/philosophy-saved
