Christianity, with its roots spanning nearly two millennia, has been shaped by numerous intellectual traditions. While early Christians largely rejected ancient Greek philosophy, over time, the Church began to integrate key philosophical concepts into its teachings.
This shift marked a significant transformation in the relationship between the two, with Christianity eventually adopting many aspects of Greek thought to help articulate and expand its theological framework. How exactly did ancient Greek philosophy come to influence Christian doctrine and practice?
Early Christian views on ancient Greek philosophy
We learn about the earliest Christians’ views on ancient Greek philosophy primarily in the Book of Acts and some of Paul’s letters. For example, in the Book of Acts, we read about Paul’s debates with Greek philosophers in cities such as Athens.
Just as the Greek philosophers viewed Christian teachings as strange, unimpressive, and simplistic, the Christians viewed Greek philosophy as an ostentatious, cumbersome, and severely flawed attempt to discover the truth. In Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, he wrote:
“For Christ sent me, not to baptize, but to declare the good news… The world did not get to know God through its wisdom… For the Jews ask for signs, and the Greeks look for wisdom; but we preach Christ… God chose the foolish things of the world to put the wise men to shame.” – 1 Corinthians 1:17-27
As we can see, the early Christian attitude towards Greek philosophy was not positive. However, this eventually changed.
How Greek philosophy began to influence Christianity
Despite Paul’s objections, Christians in later centuries were often enamored by the principles of ancient Greek philosophy. After all, the teachings of philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle remained popular for many centuries, and new generations of philosophers continued to promote and expand on them.
One example is Plotinus. He lived in the third century CE and promoted a version of Plato’s philosophical teachings. Historians recognize that Plotinus had a large influence on the early Church. He helped promote the idea of the soul as a separate entity from the body, which was uncommon in the Church before his time.
One prominent leader of the Church who adopted some of Plotinus’ ideas was Ambrose, the fourth-century bishop of Milan. He, in turn, influenced the prominent Augustine of Hippo to likewise adopt some of Plotinus’ concepts.
Another reason for this influence
There was more than one reason the early Church adopted ancient Greek philosophy in its version of Christianity. As we have seen, one reason is that many early prominent religious figures simply loved concepts from the Greek philosophers, as countless other people did (and still do).
However, this is not the only reason. Another reason historians have emphasized is that some Christians were trying to make their message more palatable to their listeners. The Apostle Paul highlighted that the Greeks found the Christian message ‘foolishness’.
Hence, some early Christians (after the first century CE) may have tried to explain the Christian message through Greek philosophical terms and ideas. By doing this, they attempted to make it easier for the Greeks to accept their teachings and view them as respectable.
Interpreting the Bible allegorically
One major way the early Church and modern-day Christianity embraced ancient Greek philosophy was through the extensive use of allegories. In the New Testament, Jesus and his disciples made numerous references to stories from the Old Testament. They always talked about them as historical events.
In contrast, ancient Greek philosophers loved interpreting traditional Greek stories as allegories. For example, Herodorus of Heraclea wrote about how the myth of Atlas giving Heracles the pillars of heaven to support was an allegory for how Atlas, a real man, had taught Heracles the knowledge of the stars and the sky.
Many Christians in the early Church embraced this form of thinking from ancient Greek philosophy. Origen, for example, argued that the Bible’s prophecies about a restored paradise earth for 1000 years applied spiritually, not physically.
Later, Augustine of Hippo promoted his version of this basic concept. He argued that the millennial reign of Christ referred to the Christian era when Christ began to ‘reign’ in the hearts of the saints.
Today, many Christians follow this same basic idea, derived from ancient Greek philosophy. They interpret the Bible stories and teachings as allegorical rather than literal.
Thomas Aquinas
The trend of interpreting Christian teachings through the lens of ancient Greek philosophy continued in later centuries. One prominent figure in this context is Thomas Aquinas. He was a Christian theologian and philosopher of the thirteenth century. He was fascinated by Aristotelian ideas.
This year marks the 750th anniversary of Thomas Aquinas's death.
Want to commemorate him but find the 38 tracts, 631 questions, 3,000 articles, and 10,000 objections and replies of the Summa Theologica overwhelming?
—> Here are 10 of his BEST quotes to get you started 👇 pic.twitter.com/G9yPFgQCsN
— Learn Latin (@latinedisce) October 3, 2024
Thomas Aquinas did not merely repeat Aristotle’s ideas. He studied them deeply. He analyzed, explained, and made them his own. Perhaps this is what made him so popular and persuasive, for he would have a profound influence over much of the rest of Western thinking.
The Existence of God
Aquinas’ famous “Five Ways” for proving the existence of God are grounded in Aristotelian principles of causality and motion. In his Summa Theologica, Aquinas adapted Aristotle’s concept of the “unmoved mover” to argue for the necessity of a first cause—God—who initiates motion in the universe without being moved Himself. This argument hinges on Aristotle’s idea of causality: everything that moves must be moved by something else, but an infinite regress of causes is impossible, necessitating the existence of a first, uncaused cause.
Natural Law
Aquinas’ concept of natural law is another area where Aristotelian philosophy is evident. Aristotle’s idea of the “telos” (final cause or purpose) of natural beings—that everything in nature has a purpose or goal—was adapted by Aquinas into the Christian concept of natural law. According to Aquinas, God created the universe with a rational order, and human beings, in using their reason, can discover the moral law embedded in nature. This natural law guides individuals toward virtuous actions, ultimately leading to fulfillment of their divine purpose.
The Soul and Immortality
Aquinas adopted Aristotle’s view of the soul, seeing it as the form of the body, but modified it to fit within a Christian framework. He agreed with Aristotle that the soul is the principle of life, but Aquinas also asserted that, unlike Aristotle’s view that the soul perishes with the body, the human soul is immortal. In Aquinas’ theology, the soul’s immortality is crucial for the Christian understanding of salvation and the afterlife. He argued that the rational soul, being created by God, survives bodily death, allowing for eternal life with God.
The Relationship Between Faith and Reason
A key Aquinian concept is the harmony between faith and reason. Aquinas firmly believed that reason, informed by Aristotelian philosophy, could lead to knowledge of God’s existence and some truths about the divine, while faith was necessary for understanding the deeper mysteries of God’s nature, such as the Trinity and the Incarnation. This dual approach reinforced the Aristotelian notion that human beings can come to know truths both through empirical observation (reason) and through divine revelation (faith), with both being complementary rather than contradictory.
Ethics and Virtue
Aquinas integrated Aristotle’s virtue ethics into Christian moral philosophy. In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, the concept of achieving eudaimonia (flourishing or happiness) through the cultivation of virtues such as courage, temperance, and wisdom is central. Aquinas adapted this to the Christian context by arguing that the natural virtues (based on reason) and theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity) together guide human beings toward the ultimate good: union with God. Aquinas’ ethical framework thus emphasizes the cultivation of virtue as the means to living a moral life, in harmony with both natural law and divine law.
Through these concepts, Thomas Aquinas seamlessly blended Aristotelian philosophy with Christian theology, creating a comprehensive system of thought that remains influential in Christianity today. His work demonstrates how ancient Greek philosophy was adapted in an attempt to understand and articulate Christian doctrine.
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