What is the impact of Christianity on philosophy?

Answer 1

"What is the rise of Christianity in philosophy?"

Constantine and the Rise of Christianity

By the second century A.D., Christianity and Hellenism had come into close contact in the eastern Mediterranean. In the early fourth century, the policies of Emperor Constantine the Great institutionalized the connection and lent a lasting Greek influence to the church that emerged.

Although Christianity was initially practiced within Semitic populations of the Roman Empire, by the first century A.D. Greeks also had learned of the teachings of Christ. In that period, the epistles of Paul to the Ephesians and the Corinthians and his preachings to the Athenians were all aimed at a Greek audience. Other early Christian theological writers such as Clement of Alexandria and Origen attempted to fuse Christian belief with Greek philosophy, establishing the Greek world as the home of gentile Christianity.

Greece in the Roman Empire

http://www.gogreece.com/learn/history/Greece_in_the_romanempire.HTML

ANSWER

i personally don't think that there is much room in 'organized religion' of any kind for philosophy, however

the question is not the rise of christianinty in philosophy but the rise of philosophy in Christianity

because

first of all,

philosophy has been around since the dawn of time, since there were humans to think, there was thinking in philisophical terms, and Christianity came only 2000 years ago

so basically philosophy existed before Christianity

and secondly

the ability to philosophize - to be able to think of any and all possibilities,

to think outside the box and more,

to be calm and logical,

to think for yourself-

is not really something that most 'organized religions' are able to do well as they believe what they are told is true, and don't always question it and don't endorse questioning as you will tell from organized religions history of violence and forcing of beliefs

philosophy by its very nature and description can not have any religion 'rise' in its views, it would not be philosophy then it would just be another version of organized religion

however, i see that there are many individuals branching out from their religions and adapting philosophical views as well as their religious ones and this includes christians, this is where the rise of philosophy is in play in Christianity,

more and more people are willing to go out and see and learn for themselves instead of being told and simply believing, more and more people question,

its part of human nature to question, to want to learn more and no organized religion in the world is capable of taking that away from people.

AnswerChristians have always sought to 'make every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.' Taken out of context this should rightly raise the hackles of those who think that this justifies Christians forcing their beliefs on others. Some may have indeed experienced this in certain contexts. However it is specifically addressed to Christians themselves and how they are to think - which is to be in a Christ-like manner. As God himself created people with a free-will the paradigm for Christians would be to allow others the same.

Right from its inception Christians knew the philosophies of their day and were willing to engage in discussion (not brainwashing) with the followers of these philosophies. Paul did this with the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers of his day on Mars hill at Athens (Acts 17 v 16-34). This kind of thing has happened down through history. Sometimes the philosophy is identified as specifically Christian, other times it is a Christian person engaged in philosophical pursuits.

In recent times people like C.S. Lewis, Os Guinness, Francis Schaeffer, Van Til and others have espoused a critique of modern philisophy and modern thought. They are attempting to apply Christian thinking to the condition of man as he is and to show the philosophical relevance of specifically Christian thought. This naturally includes a critique of current philosophies as well as pointing to Christian answers to all the questions of life.

Answer 2

The Sermon on the Mount found in The Bible at Matthew chapters 5-7 is considered by many to be a masterpiece of simplicity on ethics and values which is what philosophy is about.

He introduced a new way of thinking about happiness in chapter 5 verses 1-12. Jesus said those conscious of their spiritual need are happy. He stressed qualities that bring happiness such as mercy, meekness, mildness, and peaceableness.

In verses 21-30 Jesus shows that actions such as murder and adultery start in the emotions of the heart and that one must tear out or cut off these bad thoughts and throw them away.

Jesus gave a new higher standard regarding divorce in that the only grounds for Christians is adultery or fornication.

A higher standard on showing love is stated in verses 43-48 in that Christians should love their enemies as well as those loving him.

In chapter 6 Jesus looks down on those who publicly display their holiness, but a truly spiritual person trusts that God will reward them for their goodness. (vs 1-4)

What to pray for in order of importance is given in vs 6-9. First come the sanctification of God's name, the accomplishment of God's will by means of the kingdom. Then our daily needs and request for forgiveness.

Jesus highlighted the importance of placing spiritual values over material things in vs 19-21. "Stop storing up treasures for yourselves upon the earth where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. Rather, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven... for where your treasure is there your heart will be also.

Living with full faith in God's ability to help us with our needs is stressed in vs25-34 where Jesus sums it all up saying " Keep on, them, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these [other] things will be added to you. Never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties. Sufficient for each day is its own badness." Jesus of course did not mean to do nothing ourselves, but to do our part and God will do His.

Imagine living in a world where no one imputes bad motives on the actions of others. That is Jesus philosophy in Chap 7:1-5 "Stop judging that you may not be judged."

Perhaps the greatest way of summing up Jesus philosophy on relationships is stated in verse 12 commonly called the Golden Rule: "All things, therefore that you want men to do to you, you also must likewise do to them; this, in fact,is what the Law and the Prophets (Hebrew Scriptures)mean."

Finally in verses13-27 Jesus shows there would be only a few finding life, and that one could judge between true and false teaching by observing their works. vs 16 "By their fruits you will recognize them..." And he says the few are the ones hearing his words and DOING them. Having a rocklike foundation those following his philosophy can withstand the rain and floods and winds of trial.

removed blatant deception post

Answer 3

They are kind of inter-related. Ancient Greek philosophy gave the early Christians the vocabulary to describe the experience of Christianity; and Christianity gave Philosophy some ideas it hadn't thought of before. For example, the Christological controversies in the first few centuries (i.e. the arguing about how could Jesus be both God and Man) allowed philosophers to better conceptualize what "having personhood" and "having human nature" meant.

Answer 4

Philosophy and Theology are distinctly different disciplines and are neither dependent nor exclusive of each other. Christianity did not rise into philosophy, or the other way around. That is, a Christian may philosophize while a philosopher ponders Christianity.

Answer 5

Shortly after the resurrection, as Christianity (then called "The Way") was spreading throughout Judea, it was taken to the Hellenists (Greek Jews) where it really began in philosophy.

During Jesus Christ's ministry, Greek philosophers had heard about Him and attempted to ask questions, but couldn't. If they had, the ball would have begun rolling sooner.

Answer 6

Very interesting question. First one must understand that Christianity is not in and of itself a doctrine. Christianity is based upon the doctrine given to Moses by the Lord God of Israel. Christ was Emmanuel, as spoken of by Isaiah the prophet (Isaiah chapter 7). Christ became the one and final sacrifice for the sins of all flesh men/women. He replaced the sacrificial animals as defined in the book of Leviticus (the law) and synchronized both the titles of King and High Priest for the Houses of Israel, under him. Christ became the intermediary for flesh men/women and the Lord God of Israel.

Understanding that, you can now see that the doctrine (the law) which the Lord God of Israel gave to Moses did not change. Levitical law still stands even today.

Philosophy or in its more accurate term Philosophia doctrine, had just started to become well established in the world about the time Christ walked the earth. If you read Acts 17 and Colossians chapter 2, Paul will mention phiosophia doctrine and believers in that doctrine in those two places.

On to answer your question. How has Christianity or better belief in Christ as Emmanuel, affected (more correctly effected) philosophy (more correctly philosophia doctrine). The answer is simple. Belief in Christ stopped philosophia doctrine dead in its tracks and moved the people under the banner of Christ until about 1000 bc, when abuse by members of church systems, caused philosophia doctrine to emerge once again. Today due to the efforts of global soviet subversion, philosophia doctrine stands as the largest single doctrine worshiped by mankind. The final subversion efforts are now going on in the United States and Canada. As soon as these subversion efforts are finalized, expect belief in Christianity and Judaism to become outlawed by the philosophia who run the all powerful "Global State", just as they outlawed it in Russia almost 100 years ago.

The failure will come as Mohammed's believers refuse to take part in the apostasy as well as Christians and Jews. This forced apostasy by the State, will result in the wars mentioned in the book of Daniel, especially the wounded head (Russia - Esau) mentioned in Revelation 13. Russia will be brought to the birnk of destrouction by the ishmalites (Believers in Mohammed) and now allies to Russia. What you are observing in the Middle East, is Russia using soviet active measures (dialectics) in order to gain control of the Middle East oil business. In the end Philosopha doctrine will go head to head and toe to toe with the Lord God of Israel, and Christ and it will loose because the truth will emerge and all will bow a knee to Christ. Philosophia doctine will go into the pit with its initiator, Satan.

Answer 7

One criticism is that because Christianity is based on faith, it has discouraged critical thinking.

Answer 8

Christianity meshed with the Pagan culture which established the Catholic church and all of our major holidays today.