Philosophy

At the Root of Division in the Church – Denominational Theology is Rooted in Philosophy, The Nature of Philosophers to Disagree

Did Paul teach worldly philosophy? No, this is what he said about philosophy. Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ. (Col 2:8 WEB) Paul is differentiating here between two philosophies, one that …

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T 1.11 Tradition in Original Christianity, Part 11, Avoid the Philosophies and the Wisdom of the World

God is God of all and Jesus Christ is the central figure throughout Scripture and both are incredibly important in everything a believer thinks and does. Salvation and the power of the spirit in a person’s life allowing believers to have a more than abundant life is a terrifically exciting topic and of utmost importance …

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Philosophy in Christianity – Welcome Addition or Intrusion of Worldly Reasoning? – The Trinity’s Philosophical Basis

This article discusses the controversy over philosophy in Christianity. Remember the point of this website is to see how different doctrines developed over time, and how they compare to original Christianity in order to understand how we got so many divisions and what we must do to restore the church. This article will primarily look …

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Other Greek Philosophies of Note in Ancient Times: Skepticism and Cynicism

In our short study of ancient Greek philosophy we have looked at some of the pre-Socratic’s emphasis on the physis. Then we looked at Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. In the last couple of articles we have discussed some of the philosophies with religious elements like Pythagoreanism, Epicureanism, and Stoicism.  But it is important to note …

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Stoicism

The deaths of Alexander and Aristotle marked a diminishing of the domination of pure Greek philosophy in the culture. In his conquest, Alexander started adopting oriental culture. Alexander married the daughter of Darius and adopted Persian customs such as the diadem and the robe of state. Alexander introduced the oriental notion of the divine right …

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Epicurus

Epicureanism is named after its founder, Epicurus. Epicureanism is one of the philosophies that appeared in Greek culture after the demise of Aristotle. Stoicism was another philosophy that appeared about the same time (we will discuss Stoicism in a future article, but it is important to note that Stoicism and Epicureanism competed in the “cultural …

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Pythagorus, a Pre-Socratic Religious Philosopher, and Also, Mathematician

Pythagoras (Samos, 582 – 500 BC), is famous for his Pythagorean theorem, but in reality, he was a pre-Socratic philosopher who emphasized the metaphysical more than mathematics. In fact, while the first time I heard about Pythagoras was in a math class because of the famous Pythagorean theorem, I spent much more time talking about …

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Paul Wrote About the Lure and Futility of Philosophy

In preparation for studying the apologist movement in the early church I have been studying philosophy more than I ever have. I am starting to understand the lure that philosophy has. If you don’t have any absolute truth that you believe that has been revealed by God that you are only left with whatever you …

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Aristotle

Aristotle is a fascinating individual and acclaimed as one of the greatest thinkers ever. He is the third in a direct line of great philosophers: Socrates, Plato (trained by Socrates), and Aristotle (trained by Plato). Whereas Socrates suffered public condemnation because of philosophy, Aristotle was elevated by King Philip to high social status, and was …

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Plato’s Republic

Plato’s works are considered among the finest of the ancient philosophers, and his “Republic” has been called “the highest point to which ancient thinkers ever attained.”[1] Plato was deeply affected emotionally and politically by the prosecution and execution of his mentor, Socrates. In watching the Athenian democracy at work, Plato was severely disappointed in its …

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Plato

In preparation for this section on ancient philosophy on this website, I basically reviewed four books besides online sources.  Look at the emphasis on Plato in these books:  Chapter 1 of “The Story Of Philosophy” is entitled “Plato”.[1] In the first paragraph on the first page of the book, the first reference to particular philosophers …

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Socrates

The philosophers talked about in the previous article, Thales, Anaximander , Leucippus, and Democritus, are all called pre-Socratic philosophers.  Just the fact that there is a designation “Pre- Socratic” emphasizes the importance at which Socrates’ ideas are placed. Up until Socrates Philosophy focused on the cosmos; the world and everything around it.   Socrates shifted the …

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Why We Must Learn A Little Philosophy In Order To Understand How Christianity Has Developed

We are really being naïve if we think that, as citizens of the modern world, we can easily understand the world of Jesus, Peter, and Paul.  As a young boy in the United States, I was taught to speak English, an evolved form of old Germanic languages, a language somewhat distant from the likes of …

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