As seen in previous articles (Stoicism, Why We Must Learn A Little Philosophy In Order To Understand How Christianity Has Developed) the Greek term “Logos” was a term that was used by different philosophies and religions to describe God and how God worked. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, but as we have seen […]
Logos is a Commonly Used Word in the Old Testament Read More »
There are not as many tools for working with the Septuagint as with the KJV or the NIV. There is a concordance listed on Amazon, but it is expensive and written in Greek. If you want to search for a word in the LXX you can use the excellent free resource, the E-Sword program. The
How to Use the E-Sword Program to Search the Septuagint Read More »
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
Other Greek Philosophies of Note in Ancient Times: Skepticism and Cynicism Read More »
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
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
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
Pythagorus, a Pre-Socratic Religious Philosopher, and Also, Mathematician Read More »
We find in the gospels numerous places where Jesus instructed on prayer. Jesus taught us both how to pray, and how not to pray. And some of his instruction on prayer appears contrary to human nature. For example, in these next verses, we see Jesus telling us to pray for our enemies, and those that
Jesus Taught Men To Pray Read More »
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
Paul Wrote About the Lure and Futility of Philosophy Read More »
Aristotle was a voluminous writer. I own a volume entitled THE BASIC WORKS OF ARISTOTLE. It is about 1500 pages, and has works on logic, nature, the heavens, the soul, the history and nature of animals, metaphysics, ethics and politics. Because this site is focused on Christianity I have chosen to look quickly at Aristotle’s
Aristotle, A Peek at his Writings Read More »
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
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
“Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.”[i] This quote illustrates the fact that if we don’t know the mistakes that people have made in the past, we can quite easily make similar erroneous decisions. It should be noted, however, that some things in the past were not errors, and are actually better
“God in America” or “Church and State in the United States”? Read More »
And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.[Matthew 21:22] Introduction The Limits of Believing What Did Jesus Teach? More Examples of Jesus’ Teaching of Miraculous Believing Jesus Rebuked Those That Didn’t Believe Jesus Marveled at and Praised Those That Believed Miraculously The Challenge of Believing Miraculously Conclusion Introduction Believing
Jesus Taught Miraculous Believing Read More »
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
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
Historians place the beginning of philosophy about the sixth century B.C. About this time a series of men, Thales, Democritus, Anaxagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and so forth, began challenging the teachings of the pagan religions on the origins of life and the best ways to live it.[1] They saw flaws in the mystical explanations of
The Origins of Philosophy, the Love of Wisdom Read More »
One of the things that set Jesus apart from the beginning of his Ministry was the authority with which he taught: They were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as having authority, and not as the scribes. (Mar 1:22 WEB) This verse sets up a simple comparison between the teaching of Jesus and
Jesus Taught With The Right Kind Authority, The Kind That Delivered People Read More »
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
In the last couple of posts, we have been talking about Luke chapter 4. Jesus States His Mission and Jesus – “No prophet is acceptable in his own country” are valuable teachings that we have already seen in this chapter. But there is another teaching, this one by example, that is illustrated here. Look at
Jesus Quietly Passed Through Those Trying to Kill Him Read More »
In the previous post, Jesus States His Mission, we read in Luke chapter 4 where Jesus read from a scroll of Isaiah and declared that the words he read there were his mission, and that he was the fulfillment of that prophecy; “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me
Jesus – “No prophet is acceptable in his own country” Read More »
In Luke chapter four Jesus stands up to read in the synagogue and reads from the scroll of Isaiah: He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed
Jesus States His Mission Read More »
Continuing with the pattern that we saw in Clement’s epistle there are again no Scripture references to New Testament epistles in either the long or short versions of the epistles by Ignatius deemed to be genuine. In fact, there are no Scripture references at all in the short versions. In the long versions, as we
01.2.5 Ignatius Epistles Still only Call Old Testament Scripture Read More »
In the epistle of Ignatius to the Romans, chapter 11 is called “Chap. XI. — Avoid the Deadly Errors of the Docetae” But it is in chapter 7, Let Us Stand Aloof from Such Heretics, of The Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans that Ignatius is known for his harsh criticism of sects that did
01.2.4 Ignatius – the First Apologist of the Early Church Fathers Read More »
Perhaps one of the first teachings that Jesus gave was by example: And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led in the Spirit in the wilderness during forty days, being tempted of the devil. And he did eat nothing in those days: and when they were completed, he hungered.
How Jesus Responded To Temptation Read More »
The more you look at systematic theology the more complicated it gets. There are hermeneutics, Christologies, eschatologies, and numerous other studies in it that get very involved, to the point it becomes very difficult to weigh all the various nuances. In contrast to all those intricate topics, in Jesus, as seen in the gospels, we
The Study of Jesus’ Teaching Read More »