The Church Fathers' Discerning Use of Pagan Philosophy
2:49
Dr. David Bradshaw, professor at the University of Kentucky, reflects on how the Church Fathers approached pagan philosophy with both openness and judgment. The Fathers understood philosophy in its deepest sense as the love of wisdom. For them, true wisdom is not an abstract idea but Christ Himself, the Wisdom of God.
This identification rests on Scripture: Proverbs 8 presents wisdom speaking as God the Word, and 1 Corinthians calls Christ the wisdom of God. Because Christ is wisdom, the Fathers viewed philosophy positively but distinguished Christianity as the true philosophy from false worldly philosophies. They did not reject philosophy simply because it came from the pagan world, nor did they receive it without discernment.
They were selective and discriminating, recognizing that it is almost impossible for any system to be wrong about everything. They discerned good parts in pagan philosophy to use and set aside the bad parts. They tended to find Plato more fruitful than Aristotle. Plato taught the immortality of the soul and, in the Timaeus, described God creating the world out of goodness to share His goodness, which resonates with Christian belief.
Aristotle, by contrast, taught the mortality of the soul and an eternal cosmos, ideas that could not be reconciled with the Gospel. The Fathers used these Platonic ideas in a guarded way and never allowed them to overshadow the Gospel. The Gospel remained the criterion by which every search for wisdom was purified, illumined, and directed toward Christ.
Philosophy never stood above revelation; rather, revelation judged philosophy. The Fathers did not place philosophy above revelation. They allowed the Gospel to become the criterion by which every search for wisdom was purified, illumined, and directed toward Christ.
Key moments
- The fathers understood philosophy fundamentally in a positive sense as love of wisdom, but distinguished Christianity as the true philosophy.
- Within Christian thought, wisdom is identified with Christ, as seen in Proverbs 8 where wisdom speaks as God the Word, and in 1 Corinthians where Paul calls Christ the wisdom of God.
- Because Christ is wisdom, the fathers saw philosophy positively but separated the true philosophy of Christianity from false worldly philosophies.
- They were selective and discriminating: they discerned good parts in pagan philosophy to use and left bad parts aside, since it is almost impossible to be wrong about everything.
- They tended to find Plato more fruitful than Aristotle because Aristotle taught the mortality of the soul and an eternal cosmos, while Plato taught the soul's immortality.
- Plato's Timaeus describes God creating the world out of goodness to share his goodness, which resonates with Christian belief.
- The fathers used these ideas in a guarded way and never let them overshadow the gospel, which remained the criterion to judge pagan philosophy.