The Impact of Christianity over Philosophy

Written by: Kelly L. Hunter

Philosophy has had many influences in it’s time including that of Christianity and philosophy has influenced Christian ideals, beliefs, and thought as well. Many well respected philosophers of centuries past have also had a hand in molding Christianity into the religion that we have come to know in today’s world. One could say that Christianity and philosophy alike would not be what they are today without the other, from the rise of Christianity in the Western world, the impact on philosophy by deep-thinking minds, to principle Christianized philosophical issues.
Christianity was first recognized in the Western world during the early parts of the Fourth-Century when Constantine I granted that there be universal tolerance of religious beliefs and practices (Philosophers of, 2005). During this time period, a revision of Plato’s philosophical beliefs and teachings was created and became known as Neoplationism which had tremendous influence of Christian metaphysics. Plotinus is said to be the great philosopher of Neoplatonism and he believed that if he could ignore the trials and tribulations of worldly issues and focus his attention inward than he would be able to get closer to God, thus obtaining oneness with God.
Plotinus took Plato’s teachings of what he called “Good” and transformed this reality to represent God or the “One” (Philosophers of, 2005). He believed that God was above and beyond anything and everything else in the world. As stated in the text (2005), “God, according to Plotinus is indefinable and indescribable, because to define or describe God would be to place limitations on what has no limits” (Philosophers of, p. 77). Neither Plato nor Plotinus considered themselves to be Christian and with that in mind, they have been said to be the most influential philosophers of Christianity.
The original Christian people in fact started out being Jewish and later branched out from Judaism and started their own separate religion known as Christianity. The Romans did not particularly appreciate the Christian concept and were actually very barbaric in nature. The Romans believed that the Christians were atheists because they did not believe in Roman deities and many Christians were faced with persecution and often-times death. It is clear that even with the harsh times that were encountered by Christians; the belief that something greater exists kept their faith growing.
It is stated in the text that “Eventually, the predominance of Christianity in Europe came to define the framework within which most Western philosophizing took place” (Philosophers of, 2005, p. 77). Most of the philosophers of the Western Roman Empire that came after the time of Plato and Plotinus were in fact Christians. Although Plato and Plotinus are said to be the patriarchs of their time, they were not alone in the influence and development of Christian philosophy. Individuals such as St. Paul and St. Augustine also played major rolls in this development and school of thought.
St. Augustine began his own process of Christian philosophy by transferring Plato’s “Good” and Plotinus’s “One” into the Christian version of the word “God”. According to Augustine, “Time only exists in the mind” and time did not exist before God created humankind. As stated in the text, “It is sometimes said that St. Augustine is the founder of Christian theology” (Philosophers of, 2005, p. 81). Like St. Augustine, St. Paul also contributed greatly to Christian thought by formulating the many Christian doctrines.
Progression happens in every aspect of human life; Christianity as well as philosophy began when individuals started to question life and reality and eventually manifested into something much greater and most likely far beyond what original philosophical minds could ever imagine. Where would we be today if these individuals had not questioned the meaning of time, reality, or even God? The impacts of Christianity over philosophy have been tremendous and have not gone unnoticed over time. Many great ideas and beliefs were developed during the early years of philosophical thought.


Reference

Philosophers of the Hellenistic and Christian Eras. The McGraw-Hill Companies. 2005