Intoduction to Philosophy

Faith and Reason

Lecture 8

The messiah – Christ

• 5 BCE and 30 BCE

Themes of Christianity

• love and helping the unfortunate. • Taught that Jewish law could be

summarized in terms of loving god with one whole heart and loving ones neighbor as one self.

• Man remained ‘Fallen’ until Jesus was crucified.

• Afterlife – heaven (not official for Jews) – individual salvation.

Jewish religion confronting Greek reasoning

• Philo (20 BCE – 40 CE) • Saint Paul (c. 10-65 C.E.)• Plotinus (ca. 205-269 C.E.)• Saint Augustine (354-430 C.E.)• Saint Anselm (ca. 1033-1109)• Peter Abelard (1079-1142)• Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)• John Calvin (1509-1564)• Martin Luther (1483 – 1546)

Philo (20 BCE – 40 CE)

• Jewish thinker who drew upon the Greeks – Suggested Greeks were inspired by the same

god– Underplayed the miraculous and Jews as

chosen– God is transcendent but related to the world

through logos (underlying structure – Heraclitus)

Saint Paul (c. 10-65 C.E.)

• Made Christianity attractive by emphasizing personal salvation

• Converted to Christianity – knocked off horse – “why do you Persecute me?”

• Interpreted Jesus as the son of god & holy spirit as imparting grace into the hearts of the Christian community

• Grace is key to personal salvation• Interpreted the Crucifixion as atonement for all

human sins

Neo-PlatonismPlotinus (205-269 C.E. )

• The “Good” as the Christian God

• Supreme mind contemplation of itself (Aristotle) –world as overflow - emanations

• The material world is itself spiritual (diff from Plato) – B/C it is the thought of god

• The human soul comes from spirit – already divine

• No problem of evil – just absence of good

St Augustine (354-430 CE)

• Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoW9m-67MME • Evil is absence of good• Early wanton sensuality (aesthetic – Kierkegaard)• Sought solution to the problem of evil• Manicheans – the world is a battle between god and evil - he

became disillusioned• Dedicated to integrating Christian doctrine with platonic and neo-

platonic thought• Plotinus – accepted articulation of levels of emulation in terms of

doctrine of the trinity• Plato - life of contemplation was the only way to knowledge and

happiness• The proper guide to relation - scripture

St Augustine (354-430 CE)continued….

• Thought Greeks described the natural aspect of humanity but not the supernatural – union with god

• Problem of evil – we cannot see the ultimate plan• Intimate share in gods nature – free will• Human beings were allowed to determine their own

actions• The possibility of sin – free will as possibility of overcome

sin – god offers GRACE as well as divine guidance• The soul created “in the image of god” self knowledge is

a way to interact with god.

Muhammad (c. 570-632 CE)

• Muhammad (c. 570-632 CE) - a merchant who retreated and recited from angel Gabriel the Qur’an

• Before Islam they worshiped Jinn (spirits) – Allah as one

• Allah as only god

• Same god as Jews and Christians

Muhammad (c. 570-632 CE)Continued….

• Five Pillars of Islam– Once during life – “There is no God but God

(allah), and Muhammad is his prophet”– Prayer,– Almsgiving– The observance of Ramadan – fasting– A pilgrimage to mecca once in you life

Muhammad (c. 570-632 CE)Continued….

• Almsgiving – charity - Justice

• Jihad (holy war) interior as well as exterior

• Unlike Platonic and neo-platonic views the world is real ad god

• Exoteric – accessible to everyone

• Esoteric – only for those trained and initiated

Mysticism and Zen

– Christian mystic – Meister Eckhardt (c1260-c.1327) – faced charges of heresy – condemned by the pope

– Creation was one with the creator and co-eternal with god

– Al Hallah – Islamic mystic – assassinated for crying “I am God” (922 CE)

– Jewish mysticism – scripture understood at a number of levels

– Kabbalah (literally – Tradition) interpretation of the Torah – theory of ten emulations- Called Sefiroth

– Sufism – refused restricted access to esoteric level

Zen

– Zen – Japanese’s and Buddhism – samurais– Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=XK_4Z5DZcNM – Break down the everyday paths of logical

thinking– Koan – one hand clapping– Meditation – empting ones mind

Reason and faith the peripatetic Tradition

• Arabs encountered Greek Jewish and Christian traditions

• Al-Kinki (ca. 800-866_

• Followed Aristotle

• Accepted Plotinus’s notion of eminations

Ibn Rushd (1126-1198)

• God is not distance

• Actively involved and knowledgeable about our world

Moses Maimonides (1135-1204)

• Doctor – focus on health and the body

• Took Aristotle as foundation

• Organized and systematized the Mishnah

• Famous work: Guide to the Perplexed

• Tried to reconcile reason and religion

Saint Anselm (ca. 1033-1109)

• Acknoleged agustine

• Not enthusiastic about platonic forms or neoplatonism

• Ontological proof for the existence of god – The very concept of something proves that it

exists

Peter Abelard (1079 – 1142)

• Logician

• Philosophy of language

• Theological and philosophical confusions are the result of misunderstandings about language

• Doctrine of names – Words are just names “signifiers”– What they refer to are their “signified”

Realists vs. Conceptualist

• Like Plato and Aristotle

• Realists – There are such universals (ie Cat, Chair…)

• Conceptualists – universals exist only in the mind

Thomas Aquinas (1225- 1274)

• 1 - FIRST MOVER: Some things are in motion, anything moved is moved by another, and there can't be an infinite series of movers. So there must be a first mover (a mover that isn't itself moved by another). This is God.

Aquinas 2

• 2 - FIRST CAUSE: Some things are caused, anything caused is caused by another, and there can't be an infinite series of causes. So there must be a first cause (a cause that isn't itself caused by another). This is God.

Aquinas 3

• 3 - NECESSARY BEING: Every contingent being at some time fails to exist. So if everything were contingent, then at some time there would have been nothing -- and so there would be nothing now -- which is clearly false. So not everything is contingent. So there is a necessary being. This is God.

Aquinas 4

• 4 - GREATEST BEING: Some things are greater than others. Whatever is great to any degree gets its greatness from that which is the greatest. So there is a greatest being, which is the source of all greatness. This is God.

Aquinas 5

• 5 - INTELLIGENT DESIGNER: Many things in the world that lack intelligence act for an end. Whatever acts for an end must be directed by an intelligent being. So the world must have an intelligent designer. This is God.

Martin Luther (1483 – 1546)

• Reformation

• 95 “theses” on Wittenberg cathedral

• Challenged the authority of the church

Reformation

• Catholic Church – Selling forgiveness – what they called indulgences

Luther Drew on Augustine – sinful nature of humanityDid not believe in Aristotle or Aquinas Even reason is corrupted Faith alone is essential to salvationFocus on the inner life

John Calvin (1509-1564)

• Protestants• Insisted on distinction between religious truth

and heresy• Human beings are sinful – even babies • Cannot act apart from gods will – god condones

sinfulness….?• Predestination – God elected those who would

be saved and those who would be damned.• Success in this life became a sign of being

blessed

Protestantsand effects

• American workaholics

• The rise of capitalism – Saving money– Investing

Main points

• Confrontation of reason from Greeks and religion

• Emphasis on logic

• Having a consistent religion

• Gods bizarre relationship with humanity and the world

Main shifts in Christianity

• God is loving and forgiving – not wrathful

• Love of God/Jesus can grant salvation

• God is Immanent – in the world

• Man has remained fallen until Christ was crucified

• Belief in an afterlife

• Focus on individual salvation of the sould