"The School of Athens": Raphael, 1509-1511.
LOVERS OF WISDOM CHRISTIANS AND THE RIGHT USE OF PHILOSOPHY by Adam Chandler
“W
hat does Athens have to do with Jerusalem?” This was a question posed by the early Christian theologian, Tertullian. Paraphrased, we can understand this to mean: “What does Greek philosophy have to do with Christianity?” Athens, after all, was the historic centre of Greek philosophical thought, while Jerusalem is the city where our Lord died and rose again. The question is rhetorical. Tertullian was basically warning that Christianity should have no fellowship with non-Christian philosophy. The fear was that these Greek philosophies might confuse or even dominate Christian thought and life. In fact, Tertullian saw this philosophy as the source for several heresies in the Church. For example, the theology of Platonism—the dominant philosophy in Tertullian’s day— eventually became confused with Christianity and helped give rise to a heresy in which the Father was seen as the source of all things, while the Son was understood to be a second god.
Later philosophical schools would similarly introduce other damaging heresies into the church. Philosophy can be dangerous, but even Tertullian, for all his concern about philosophy, didn’t reject everything about it. He uses basic philosophical reasoning and argumentation to uphold Christianity in the very book in which he warned against using Greek philosophy. In the same way, we too rely on philosophical principles as we go about our lives and articulate our Christian faith. Whenever we try to make sense of the world and our place in it, whenever we use logic and reason, we are doing philosophy. Over the centuries, Christianity has sought to discern which philosophy is helpful for developing theology and which is harmful. The Platonic theology in Tertullian’s day led to heresy; but Platonic approaches to logic and ontology (the study of being and existence) have proven helpful for Christians as we seek to understand certain concepts in THE CANADIAN LUTHERAN | September/October 2023
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