Philosophy in Christian Antiquity

Rating:
Summary: Philosophy in the Christian Church
Review: While many thinkers would like to avoid a syncretism of the philosophical ideas of a given generation with the teaching of the Old and New Testaments, this goal simply is not exemplifed by the way the church has historically used philosophy. Christopher Stead's book, Philosophy in Christian Antiquity, begins with a discussion of the rise of philosophy in Greek thought. After laying the foundation, he shows how the history of the church has used philosophy as a tool to better understand the teachings of the faith.

I think this book is a great reference. It is useful for looking to see ways in which thinkers of the past viewed problems that began in their era, specifically in ways that utilize or make clear what way their philosophical glasses were colored. For instance, Stead covers the use of "hypostasis" and how church fathers interpreted that in light of Greek philosophy.

Stead often suggests problems with some of the views of certain people. One example should suffice. Augustine attempts to solve how evil came into the good world God created by claiming that evil is not a substance or anything that exists, but is less being. Stead has three challenges to this. Are they any good? At the least, they are thought provoking.

For the most part, then, I found this book interesting both because of the historical information and some of the argumentation. Briefly, Stead comes from a more liberal Christian perspective; so, he will say things that traditional Christians would find appalling (e.g., that original sin is false). In fact, in a footnote, Stead comments on how he rejects exhaustive divine foreknowledge. Nevertheless, I think this is a pretty good and interesting book.