Introduction
It may seem that the philosophies of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are consistently distanced from the teachings of Christ. Certainly, the Greek thinkers focused on matters of state and the human responsibility to it, apart from concerns with ethics and morality in broader senses. At the same time, however, it is arguable that the philosophers reflect a great deal of Christ’s messages. As the following examines, the primary ideas of the individual’s relationship with the world, the human obligation to pursue virtue, and the reality of the soul, all expressed by Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, are extensions of Christ’s ultimate insistence on loving one another as the paramount duty of mankind.
Discussion
To understand the connection between Christ and the noted philosophers, it is first necessary to recognize how those thinkers interpreted the world, and consequently created their philosophy as a response to those interpretations. Socrates, of course, is problematic in that much of what is known derives only from Platonic accounts. Nonetheless, Socrates gave the Western world both the Socratic method, which may be seen as promoting man’s understanding of reason as a gift from God, and his interestingly radical ideas of morality. If it is Socrates and not Plato’s voice, the philosophy of his defense of himself in Athens relies on his conviction that his enemies have no correct sense of their souls. This is conveyed in a pagan context, but the connection to Christ is clear; man must turn to what is not of the world to live rightly.
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"Jesus’ Connection to Socrates, Plato and Aristotle".
Similarly, Plato and Aristotle, while focusing on mortal affairs, both insist on something beyond mortal understanding. Plato focuses on father and son relationships, for example, as Aristotle translates that relationship to the citizen and the state. Plato’s is very concerned with practical obligations to attain stature in the world, as Aristotle envisions the ideal state. At the same time, however, Plato’s concept of forms, as with Socrates’ emphasis on the soul, indicates the Christian upholding of the immortal as paramount. All things have an essence apart from their physical reality, and this suggests Christ’s affirming of humanity’s need to disregard the material. Along these lines, a similar connection may be made between Aristotle’s vision of the state and Christ’s teachings. Aristotle is often seen as promoting only the commercial and political advantages of the idea state, but his true belief is that the state must be a “natural” community, in which men exist together to serve their mutual interests. The essential difference between Christ and the philosophers then lies in emphasis, or specific focus. Not Christian, the philosophers have no Christian afterlife to consider, which must redirect thinking as to the innate value of goodness. That lack of Christian belief, in fact, may fully explain a focus on the nature of the state; in a sense, this, and no arena of mortal life, is the proving ground of virtue. Nonetheless, it is also true that, certainly with Aristotle, Christ’s teaching of the need for men to love their neighbors is easily identified in his idealized state.
Conclusion
It is inevitable that the great Greek philosophers before Christ would develop thinking vastly removed from the basics of Christ’s teachings. In plain terms, it was a completely different world. Nonetheless, connections are evident, and if only because the expansive mind will find its way to considering matters beyond the scope of known reality. Consequently, the philosophies of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, addressing the human relationship with the world, the need to pursue virtue, and the reality of the soul, reflect Christ’s ultimate insistence on caring for others as the paramount duty of mankind, which translates to obedience to God in the process.
