Impact of christianity Essay

Christian dogmas have always been intertwined with philosophy regardless of the fact that most of the time both philosophers and theologians had polar opinions associated with religion and philosophy respectively. The first mentioning of philosophy in the Bible was encountered in the New Testament: See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8) Nevertheless, one of the earliest Christian representatives Tertullian always disagreed with the combination of ordinary temporal philosophical views and spiritual exalted religious dogmas. To the contrary, another religious thinker St. Augustine of Hippo defended the idea of inter-complementation of abstract science and Christian faith only in case of their mutual compatibility. St. Thomas Aquinas made great contribution to the Christianity’s impact on philosophy, as he was the first to distinguish these two important sectors of human perception of surrounding environment. He claimed that o Owing to philosophy information is being received through basic sensory functions: smell, touch, vision, hearing, and taste. Also, it is possible to prove and check the data according to laws of physics initially based on philosophy as well. o Owing to Christianity, information is not something to be proved or argued. It is to be accepted axiomatically especially when it is closely connected with God and Divine. After the Middle Ages the double nature of Jesus Christ (divine and human) was put in doubt and required explicit evidence regarding the origin and function of God. Philosophy could not succeed in answering this question, as the notions of humanity and divinity do not logically coincide with each other. Therefore, certain attempts were made with the help of Christianity to resolve the issue of imbalance. Thus, we need to mention three major reasons why philosophy was isolated from Christianity. ? First of all, philosophers from English-speaking world were predominantly atheists and rejected all spiritual and divine aspects of human activity. They required strong logical evidence and proof for subjects of their investigation and discussion ? Secondly, rejecting Christian dogmas philosophers were constantly seeking alternative ways to find proof for their arguments and new methods and evidences hidden in other religions.? Thirdly, philosophers believed that the language of religion and theology is too incoherent, irrational, and inconsistent that the meaning, no matter how important or of current importance it may be, loses its significance. Philosophical issues that have become Christianized include: ? Trinity: it was no clear for many thinkers why God consisted of three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In the 7th century the Council of Toledo announced: â€Å"we may say God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; but they are not three Gods, he is one God†. Similar to how a solar system may consist of numerous cosmic bodies. ? Sacrifice and atonement: philosophers believed that one punishment is enough to give birth to another, which is not always fair. However, Christianity responded by proving that punishment has moral nature and it is not something that exceptionally deals with evil. In conclusion, we may add that Christianity had a great impact on philosophy since early times. References Moore, N. B. , & Bruder, K. (2004). Philosophy: The Power of Ideas. 6th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities.