The Historical Development of Philosophy

Christian Philosophy

Patristic Philosophy

The central point of the religious worldview during this period revolves around the traditions concerning the person of Christ and His teachings. At the heart of these teachings is Jewish monotheism; its strength, elevating it above other contemporary religious perspectives, lies in the trust in God’s love and mercy, and the hope for the future that fills the souls of its followers, making them indifferent to the vicissitudes of external life. As this religious worldview increasingly spread among educated circles familiar with ancient culture and science, it entered into interaction not only with various co-existing religious perspectives but predominantly with Greek philosophy, which dominated the education of that time. Thus, in the new religion, concepts such as "Logos" and "Nous" appeared, being adopted as kindred to its own philosophical worldview, and were transformed as needed. Other ideas were also incorporated, though their position within Christian thought was less clear. The Platonic doctrine of ideas, Neoplatonic concepts of emanation, Stoic ethics, and Aristotle’s monotheism all formed a philosophical content that, in some elements, was akin to Christian notions, while in others, it appeared dubious or contradictory. The divergence from ancient philosophy and the interaction in which Christianity, either in agreement or opposition, found itself with philosophical doctrines became one of the key factors in the development of dogma. This interaction led the Church’s teachings to take on a dogmatic character, and church teachers increasingly felt the need, like philosophers, to formulate their beliefs in scientific propositions.

This relationship between Christianity and contemporary philosophy imbued it with the character of a cultural religion in the best sense of the term, a religion that did not simply emerge from universal and natural religious sentiments, as was the case with natural religions, but from the interaction of these sentiments with the most significant factors of the broader culture of the time. Christianity’s nature as a cultural religion is further expressed in that the development of its doctrines of faith occurred not solely in constant conflict with hostile cults and philosophical doctrines but also through internal struggles within the Christian community itself. In this internal strife, the influences of ancient philosophy played a particularly significant role. These influences often gave rise to views that conflicted with the Church’s established teachings, leading to the formation of sects within the Christian Church. In contrast to this discord, a prevailing need for unified religious guidance emerged within the Christian community from the earliest times, initially through the personal influence of prominent Church Fathers, later, after Christianity became the state religion, through the influence of the state, and finally, when the Church gave itself an independent organization, through the authority of the Church itself. This significant fact, aside from its implications for the ecclesiastical community, held great importance for the development of the Church's dogma-forming activities, imparting a unified direction, regardless of the diversity of individuals involved, toward a common goal. The fundamental tendency, from the very beginning, which animated the Church’s dogma-forming work, even in its philosophical content, becomes fully clear when viewed in relation to the influences of various strands of ancient philosophy and their continuous expression in the disputes between Christian sects.

In full alignment with this stands the overall character of philosophical thought in the Patristic period, as manifested in the dogmas that triumphed over opposing views. Contrary to all tendencies aiming to rationalize the content of faith or render it into a contemplative, imaginative mystical form, the main current of philosophical thought during this period consistently sought to maintain the absolutely mystical character of the doctrine of faith. Faith could neither be comprehended by reason nor portrayed in contemplative forms of imagination. Orthodox doctrine opposed both rationalist and fantastical-mystical interpretations, asserting a purely mystical stance. Rationalist attempts, as well as encouragements toward fantastical mysticism, were products of the influence of ancient speculation. During the early centuries, rationalism found its chief foundation in Aristotelian philosophy, which, due to its monotheism, was akin to the Jewish concept of God. It also drew on certain Stoic views, which, in many respects, harmonized with Christian ethics. Fantastical mysticism, detached from Eastern religious cults, found its roots mainly in Neoplatonic philosophy and the related views of Christian Gnostics. Orthodox doctrine, standing in opposition to these divergent tendencies, denied both rationalist understanding and fantastical contemplation, establishing an utterly mystical, incomprehensible, and non-contemplative idea. By doing so, it assumed a philosophically original character distinct from the aforementioned currents of ancient philosophy. This originality, however, lay not so much in a definite positive thought as in its negative stance toward both rationalism and fantastical mysticism. In this struggle, it became evident that these opposing trends, at their core, were more related to one another than either was to pure mysticism, which occupied a middle ground by refusing all comprehension and contemplation. Rationalists were more likely to accept fantastical explanations than to concede the complete rejection of explanation altogether. Hence, Tertullian's famous phrase "credo, quia absurdum est" (I believe because it is absurd), which aptly characterizes this tendency of the Patristic period, is directed both against rationalism and fantastical mysticism. In one of the most influential sects diverging from orthodox teaching, that of Arius and his followers, both rationalist and fantastical motives were visibly at work. But since every final establishment of dogma followed the same direction that led to the exclusion of Arianism from the Church, this demonstrated the internal consistency and unity of the philosophical character of the Christian religious system.

On the foundation of this pure mysticism, Christian philosophy progressively resolved the fundamental problems of religious metaphysics: cosmological, theological, and ethical. Natural religions universally addressed the cosmological problem through myths of the world’s creation, in which creation was understood as the formation of an initial primordial substance—chaos. This idea is also reflected in Plato’s mythico-philosophical teaching of creation, as outlined in the "Timaeus." Neoplatonism replaced the notion of chaos with the doctrine of the world’s emanation from the Divine, whereby matter became the product of a creative act, which, however, was still perceived as a sensory process requiring the assumption of intermediary entities between the purely spiritual essence of God and the physical world. Conversely, Aristotle’s doctrine of the world’s eternity, transferring the boundlessness of divine existence to the world, upheld a purely rationalistic view, eliminating the concept of creation altogether. These views were already reflected in the early stages of Christian philosophy, with the concept of emanation appearing in the teachings of Gnostics and the ideas of Clement of Alexandria, while the notion of the world’s eternity was found in Origen's doctrine. However, within the Church, the doctrine of creation ex nihilo (creation from nothing), first established by Irenaeus in the second century, ultimately prevailed—a purely mystical concept, opposed both to the notion of creation as contemplation and to its rational understanding. This doctrine elevated the idea of God, making the process of creation more powerful and beyond human comprehension.

In a similar manner, the Church addresses the theological problem at hand. Central to this issue is the relationship between God and those mediating essences that Christian faith acknowledges, in accordance with its origin in the teachings of Christ — particularly Christ as the Logos, and Nous, the Holy Spirit. On the one hand, we see the reemergence of ideas defended by Gnosticism and later Arianism, concerning emanation, which, in the notion of mediation, are clearly akin to the Christian worldview. According to the Gnostics, Logos and Nous were created by God before the world itself. In this sense, they form subordinate entities, distinct from God Himself, standing between Him and the world. This doctrine is thus often called "subordinationism" or the doctrine of "homoiousios," meaning similarity of essence, rather than equality.

On the other hand, many Christian sects embraced a related doctrine akin to Aristotelian and Jewish monotheism: "Monarchianism," the teaching of the unity of God. According to this teaching, Christ is either considered a true man or Logos and Nous are regarded as distinct forms of manifestation of the one God. These various attempts to resolve the theological issue were finally displaced by the acceptance of the Nicene Creed in 325 AD, under Saint Athanasius. This creed proclaimed the equality of essence, or "homoousios," of the three persons of God, while maintaining their distinction — a unity in distinction, which eludes both contemplation and rational understanding, yet meets the religious need to preserve the equal significance of all three concepts. It opposes both their fusion and the diminishment of each’s religious dignity. It is no coincidence that the man who chiefly defended this understanding of the Trinity, Deacon Athanasius, was not one of the Church's learned scholars; in his struggle for the dogma, he was guided purely by his religious intuition, without any philosophical interpretation.

Similarly, the controversial question regarding the two natures in Christ, divine and human, related to the issue of the three persons of the Deity, resolves itself in the same manner as the Trinity. Both natures form a single essence. They are united in Christ: He is both God and man simultaneously, not one or the other, and yet fully both.

The third and practically most significant religious problem is ethical. After many failed attempts to resolve it, a solution was found in the philosophy of Augustine. His doctrine of redemption presents this solution in a form that is utterly incomprehensible, for it unites the religious need for humanity’s dependence on God with the equally compelling desire of the soul, aware of its guilt, to feel responsible for it. These two contradictory notions can only be reconciled through purely mystical means. Augustine resolves the issue by preaching the original freedom of man, lost through the Fall, which, as original sin, continues to act against human will. Thus, sin and forgiveness through divine grace are revealed as transcendent processes outside the human soul: sin because the individual, from the very beginning, falls into it through humanity’s Fall; grace because it is bestowed through Christ’s redemption, without any merit on the sinner’s part.

This solution seeks to satisfy the religious need by providing the most profound expression of the consciousness of sinfulness as an obligation before God, an expression unattainable by any rational interpretation. This is clearly demonstrated in Augustine’s dispute with Pelagius over the doctrine of redemption. Pelagius’s idea—that the sinner, having actively participated in sin, must also take part in its redemption through good deeds—is rationalistic. Here, we see the direct application of concepts drawn from human relations of guilt and retribution to the Kingdom of God. Augustine’s teaching, on the other hand, is mystical, for it completely rejects any analogy with earthly relationships and, by attributing absolute significance to both human sin and divine mercy, provides the most intense religious expression of these realities.

Because Augustine's problem, concerning human nature, is not as transcendent as the theological and cosmological problems, his theological contemplation, more vigorously than that of earlier thinkers who addressed these issues, turns to strictly philosophical questions. His reflections encompass psychology, questions of thought and will, the sources of knowledge, and the motives of human action, and these are considered apart from their religious significance, as empirical questions. Thus, while his system holds exceptional importance for theological contemplation during the patristic period, it also incorporates ideas that played a leading role in the future development of philosophy. Augustine’s thoughts, some of which were adopted again in the early stages of modern philosophy, result from his transformation of philosophical concepts by adapting them to the Christian system of belief. In this great teacher of the Church, still deeply imbued with Hellenistic education, we see the culmination of the positive interactions between the Christian system of belief and ancient philosophy.

Through Augustine, the philosophical elements that are internally related to the Christian worldview are mainly employed in the service of Christian education. At the same time, well-known philosophical concepts undergo significant transformations and further development under the influence of Christian ideas. Among all the systems of Greek philosophy that influenced Christianity, Platonism holds the foremost place, as it is most closely aligned with Christian perspectives. Augustine's philosophy, in particular, reflects a renewal of Plato’s doctrines, especially his theory of ideas and his views on the state.

From Plato’s theory of ideas, Augustine directly adopts the notion of the supramundane and prototypical nature of ideas, which harmonizes well with the Christian worldview. However, in merging it with the Christian idea of creation, he makes these ideas the thoughts of the Creator before the act of creation. In the Divine, creation is prefigured from eternity. Thus, ideas become purely spiritual content. To some extent, this prefiguration was already foreshadowed by the concept of emanation in Neoplatonism. Yet, the nature of ideas as purely spiritual thoughts of God could only become fully apparent under the influence of the Christian doctrine of creation. Thus, Augustine’s concept of ideas occupies a middle position between the purely objective meaning of Plato’s ideas and the purely subjective meaning they hold in modern philosophy. In Augustine, ideas are initially subjective, then objective, and finally, in the process of concept formation in the human mind, they become subjective once more. In forming concepts, we think the Creator’s ideas; in God, thoughts exist before things; in us, they exist after things: it is only through contemplation that we become aware of them.

The altered significance of ideas also brings about a transformation in the concept of the soul. The meaning that Plato assigns to the soul, as a creative intermediary essence, a force mediating between the realm of ideas and the sensory world, no longer aligns with the concept of absolute creation that dominates the Christian worldview. More in keeping with this worldview is the notion that the soul, as the foundation of our thought and knowledge, is one of those ideas conceived by God before creation. Thus, souls become independent substances, entities contained within the creative intellect of God. Consequently, the very nature of the soul undergoes a change. The soul is no longer, as in Platonic philosophy, the animating principle of the body, or, when applied to the cosmos as the world soul, the animating principle of matter itself. Instead, the soul is a thinking essence. Hence, of the faculties of the soul distinguished by Aristotle based on its role as a life principle, only nous, the thinking soul, remains. However, as a thinking essence, the soul is bound to individual self-consciousness; therefore, the notion of a world soul has no place in this system. The soul is a self-aware entity. For this reason, Augustine, in order to substantiate the spiritual nature of the human soul, starts from the self-certainty of thought, much like Descartes would later do. In this way, the modern concept of the soul was established, which, though temporarily cast aside by scholasticism under the influence of Aristotelian philosophy, once again became predominant in philosophy at the dawn of modernity. Of course, by this time, the concept had already taken on the intellectual form encapsulated in the definition of the soul as a "thinking essence," a characteristic that remained a defining feature of the concept for many centuries.

Another significant element of Platonic philosophy, renewed in Augustine’s system through its adaptation to the Christian worldview, is the doctrine of the state. Plato conceived of an ideal state in which the wise, the philosophers, are the rulers. In the Christian Middle Ages, the philosopher is the cleric; hence, the Church sees its role as fulfilling all that Plato demands of his state: ensuring the spiritual well-being of citizens, overseeing their education and moral life in this world, and preparing them for the life to come. Thus, Plato's ideal state expands into a universal state encompassing all of humanity. The Church becomes the Civitas Dei. Unlike Plato’s state, however, this divine city is not founded by men but by God Himself; the earthly state is subordinate to this divine kingdom. In accordance with its divine origin, the Church is eternal and boundless, whereas the secular state is temporary, limited in space, and national in character.

In his work The City of God, Augustine combines his reflections on the relationship between the divine and the worldly state with a philosophical survey of universal history—a philosophy of history. When compared with the inquiries of the ancient historian Polybius, this philosophy sheds light on the universal worldview to which the concept of the Church leads even in this field. Augustine’s historical overview encompasses all the nations of the earth, giving a place even to paganism. However, the true sphere of world history, the purpose guiding the entire course of events, is formed by the history of Judaism and Christianity. Its central point is the coming of Christ, in relation to which all that precedes it serves as preparation, and all that follows as fulfillment. In this exaltation of the Church, which makes it the chief aim of all state and public life, Augustine’s Civitas Dei had as profound an influence on the future understanding of the Church’s external mission as his work on the reformation of dogmatic theology had on the internal content of religious thought. If the organization of the medieval Church in many respects resembles Plato’s ideal state, it must not be forgotten that, in addition to the historical conditions of the time, there was also a direct influence from Plato’s teachings on the ideal state. This influence must have played a significant role in Augustine’s formation of his doctrine of the state and his Christian philosophy of history, given his background in Platonic philosophy.