philosophy and the Christian faith are inseparable.
INTRODUCTION
The Christian faith and philosophy, though distinct
are inseparable. This was Justin martyr argument in his first apology, and in his
dialogue with Trypho. This view of Justin Martyr of which this paper set out to
discuss was held also by some of the church’s father like St. Augustine of
Hippo, Clement of Alexandra, and St. John Paul II etc. However,
the debate on the exact relationship between the Christian faith and philosophy,
or better still between philosophy and theology still prevail till today as
scholars like Tertullian, William, and Karl Barth rejects Justin martyr’s
argument and argued that there is no relationship between both.
In the cause of this writing, Justin Martyr shall be
addressing the epistemological problem of “how” philosophy and the Christian
faith are inseparable. As a bedrock, first, the terms philosophy, Christian and
faith shall be clarified to form a basic understanding and clarity of thought
in this paper. Also, a brief biography of Justin martyr shall be giving, follow
by an exposition of his argument. This paper shall also bring in other scholars
view on this topic for and against. And thereafter it shall evaluate their
arguments and state my findings as a conclusion to this paper.
What Is Philosophy
Philosophy: It
will be instructive to state here that the term ‘philosophy’ is so problematic
to define objectively; hence, it rejects a univocal definition. Nonetheless, because
of this paper, we shall consider its etymological definition.
Etymologically, the Greek words ‘philo and Sophia’ which formed the compound ‘philosophy’ connotes the love of
wisdom[1]. This
concept shows that philosophy is a means to an end and not ends itself. That it is a human activity that helps to
investigate reality and to search for truth about the true nature of things.[2] It
is more of speculation, the perfection of human intellect through contemplation
by which it enhances ones to clarify things and to know the ultimate causes of
things which are not explicit. It is a gift from God that helps to understand
God and things in general argued clement of Alexandria.
Christian:
The
word Christian which means Christ like is used to designate a set of people who
follows the way of Christ. Hence, it is religion that is centered on Christ. It
has also been believe to be revealed religion that preaches love.
Faith:
The
world faith is derived from the Latin term fides. It is used in two senses;
faith “that” and faith “in.” Faith
(fiducia) “in,” is used to indicate
one trust in God. (Fides), faith “that,”
implies a cognitive state whereby men has knowledge of God[3].
From the above concept of faith in the different senses of, “that and in,” while
“in” implies a commitment of the will “that,” on the other hand, implies truth[4]. Thus,
the Christian faith has to do with trusting in God
Justin
Martyr's Biography
Justin martyr
existed around second century at Flavia
Neapols now Nablus in Samaria, though he was not a Jew neither by race nor
religion. His family was rather of a pagan and Greco roman ancestry. They lived
in Flavia during the reign of Titus. He was well educated and thus very
inquisitive to know the truth. To this, he visited the sophist, stoics, Pythagoreans
and even the Platonist in search for truth and knowledge. He met a man through whom he got converted
into Christianity about 130 AD. After his conversion, he told Trypho that he is
now a philosopher and that he wished that everyone be of the same sentiment as
he did and never spurns the word of God. Justine wrote works defending the
church against its enemies. Among the works of Justin are the dialogues with Trypho,
the two apologies However, Justin was martyred along with six others by
Rusticus.
Justin martyr’s
Conception of Philosophy
Philosophy is characterized by clarification of terms
and a quest for truth according to Justin Martyr. Thus, he defined Philosophy as the knowledge
of that which really exists, and a clear perception of the truth.[5] He believes that philosophy differs from the
Christian faith but in so far, they both tends to the same end, in so far, it
helps to understand the Christian faith, in so far it proclaims what the
Christian proclaimed, it is therefore not separated from the Christian faith.
Justin Martyr on
Philosophy and the Christian Faith
Among the early church fathers, Justin martyr was the
first who tried to reconcile faith and reason, believing that they are not
separated because they both tend towards the same end. Justin argued in his first
apology, that if the Christians teaches the same doctrines that that the poet
and philosophers whom the Romans and Athens honour teach, though in a different
way, it therefore show and prove that the Christian faith is not separated from
true philosophy, for the Christian teachings are more fuller and richer than
the other ones. In chapter 20, he argued for the inseparability of the
Christian faith and philosophy when he wrote,
“For while we say that
all things have been produced and arranged into a world by God-Genesis 1, we
seem to utter the doctrine of Plato; and while we say that there shall be
burning up of things as stated in Matthew 13:42, we shall seem to utter the
doctrine of the stoics; and while we affirm that the soul of the wicked, being
endowed with sensation even after death, are punished and that those of the
good things be delivered from punishment spend a blessed existence-John 11
& Matthew 13:42, we shall seem to say the same things as the poets and
philosophers; while maintain that men ought mot worship the works of their
hands, we say the very things which have been said by the comic poet Menander
and others, for they have declared that the workman is greater than the work.[6]”
In other words, what Justin meant is that, the
relationship between the Christian faith and philosophy is like that of the
mind and body, they are distinct but not separated, that is, what the
Christians professes today is not something new, rather it is something that
philosophers and poets have said severally, hence, there is no way that the Christian
faith can be separated from philosophy. He further argued that even the doctrine of
the immortality of the soul of which himself, and later Augustine believes, is
Plato philosophy. It is Plato philosophy that the human soul is immortal,
unchanging, eternal and therefore live after this world in the world to come.
He said that, as many Christians owns Plato’s
obligation for borrowing his doctrine to clarify their different concepts, so
also does Plato owns obligation to Moses. For Plato borrowed his statement that
God, having altered matter which was shapeless made the world, because these
were the very words of Moses that the first prophet is greater than the Greek
writers; and through whom the spirit of prophecy, signifying how and from the
materials God at first formed the world, spoke thus: in the beginning created
the heaven and the earth. And the earth was invisible and unfurnished and
darkness was upon the face of the deep and the spirit of God moved over the
waters-Genesis chapter 1. And God said let there be light and it was so. The
same words Plato utter, so that Plato and they who agree with him, that by the
word of God the whole world was made out of the substance spoken off before by Moses
shows the relationship between philosophy and the Christian faith.
Justin believes that philosophy is meant for the
Christian faith; we need needs philosophy to analyse the Christian faith so as
to make it understandable to man. He believes that philosophers speak about God
but in different languages from the lay man. While dialoguing with Trypho he
asserted that philosophy sings praises of God, ask questions about God and also
investigates God,[7]
thus, ‘such thing cannot be separated from the object of which it investigate.
Philosophy cannot be separated from the Christian faith’, “for is indeed one’s
greatest possession and is most precious in the sight of God to whom it leads
us and to whom it unites us.”[8]
Thereafter, Justin argued that philosophy like the
Christian faith is not an end itself but a means to an end. Happiness is the
end of the Christian faith, it is the end to which man reflects or
philosophizes, for philosophy is meant to lead us to God, the eternal happiness,
to unite us to God, and hence those who embrace philosophy and applied it to
themselves are holy men and therefore happy men. Furthering his argument,
Justin martyr argued that philosophy like the Christian faith is a gift from
God to man, but however, many people failed to investigate its nature and the
reason for which it was sent to man. For him, if the nature of philosophy was
well investigated in the past, there wouldn’t have been any reason for the
different movements or schools of thought. He thought that many people argued
that philosophy is not compactable with the Christian faith because some people
diversified it;[9]
they give no time to investigate its nature as a means to an end which is
happiness.
Moreover, Justin and the old man in the dialogue both
agreed that, even though prudence is a Christian virtue, man cannot be prudence
without philosophy and logical or straight thinking.[10] Thus
they cannot be separated, but rather, every man should be devoted to philosophy
and should consider it the greatest and the most noble goal or pursuit; all
other pursuit should therefore be consider secondary value, unless they are
connected with philosophy.[11]
Stressing the relationship of philosophy to salvation, he said, “for anything
devoid of philosophy, and are not connected to philosophy with it in anyway, they
then become base and coarse pursuits to those who practice them.[12]”
Additionally, Justin argued and believe that the
contradiction of which many speaks off as the ultimate reason why the Christian
faith seems not have any relationship with philosophy is due to man prior
error, man’s limitation and lack of understanding, for even within the philosophical
enterprises, philosophers poses doctrines and theories that are contrary and sometimes contradict each
other, for instance, Thales ultimate-water cause is contrary to that of
Heraclitus-fire, so is that of Aristotle to that of Plato etc, but if this does
not make their reflection un-philosophical, it therefore implies that
contradiction does not in any negates the relationship of philosophy to the
Christian faith as the hand maid of theology but shows that truly without
philosophy some of the Christian term will remain elusive to clarify and
philosophy on the hand without the Christian faith will run into meaningless
and a perpetual frustration as Blonder noted.
Moreover, while Justin martyr argued that philosophy
is not separated from the Christian faith, he kept insisting on good
philosophy, a philosophy that is true and that can stand the taste of time, a
philosophy that can help understand the Christian faith, a philosophy that is
not influenced by idols of the tribe, market place, cave, and theater but
philosophy that investigate and demonstrate truth. By this, Justin knows that
there were some philosophies that are full of error due to human limitation;
this was why he fined no refuge among the stoics, and the sophist. Referring to Philosophy in
particular, he ob-served that the unique affair of true and genuine philosophy
is to aid man in his quest for knowledge of the Uncaused Cause of all things
Clement of
Alexandra: Among the fathers who held the same view
with Justin martyr was Clement of Alexandria. The work of Clement titled the
Stromata book III shows that Clement believes that philosophy is inseparable
from the Christian faith; hence, he declared that ‘philosophy is the hand maid of theology’. For Clement, it is necessary for
him who desires to be partaker of the word of God, to do philosophy. He argued in contrast to Tertullian, and William, who think that philosophy was
introduced into life by an evil influence, for the ruin of men, by an evil
inventor, saying that “Philosophy is a work of Divine
Providence, evil has an evil nature, and can never turn out the producer of
aught that is good; [13]”.
In another place, he wrote that,
“Even if
philosophy were useless, if the demonstration of its uselessness does well, it
is yet useful. For philosophy is the clear image of truth, a divine gift to the
Greeks; it does not drag us away from the faith, as if we were bewitched by
some delusive art, but rather, so to speak, obtains a common exercise
demonstrative of the faith.”[14] He further argued that, Philosophy came into existence, not on its own account, for
all wisdom is from the Lord, and is with Him forever," before the advent
of the Lord, philosophy was necessary to the Greeks for righteousness. Hence,
it cannot be separated from the Christian faith, for philosophy also is from
God. Philosophy he said was a
schoolmaster to bring "the Hellenic mind," as the law, the Hebrews,
"to Christ." Philosophy, therefore, was a preparation, paving the way
for him who is perfected in Christ.”[15]
However,
while saying that philosophy is inseparable from the Christian faith, Clement
specified the kind of philosophy he meant, saying, “I do not mean the Stoic, or the
Epicurean, but whatever has been well said by each of those sects, which teach
righteousness pervaded by piety, -- this eclectic whole I called philosophy.[16]”
Finally for Clement, the Christian faith and philosophy- are not separable, for
they both came from God but to different groups of people, "and
nothing," it is said, "was made without Him."
Augustine of Hippo: The relation of Philosophy to the Christian faith as conceived by Augustine is one of reciprocal service.[17] Augustine understood the revelation of God in the light of Plato’s philosophy, the idea of immortality of the soul which prevailed in Plato’s works is very much alive in the theology of Augustine. He argued, that philosophical reflection complemented theology, but only when is firmly grounded in a prior intellectual commitment to the underlying truth of the Christian faith. Thus, the legitimacy of philosophy was derived from the legitimacy of the underlying faith commitments. Augustine is asserting that understanding only comes after believing, that reason can only come to knowledge after one partakes in faith in God’s truth. He is echoing the words of Jesus in John (7:14-18), that if one wants to come to knowledge, then faith must be had first. The reward to our faith is to understand; (fides sequm intellectum so if there is desire to gain understanding we should not turn to our reason first but to belief which brings our reason higher, empowering it to gain knowledge.
St.
John Paul II: John Paul II, in his encyclical fides et ratio declared that faith and philosophy
are inseparable. Because they are like two wings on which the human mind rises
to the contemplation of truth. For God has placed in the human mind the desire
to know the truth.[18]
Thus, philosophy
was given to man to understand the faith he was giving, we understood because
we need to understand, we were giving the reasoning faculty which other being
do not have, they have not because they need not to understand, but we need to
understand, hence the reasoning faculty, it remains with faith, because for
understanding of our faith it was giving to us.
Neither
philosophy, nor faith is an end itself, but both are means to an end, that is,
to know and love God.
Furthermore, for John Paul, there is
no reason for competition of any kind between faith and philosophy; each
contains the other. For one of the major concern of philosophy was to purify
human notions of God of mythological elements. Faith asks that its object be
understood with the help of philosophy, fides
sequm intellectum. In other words, Philosophy according to John Paul was
giving to man so that we can answer the questions that are found in the
scripture such as; who am I? Where have I come from? Why is there evil? What is
there after this life? [19]
M. Blondel: Blondel
believes that autonomous philosophy, that is, philosophy separated from the
Christian faith will not be fruitful; hence, it will end in perpetual
frustration. Thus, he argued, faith is a gift from God made possible by Divine
activity in revelation, reason therefore must acknowledge faith, for it cannot
be truly autonomous, for when it follows its own action its driven to
understand that it is intended for the transcendental without which, the
rational action of the human person is doom to perpetual frustration and
ultimate meaninglessness.[20]
Fideism:
It is derives from the Latin for faith. It is an
epistemological theory [21] that negates the relationship between philosophy
and the Christian faith. Its basic doctrine is that, faith does not need philosophy;
philosophy contradicts the Christian faith, thus, they are not
compactable.
According to William Ockham a fideist, “faith does not supplement and perfect reason,
the sphere of faith and philosophy are so distinct that philosophy on occasion
contradict faith, that is, it may be possible to prove the contradictory of
certain dogmas.”[22]
For instance, he argued that the Trinity is contradictory to philosophy. If God
is limited by nothing, and wills at random, then reason has no place in faith
because there is no rationality behind any divine revelation that makes up the
objects of faith.
Karl Barth:
He argued that faith and philosophy contradicts each other. He wrote, if a doctrine
is Christian, then is not philosophical and if philosophical then is not Christian.
Tertullian: Tertullian is
famous for his opposition to reliance on human philosophy for determination of
truth about sacred matters. He argued that the Christian faith does not in any
way needs philosophy, for they are not compactable. In fact, he sometimes
appears to claim that the more outrageous
a belief appears to reason to be; the more likely that belief is the correct
one to hold. Hence, Christians must not seek since everything has been revealed
and even if Christians are to seek, they must seek, knock, and ask, within the
Christian faith. He argued that
philosophy is the doctrines of men and of demons 1 Timothy 4:1 produced
for itching ears of the spirit of this world's wisdom. Again, he said
philosophy is the material of the world's wisdom, the rash interpreter of the
nature and the dispensation of God because heresies are
themselves instigated by philosophy.[23]
Here, Tertullian tells us why faith needs
not philosophy, but however, it is very obvious that his negation of the
relationship were instigated by the philosophy of Gnostics that equate ions
with God, and also, that of the Epicureans that denied life after
death-resurrection and Zeno who equates matter with God.
A
critic of Tertullian–considering Tertullian
argument above, one can easily asks him, that with what did he posed his
position of the incompatibleness of philosophy- reason and faith? Isn’t he
using reasoning? Isn’t he philosophizing and using the very same techniques
used by “unhappy” Aristotle? It is very clear that Tertullian is defending his
argument using the very same reasoning abilities and philosophy that he attacks.
If so, isn't his own practice inconsistent? Thus, Tertullian can be said to
have committed the fallacy of hasty generalization by condemning philosophy on
the bases of the stoics, zeno and Epicurean philosophies.
Evaluation
Philosophy and faith are like the mind and body,
distinct but not separated. Thus, Philosophy should not be separated from the
Christian faith, for understanding of the faith it was given to man, everything
came from God, and hence, philosophy also came from God. Animals need not to
understand, thus they have no need for philosophy, and if we decide not to understand
our faith, and then we become animals. But the fact is, theology or faith cannot
be devoid of philosophy or reason, for those who seek it separated, like
Tertullian will teach heresy since the faith we have are raw materials that
need philosophy or reason to be understandable.
Furthermore, the teleological nature of philosophy
and the Christian faith being the same, that is, search for truth and to know
God the first cause as philosophers called him, and to be happy go a long way
to justify Justin martyr’s argument and therefore makes it very difficult to
argued on the contrary. Furthermore, since the deliverances of the two
disciplines must then coincide, philosophy can be put to the service of
theology as a hand maid (and perhaps vice-versa). To do the aforesaid,
philosophical reasoning might persuade someone who does not accept God based on
the authority of divine revealed religious texts but on the basis of purely
philosophical arguments. And again, philosophical technique can be brought to
bear in helping the theologian clear up ambiguous theological claims as clement
noted. For example, theology might provide us with information that the soul is
immortal, but leave us in the dark about exactly how is to be understood. The
philosopher can provide some assistance here, as Justin did, arguing that if
men believes in necromancy- the evoking of the departed human soul, then human
soul must remain in a state of sensibility after death.
It is true that some philosophies contradicts some
Christians teachings, but it is also true that philosophy over the years has
made the scripture more understandable than as it was before now, and this we
can verify from the homilies and teachings of Catholic priests who were
educated in both philosophy and theology, and if that be the case, it cannot be
a doctrine of demon, for evil cannot produce good. Hence, it can be said that any
contradiction must be merely apparent, since God both created the world which
is accessible to philosophy and revealed the texts accessible to theologians,
the claims yielded by one cannot contradict another unless the philosopher or
theologian has made some prior error. On this, John Paul II wrote, philosophy
and the Christian faith contain each other. For one of the major concern of
philosophy, was to purify human notions of God of mythological elements and to
make the scripture understandable.
Conclusion
There are two
extremes that we must avoid as human person, the use of faith or philosophy alone which is, “either/or” but use
“both/and.” On this, Aldwincke wrote,
“that even those who wish to separate philosophy from theology seem in practice
to find it impossible to let each other alone.” Thus, philosophy remains with faith,
because for understanding of our faith it was giving to us. Therefore,
philosophy and the Christian faith though distinct are inseparable because
philosophy cannot be separated from the object of which it investigates.
REFERENCES
Thomas
B. Falls, “Justin Martyr Dialogue with Trypho Chapter 3,” in The Fathers of the Church (New York:
Christian Heritage, Inc., October 5th, 1948)
Thomas
Falls, “Justin Martyr’s, First Apology Chapter 20,” in The Fathers of the Church (New York: Christian Heritage, Inc.,
October 5th, 1948)
John
Paul II, Encyclical Letter Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason) (1998)
Clement
of Alexandria, Stromata or Miscellanies,
Book 1. Chapter 1, 2, 5, and 7
Tertullian,
Prescription against heretic’s
chapter 7,
R.
F Aldwincke, Is there a Christian philosophy? In Religious Studies, Vol. 2, No. 2 (April, 1967)
Jim
Unah; Lectures on Philosophy and Logic (Lagos-Nigeria: Fadec publisher, 2001)
A. H. Armstrong, An Introduction To Ancient Philosophy, (Westminster, Maryland: The
New Man Press, 1949)
Paul
Edwards, “Philosophy,” The Encyclopedia
of Philosophy Vol. 5&6 1972 edition
Michael
Glazier and Monika K. Hellwig “Faith,” the modern catholic encyclopedia edited,
June 10th, 1994 edition
Rev.
William Conner, The concept of human soul according to Augustine, 1944 January
https://archive.org/stream/conceptofhumanso00oconuoft/conceptofhumanso00oconuoft_djvu.txt
(accessed December 20th, 2014.)
Faith
and Reason, Http/www.sevenoaksphilosophy.org/religion/faith-and-reason.html,
(accessed 20th December, 2014)
W.T.
Jones, The Medieval Mind, 317
[2] A. H. Armstrong, An Introduction To Ancient Philosophy, (Westminster, Maryland: The
New Man Press, 1949), p. 1.
[3] Paul Edwards,
“Philosophy,” The Encyclopedia of
Philosophy Vol. 5&6 1972 edition, p.165.
[4] Michael Glazier
and Monika K. Hellwig “Faith,” the modern catholic encyclopedia edited, June 10th,
1994 edition, pages. 309-310.
[5] Thomas B. Falls, “Justin Martyr Dialogue With
Trypho Chapter 3,” in The Fathers of the
Church (New York: Christian Heritage, Inc., October 5th, 1948),
p. 152.
[6] Thomas Falls, “Justin Martyr’s, First Apology
Chapter 20,” In The Fathers of the Church
(New York: Christian Heritage, Inc., October 5th, 1948), p. 55.
[7] Thomas B. Falls, “Justin Martyr Dialogue With
Trypho Chapter 3,” in The Fathers of the
Church (New York: Christian Heritage, Inc., October 5th, 1948),
p. 152.
[8] Thomas B. Falls, Ibid, p. 148.
[9] Thomas B. Falls, Ibid, p. 149.
[10] Thomas B. Falls, Ibid, p. 152.
[11] Thomas B. Falls,
Ibid, p. 152.
[12] Thomas B. Falls,
Ibid, p. 152.
[17] Rev. William Conner, The concept of human soul according to
Augustine, 1944, January https://archive.org/stream/conceptofhumanso00oconuoft/conceptofhumanso00oconuoft_djvu.txt
accessed December 20th, 2014.
[18] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Fides Et Ratio (Faith and Reason)
(1998), no. 1.
[19] John Paul II, ibid, no. 1.
[20] R. F Aldwincke, Is there a Christian philosophy? In Religious Studies, Vol. 2, No. 2 (April,
1967), p. 236.
[21] Faith and Reason, Http/www.sevenoaksphilosophy.org/religion/faith-and-reason.html,
(20th December, 2014)
[22] W.T. Jones, The Medieval Mind,
317
[23] Tertullian, Prescription against heretics chapter 7,
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