Prompt #3

Emma Burry
AP English Language
Mrs. Wilhemlus
August 12, 2013

Christianity and Philosophy?

Some historians believe that the Middle Ages were a time of negativity and inflexibility. Others refer to this time period as an age of growth and I completely agree. It was during this point and time when Greek philosophy was revived by two Middle Age philosophers named St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas.  These men wrestled with the idea of combining Christianity and philosophy and making it acceptable throughout Europe. They successfully achieved their goal and saved ancient philosophy.

      For one, both of these thinkers did not see philosophy as a threat to Christianity. St. Augustine and St. Aquinas could not bare the thought of losing all the ancient ideas to religion, so they decided to combine them. They both pointed out that Christianity and philosophy fell hand and hand at some points and this strengthened their argument. Since the philosophical ideas were no longer frowned upon, this allowed Christians to expand their thoughts on philosophy and helped the movement grow.

      Secondly, these men changed the course of history by saving philosophy. Without the acceptance of philosophy in the Christian world, Christianity would have taken over Europe and left no room for other beliefs. Just imagine how different we would think if people did not question the concepts of life and human thought. If it was left to Christian belief, everyone would think the same way. That would be incredibly boring, but no one would know anything different because the ideas of philosophy would be lost. St. Augustine and St. Aquinas did the world a favor by saving society from monotonous thinking. They also essentially pulled society closer to the top of the rabbit’s fur.

      Aristotle and Plato have St. Augustine and St. Aquinas to thank for spreading and preserving their theories of philosophy. If they had not been brave enough to pave the way for others, Greek philosophy could have been lost as well as some of history. It is a positive thing that two men cared enough about the history of philosophy to save and continue it.