Tag: Greek metaphysics

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Aristotle and his impact on Christian theology

If you understand Aristotle’s views on God, metaphysics, philosophy, and the cosmos you’ll better understand Christianity.  Specifically, you’ll better understand the doctrine of the Trinity, why Christians had the false interpretation of the cosmos (geocentric) for 1500 years, and other errors that were incorporated into a Christian world view.

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After all, Greek thinking spread into the Roman world when the Romans conquered Greece.  Roman leaders had Greek slaves teach them and their kids mathematics, philosophy, astronomy, and all other areas of knowledge.

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After Jesus’ resurrection, Christianity spread into a Greek world.  One that believed in things just the way Aristotle did centuries before.  Eventually, Roman leaders persecuted Christians who believed in ideas contrary to the accepted Greek views.

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Jews and Romans labeled Christians polytheists for belief in 2 Gods (Father & Son).  This persecution continued on and off until Christians embraces Greek philosophy, defining God and Jesus being one (2 persons, but one being) and of the same substance.

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Greek medicine has been largely rejected.  So has Greek astronomy.  A Greek view on God’s nature has persisted, however.

Aristotle had many brilliant ideas for his day.  He debated non-believers and laid out proofs for God’s existence.  Aristotle had a theory for nearly everything.  He was correct on many things, but mistaken on many others (including theological, medical, and astronomical concepts).

Many of these errors were adopted without reservation by the educated and a very significant institution:  the Roman Catholic Church.  Nobody at the time conceived the Greeks were wrong.  Indeed, these ideas were held up and propagated for centuries.  These false ideas — geocentricism, Greek medicine, and others — were not rejected till the Scientific Revolution.

A short  12-minute summary:

From Christian Wheaton College.  This is very dry.   Joseph Smith makes it much simpler.  He saw two resurrected beings.

More detail:

 

LDS scholar, Barry Bickmore, discusses the transformation of the Hebrew/Jewish organization into a more Hellenized version of Christianity:

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Removing Greek Philosophy from Christianity

The Trinity is neither implicit nor explicit in the Bible.  Triune, triunity, or similar words and concepts are never mentioned or referenced in the Bible.  They’re not Hebrew concepts.  They’re completely Greek in nature.

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This Christian (not LDS) leader, Joel Hemphill, summarizes this way:

“Scripture, Plato,  Aristotle played perhaps equal roles in developing Trinitarian views and Trinitarian doctrine.”

Mr. Hemphill was a pastor for decades before determining in 2005 that the Trinity was not true.  Though we don’t agree on his concepts relative to Jesus (Joel feels Jesus isn’t divine), Joel does speak the truth about the Trinity and Greek philosophy.

He continues in the video below:

“It was from these (Greek) foreign sources, not Jesus himself, that the doctrine of the Trinity, the incarnation, and related conceptions grew.

We have also observed that the specific metaphysical vehicle used to express the classical doctrine of the Trinity was a Greek metaphysics that was viable in that time, but no longer makes a great deal of sense to most people today…”

The speaker and the attendees understood the implication:  their concept of God was corrupted.

Like LDS people, Unitarians don’t believe in the Trinity.  This Unitarian in the video below makes solid points.

In contrast to this speaker, however, LDS folks believe Jehovah was a pre-existent Jesus.  Unitarians think God the Father was Jehovah and is/was the only God.

Though we disagree on many points, this person still makes valuable points about the Trinity.

This third video is another Christian (Unitarian) speaker.  Again, not a Latter-day Saint.   His talk is entitled, “The Five Major Problems With the Trinity.”  He provides more detail than the 2nd video above.

Latter-day Saints don’t agree with everything a Unitarian does or we would join their faith.  But we can relate and accept their position relative to the Trinity.

  1. Jesus was a Jew who believed as other Jews.  Jews didn’t believe in the Trinity.   ***  speaker quotes Deut 4:35, which LDS people interpret differently                       –  not a declaration of absolutely no other God or deity, but one of greatness   –  similar to Isaiah 47:8:  “besides me (Babylon) there is no other” (fall of Babylon predicted; other cities existed, but Babylon was being praised as great
  2. The Trinity is never explained.  A priori assumptions allow for some pulling together here and there, but the Trinity is never explained as a principle.
  3. No Jew who converted to Christianity ever challenged the Trinity (lack of controversy).
  4. God is always addressed using singular personal pronouns (you).  God is always spoken of using singular personal pronouns (he).  God almost always speaks using singular personal pronouns (except the four “us” texts when God is including others in an action; and when God speaks to angels and heavenly councils)
  5. Jesus is not all-knowing.  Jesus didn’t know “that day or hour” in Mark 13:32.

Bart is an atheist, but an outstanding scholar: