Greco-Roman Traditions

The intellectual traditions of the Greco-Roman world posed serious threats to Christianity and Islam. Greco-Roman traditions taught and emphasized logic and reason and observed the natural world to find answers, where Christianity relied on faith and belief. In some ways Christianity and Islam adopted various philosophies from the Greek world, while severely rejecting others. As a whole, we can identify which ways Christians such as Tertullian or Saint Augustine and Muslims such as Avicenna addressed Greco-Roman learning. We can also infer how they would have responded to Charlemagne’s forced conversions and enthusiasm for classical learning.

Greco-Roman intellectual traditions threatened teachings of Christianity and Islam. Greco-Roman traditions revolved around pagan works, the search for knowledge by observation and questioning, as well as operating off of logic and reason while working through rhetoric and dialectic argumentation. Philosophic traditions and mentality did not fit with Christian and Islamic views, and were originally thought to be capable of corrupting the young. Early Christians also believed that Greco-Roman philosophies and methods would lead Christians to doubt scripture and ultimately undermine their own faith. The challenge that some Christians and Muslims faced differently, was adapting Greco-Roman traditions to fit Christian and Muslim faith. It had to follow teachings and abide by requirements of the faith, it could not question or even challenge Christian or Muslim teachings, and it had to accept the Church’s “dictums” regarding the existence of God. Most notably, it had to accept the belief in creationism, the ultimate mission of Jesus, as well as the purpose of life and death. This challenge proved...

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...trongly rejected any and all Greek values and traditions, would oppose this educational renaissance, in his belief that it will undermine Christian faith.

In conclusion, history has proven that many Greco-Roman traditions and philosophies have survived the test of time. Even though early Christians such as Tertullian denied and denounced integration, thinkers such as Clement of Alexandria and Saint Augustine saw the benefits of combination and integration of Greek principles into the Christian faith. The Muslim world, led by Avicenna, proved to have benefited greatly by the works of the ancient Greeks, fueling a “golden age.” Even through forced conversions into Christianity by Charlemagne, Greek thought and philosophies proved constructive during the Carolingian Renaissance, as education and understanding of classical Greece helped govern and improve an empire.