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judaism vs christianity vs islam
judaism vs christianity vs islam
compare and contrast religion and philosophy
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By the 5th century philosophy was well developed by several logicians and philosophers but as its reach spread from the eastern world to the west issues arose that had to be addressed. For most western societies Christianity had a strong hold and was not allowed to be tampered with or contradicted. Never the less, people were in search for faith and truth which philosophy could help them discover. Thus began theologians from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions attempting to blend and balance faith with philosophy.¹ Many theories from philosophy seemed to add logical backing to religion helping to create an even more concrete belief as proven by many, especially Augustine of Hippo; however, like any religious movements there were combatants …show more content…
He did this through an essential notion of “I believe in order that I may understand” ³ as to say that philosophy is only truly valuable to a person that already has faith in their life. Augustine was able to build a foundation on the belief that a person could actually use sense and reason (as presented through certain philosophy) to gain a better understanding of the world and help in the pursuit of deepening one’s faith. With this credence he also argued against some forms of philosophy such as Stoicism due to their over the top optimism.4 Augustine, as a deeply Christian man, very much believed in the evil and sin of men so he could not support a philosophy that cast doubt on that. Despite this, he found so much more within philosophical beliefs to strengthen his faith and intelligently prove it to …show more content…
Augustine answered this question with even more, somewhat perplexing, philosophy. Using rules of time he stated that because God is eternal he is not in the realm of time therefore our time does not exist at God’s level. This is to say that a person has free reign over their choices and actions because “they are nothing more than features of our limited minds” 6 and God’s knowledge of what person will do has no control over their choices or even their moral duty. Augustine was able to use philosophy to support and answer many of the deepest questions within the Christian
Although Augustine grew up knowing about Christianity, as his mother, Monica, was a devout Christian, he spent much of his early years indulging in worldly pleasures until finally converting to Christianity at the age of 32. This is unlike Perpetua in the fact that she became a member of the faith at a young age, against her father’s wishes while Augustine chose to rebel against Christianity. The fact that Augustine’s mother was a Christian who urged him to also convert is also contrasting from Perpetua’s story, as is apparent by Monica’s reaction upon her son telling her that he is no longer a Manichee, but still not a Christian. In Augustine’s words, “she did not leap for joy . . . for which she wept over me as a person dead but to be revived by you [God].” Therefore, Monica was saddened by the fact that her son was not a Christian, while Perpetua’s father was distraught over the opposite, her decision to be a Christian. Once Augustine had finally converted to Christianity, he interpreted his faith differently than Perpetua had. He believed that God is good and humans are also by nature good, but that “free will was the cause of our doing ill.” To him, being a Christian meant that he must not use his free will for evil, that he must resist the urge of temptation and follow God’s path of goodness. While Augustine believed in sacrificing desires of the flesh for God, there was no emphasis in his time on giving up his life for his religion as it was in Perpetua’s. These dissimilar qualities between the lives of Perpetua and Augustine are the effect of Christianity’s movement from a secretive, minority faith to a legitimate, national
And then adopted the one who he laid down his life for into his own bloodline of God’s Children. Therefore, instilling in them his own great love for humanity and making them have the very necessary thing to keep them from sin, love for humanity, charity. Augustine’s conundrum is definitely in this author’s opinion solved using the arguments he made showing how love conquers even
...fer temporal goods (such as our body, health, beauty and so on) over goods of the will (such as knowledge and virtue)—inordinate desire’. The way we undergo these acts is by our own free will. Because we do not allow our minds to control the irrational parts of our souls and to perceive the eternal truths/ form/ being/ God, we sin; we allow our minds to be enslaved to inordinate desire. In other words, Augustine argues that we often turn away from the eternal truths, or the ethical truths, towards non-being which is evil because of temporal things. He says that evil lies in one’s intention, and not in their actions because one does evil as a result of their love for temporal goods; we misidentify the goods of the will (virtues) with temporal goods (wealth, honors, pleasures, physical pleasures and everything that a person cannot acquire of have simply by willing).
St. Augustine recognized that the solution to the problem of evil could be found in the definition of "evil." The aforementioned logical premise was rooted in the supposed notion that evil was a thing and what Augustine set out to prove was that evil was not, in fact, a thing and therefore had not been created by God. In order to reach the desired conclusion, Augustine had to show that there was evidence proving the existence of God. This proof was required for yet another premise - if ex...
...and finally the vision. In this vision he was in a Garden and saw a child chanting for him to “pick it up and read” and there he began reading St. Paul's Epistles, which revealed the truth that he had been searching for. He realized that, “ Only a God who made himself "tangible", one of us, was finally a God to whom he could pray, for whom and with whom he could live (Chadwick, 1992).” He now knew that God, who at once seemed so distant, has made himself near him and even just like him. His first step to conversion was becoming baptized. He now had a different look upon evil; he knows that evil has no substance. Through the journey and figuring out the truth, Augustine learned that evil is the result of the misuse of free choice through rational thinking.
Why does St. Augustine seek God? Through his Confessions we come to understand that he struggled a great deal with confusion about his faith, before finally and wholeheartedly accepting God into his life. But we never get a complete or explicit sense of what led Augustine to search for God in the first place. Did he feel a void in his life? Was he experiencing particular problems in other relationships that he thought a relationship with God would solve for him? Or perhaps he sought a sense of security from religion? A closer analysis of the text of St. Augustine’s Confessions will provide some insight into these fundamental questions.
7-12- Again Augustines thoughts on God reflect that of the religious teachings of his day, namely those of the Neoplatonists. For example he refuses to speculate on how the soul joins the body to become an infant and even follows Plato when he suggests that this life could possibly be some kind of “living death”. He then goes into an examination of his infancy, which he depicts as a quite pitiful state. He described himself as a sinful and thoughtless creature who made demands on everyone, wept unceasingly, and gave everyone a hard time that took care of him. Though very brutal in his self examination, he later states that he does not hold himself accountable for any of these sinful acts because he simply can’t remember them.
Firstly I want to cover what Augustine wrote about free will and God. Augustine describes God as a omnipotent and all-knowing being. He also states that “God knows all things that will come to pass, and that we do by our free will whatsoever we know and feel to be done by us because we will it.”. I fully agree with Augustine when he says this, and it's not to
In conclusion, Saint Augustine’s life is a good example of the concept of reading, conversion and memory, which we can use as a guideline for the quest in finding God. As we saw through out the book, Saint Augustine went through many processes of reading, conversion and memory. He not only went through these conversions in an academic way, but also in a religious way. He went from not believing in God to reading the Bible, reading Platonian books and Cicero’s Hortensius. It was after reading these literatures that he began to believe in God and went through a religious journey to understand God and Jesus Christ. It was during this journey to understand God and Jesus Christ that he used his memory to remember things he read and how they relate to what he was trying to figure out at the time.
It is interesting to note that many of Saint Augustine's concerns about time around 400AD are the same as we have today. For example, Augustine was puzzled about the nature of the distinction between the past, the present and the future. He was also concerned about the nature and status of the apparent flow of time.
Philosophy is believed to have begun in the sixth century in ancient Greece. In fact, the word "philosophy" is the Greek term for "love of wisdom" (Pojman). After notable minds of the Ancient World such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, by modernist standards, original thinking ceased for many centuries. Throughout the following period, later known as the Middle Ages, the world was dominated by dogma of the Catholic Church. Scholasticism allied with severe punishment for heresy prevented rationalization outside of religion. Descartes was the first to bring philosophy to its "Renaissance" (Strathern 7-9). He questioned the reality of everything, including God. Though he was a devout Catholic, and later proved the existence of God mathematically, he founded and popularized the concept of questioning that which is taught.
..., the closer he was really moving toward God. He began to realize that God is all good, so nothing he creates will be of evil. “God does not create evil but it is of the world” (Augustine 230-31). Once he took responsibility for his personal life and spiritual walk, Augustine began to uncover the truths to his life. He reveals one must take responsibility for their actions and confess to develop a stronger connection with God. He then comprehends; God allows bad things to happen in your life to show you that you need him. Evil is not a lesser good, but it is a reflection of ones moral well-being. In order for one’s well being to be saved one must confess their sins to Christ.
When first looking at the relationship between philosophy and religion, I found it easier to explain the differences rather than the similarities. I began this paper the same way I do others. This generally involves a profound amount of research on the topic at hand. However, in contrast to the other papers I have done, the definitions of philosophy and religion only raised more questions for me. It was fascinating how the explanations differed dramatically from author to author.
Overall, the transition or the development between the three stages of philosophy differs by reason and faith. Ancient philosophy focused on faith and reason versus Medieval and Modern philosophy has a separation between reason and faith. The main theme of the development of “Western Philosophy” is faith and reason. In the conclusion of this paper, I already discussed the development of Western philosophy, and the historical standpoint of the how philosophy became what it is
Western philosophy has three fundamental eras. These are the ancient era, medieval era, and the modern era. The ancient era mostly incorporates the works of Roman and Greek thinkers, some of whom were influenced by mainly by the developments in Mesopotamia and Egypt. During the ancient period, Greek philosophy was dominant and most creative. The Romans also contributed their part, but they were primarily building on what the Greeks had come up with earlier. The Romans did not add any substantial part that could give them the recognition of Greek caliber. Medieval philosophy was heavily reliant on Christianity. It did have el...