Over thousands of years, the human race found ways to enlarge their knowledge from the curious animal that distinguishes the human mind, through trade and migration which resulted in communicating creative thought. The ancient Egyptians excelled at building and engineering temples and pyramids; the ancient Chinese built The Great Wall of China; the Greeks produced great philosophers, mathematicians, and astrophysicists; and the Babylonians wrote the earliest law or code known as the Code of Hammurabi and made progress in 'astrology'. All human beings need to worship; a fact recognized by the British atheist Richard Dawkins. Historically, man is the only creature that asks himself about himself. Since Christ was born in a Jewish milieu, he spoke the language of his countrymen: Aramaic which constitutes an older form of Syriac. The Apostles went to many places outside Judea including Egypt, Antioch, Greece, and Rome. St. Thomas the Apostle is believed to have preached to Indians in the Far East. The Greeks influenced the early Christians in articulating the Christian faith in their language and culture. By the time the Apostles Peter and Paul reached Rome, the Roman empire had already conquered the known world. The dominant philosophy was that of Plato known as neo-Platonic. St. Augustine, for example, had to write his philosophy in neo-Platonic terms. As is already evident, scholars need to use the language and philosophy of the time for their students to understand and expand upon. Specialization in different sciences today still requires to be addressed in a language understood by scientists and students of the same field. In America, sciences are taught in English. In France, the same sciences are taught in French. The neo-platonic Augustinian philosophy was the dominant philosophy in Europe until St. Thomas Aquinas made his reform teaching what he found good in Aristotle's philosophy without abandoning St. Augustine's. Thomism was accepted by the pope and made a major school of thought taught in Catholic universities. With the change of time, language, and culture new forms of philosophy appeared - some of them challenged the teachings of the Church. However, as always, the Church responded through her theologians. Christian scholars and teachers today attempt to integrate good views from different sources in history, economics, anthropology, ethics, business and marketing where it makes sense to apply in a Christian outlook.
Monday, April 16, 2018
Evangelizing the Secular Mind
An article published by Crisis Magazine in 2018 gives Christians an example of how knowledge of the truth is passed and articulated by scholars in different times. The author, Gavin Hurley, is an Assistant Professor of Writing at Lasell College in Newton, Massachusetts, USA. The article can be found here: https://www.crisismagazine.
Over thousands of years, the human race found ways to enlarge their knowledge from the curious animal that distinguishes the human mind, through trade and migration which resulted in communicating creative thought. The ancient Egyptians excelled at building and engineering temples and pyramids; the ancient Chinese built The Great Wall of China; the Greeks produced great philosophers, mathematicians, and astrophysicists; and the Babylonians wrote the earliest law or code known as the Code of Hammurabi and made progress in 'astrology'. All human beings need to worship; a fact recognized by the British atheist Richard Dawkins. Historically, man is the only creature that asks himself about himself. Since Christ was born in a Jewish milieu, he spoke the language of his countrymen: Aramaic which constitutes an older form of Syriac. The Apostles went to many places outside Judea including Egypt, Antioch, Greece, and Rome. St. Thomas the Apostle is believed to have preached to Indians in the Far East. The Greeks influenced the early Christians in articulating the Christian faith in their language and culture. By the time the Apostles Peter and Paul reached Rome, the Roman empire had already conquered the known world. The dominant philosophy was that of Plato known as neo-Platonic. St. Augustine, for example, had to write his philosophy in neo-Platonic terms. As is already evident, scholars need to use the language and philosophy of the time for their students to understand and expand upon. Specialization in different sciences today still requires to be addressed in a language understood by scientists and students of the same field. In America, sciences are taught in English. In France, the same sciences are taught in French. The neo-platonic Augustinian philosophy was the dominant philosophy in Europe until St. Thomas Aquinas made his reform teaching what he found good in Aristotle's philosophy without abandoning St. Augustine's. Thomism was accepted by the pope and made a major school of thought taught in Catholic universities. With the change of time, language, and culture new forms of philosophy appeared - some of them challenged the teachings of the Church. However, as always, the Church responded through her theologians. Christian scholars and teachers today attempt to integrate good views from different sources in history, economics, anthropology, ethics, business and marketing where it makes sense to apply in a Christian outlook.
Over thousands of years, the human race found ways to enlarge their knowledge from the curious animal that distinguishes the human mind, through trade and migration which resulted in communicating creative thought. The ancient Egyptians excelled at building and engineering temples and pyramids; the ancient Chinese built The Great Wall of China; the Greeks produced great philosophers, mathematicians, and astrophysicists; and the Babylonians wrote the earliest law or code known as the Code of Hammurabi and made progress in 'astrology'. All human beings need to worship; a fact recognized by the British atheist Richard Dawkins. Historically, man is the only creature that asks himself about himself. Since Christ was born in a Jewish milieu, he spoke the language of his countrymen: Aramaic which constitutes an older form of Syriac. The Apostles went to many places outside Judea including Egypt, Antioch, Greece, and Rome. St. Thomas the Apostle is believed to have preached to Indians in the Far East. The Greeks influenced the early Christians in articulating the Christian faith in their language and culture. By the time the Apostles Peter and Paul reached Rome, the Roman empire had already conquered the known world. The dominant philosophy was that of Plato known as neo-Platonic. St. Augustine, for example, had to write his philosophy in neo-Platonic terms. As is already evident, scholars need to use the language and philosophy of the time for their students to understand and expand upon. Specialization in different sciences today still requires to be addressed in a language understood by scientists and students of the same field. In America, sciences are taught in English. In France, the same sciences are taught in French. The neo-platonic Augustinian philosophy was the dominant philosophy in Europe until St. Thomas Aquinas made his reform teaching what he found good in Aristotle's philosophy without abandoning St. Augustine's. Thomism was accepted by the pope and made a major school of thought taught in Catholic universities. With the change of time, language, and culture new forms of philosophy appeared - some of them challenged the teachings of the Church. However, as always, the Church responded through her theologians. Christian scholars and teachers today attempt to integrate good views from different sources in history, economics, anthropology, ethics, business and marketing where it makes sense to apply in a Christian outlook.
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