Plato: A Key Contributor to Modern Christianity
Did you know that the main inspiration for one of modern Christianity’s foundational assumptions is Plato?
You heard that right.
It isn’t the Bible, Jesus, the early Christians, or even first century Judaism. It was the Greek philosopher Plato. And that certainly doesn’t bode well, because Plato was a complete nutball.
It’s from Plato that we get the idea of the Philosopher-King as the perfect government man could have. In other words, he was an advocate of tyranny and dictatorship. Plato, like most politicians today, thought that nearly everyone (except himself, of course) was a complete and total moron and therefore didn’t know how to take care of himself.
To add to the list of bad ideas, he proposed the idea of fiat currency, saying that the money used by the state should be “of no worth amongst the rest of mankind.” We can see how well funny money is working out for the United States.
He also liked the idea of limiting freedom by outlawing the private ownership of gold and silver. FDR, an enlightened individual himself, took a nice cue from his fellow elitist and decided to enforce similar lunacy almost as soon as he took office.
Plato’s ideas have infected much of our modern era. But what crazy idea of Plato’s has contributed (infected) Christianity?
Our whole concept of heaven.
The idea that this world doesn’t matter, and is ultimately transient. That the only thing of any real eternal significance is our souls that will live on in eternity in some kind of disembodied, postmortem bliss. This current life is only a practice run for the real one after we die. This world is corrupt and horrible.
And since this second life is the better one, a true paradise, death is to be welcomed.
According to Plato, we are all part of the same one being who exists in this other dimension we will return to when we die. We should long to return to this state of being.
This is what most pagans believed before and during the first few centuries AD, based on the teachings and traditions passed down by Plato, Homer, and other writers.
So we must ask ourselves why the Christians were persecuted if they believed essentially the same thing as everybody else. The most likely answer, of course, is that they did not believe as everyone else, but held to drastic, fundamental world-view changing beliefs. And these beliefs had very little to with the “soul”, which is an almost foreign concept (in the way we moderns think about it) throughout the Bible.
As NT Wright so eloquently puts it, to the first-century Jews who made up the majority of the early Christians, such a concept would have made as much sense as a “Cadillac in a camel train.”
On the contrary, the Bible continually stresses the importance and inherent goodness of creation. God made it after all. And while currently it has been corrupted, it will one day be redeemed.
Death is not to be welcomed or colluded with. It it the key enemy of creation, of life itself, the ultimate corrupter.
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Personally, it doesn’t seem to me that Plato was a for-runner to what we know as Christianity. He, like many others, seemed to have been enlightened by something more than his own intellect. What is interesting is how well his teachings and many others’ teachings about life and the eternities coincide. We’d all be better off if more of us thought for ourselves like Plato and found answers for ourselves, rather than confining ourselves to what are cultural norms and generally accepted ideas. I have nothing but respect for Plato.
Thanks for this nice sharing related to Modern Christianity…….
do you even do research or just opinionate
I hope nobody takes this article seriously? The author of this article is writing on ignorance and opinion. No offense but please learn your facts. Plato was for the best of everyone. A philosopher-king had to study virtue for about 40-50 years before he could be recognized amongst the Philosopher-kings. And it wasnt a tyranny or a dictatorship there were MANY Philosopher-Kings who were only interested in the contentment and success of the state. Even the Philosopher-Kings lived like the common people. Luxury was forbidden because any form of luxury would lead to enslavement of the mind for more possessions. But like i said there were MANY PHIL. KINGS who all had been trained in virtue for decades.
Next the idea that Christianity got its own ideas from Plato? Please sir. I bet Plato was on the mountain with Moses giving him the ten commandments too right? Christianity is founded on salvation through the death of God, the son of God as a man for our sins. Plato Plays no part in any specification of christianity. GET REAL. Almost every religion has a “heaven” or believes in a soul. I hope the author of this article didnt get paid to write it. Im embarrassed for him/her.
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Before leaving another comment, perhaps you should actually read the article first.
Of course Christianity didn’t get its ideas from Plato, but later Christians were heavily influenced by the gnostic thinking represented by Plato.
And please name some of these “philosopher-kings.” I guarantee you nearly every one was also a tyrant. Or are you one of those people who argues that Augustus was not a tyrant?
“there were MANY Philosopher-Kings who were only interested in the contentment and success of the state”
Naive at best.
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Plato was a Philosopher? an idealist? meaning he had and IDEA of a perfect society. His ideas were never lived out. Yes, fascism and communism derived from Plato’s ideas, but because they were altered by men like Hitler and Stalin who took out only the parts of Plato’s philosophy which offered power and control of a states citizens. I am a Lockean Philospher. I believe in limited government control. Freedom and Liberty. But to say that Plato was an advocate of Tyranny and Dictatorship is ignorant. Plato says straight up that tyranny is the worst form of government along with Oligarchy and Democracy. Have you even read excerpts from the republic? or do you do your research on wikipedia? lol
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When i say “there were MANY Philosopher-Kings” i am talking about in Platos ideal republic, not in actual history. It was based on having many men in the highest class of society, so that if one were to die it would be an easy transition. Plato was against war states because he had grown up in chaos. And as you might have guessed back then when a leader of a country/state died it was pandemonium.
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Plato’s ideals inherently lead to a tyranny. If I say I’m against teenagers texting while driving, but then advocate free cell phones, unlimited texts, and no punishment for texting while driving, it makes my “bold” stance a little presumptuous. Of course Plato meant well. Most people do. That doesn’t stop them from advocating crazy theories.
“When i say “there were MANY Philosopher-Kings” i am talking about in Platos ideal republic, not in actual history.”
You have a weird way of confusing lofty ideas with reality, as you make clear in your clarification. You all but admit that your bold declaration has no basis in reality, but then backpedal. If I tell you that “no puppy has ever died, and butterflies have painted every rainbow in the sky” you would be right to call BS. But then if I said in response: “Dude, I’m just talking about my ideal world. It’s based on losing a lot of puppies and wondering about rainbows. What’s your problem?”
The article is about reality, and what is. Not about how some people might wish it was. If you want to talk about points in the actual article (which it still seems you haven’t read) be my guest. Please correct me where I’m wrong in the thesis of the piece. Don’t try to split hairs and convince people you’re smart and well-read. Talk about the gnostic influence on Christianity that has a straight line to Plato’s philosophy of forms.
Its axiomatic that Plato was an Idealist. I don’t claim to be smart or well informed; just more informed than you. Plato wrote on idealism. Someone who knows anything about Plato knows that those are the grounds you speak on when you talk about him in a political context. It’s sad i had to break it down for you.
I’ve already pointed out to you that Plato’s ideas about a “heaven” and a “welcomed death” don’t limit or even contribute to christian religious beliefs. I suppose you ought to do more articles on how Plato directly affected Muslims, Jews and Native Americans.
I apologize for my first post. It was a bit harsh. My conflicting beliefs shouldn’t nourish insulting comments. I hope you did get paid for this article, because i enjoyed our conversation. (not saying i agree with you) lol
Goodbye.
I am interested on your take of Paul in Philippians 1:21-24 when he says his desire is to depart and be with Christ.
Philippians 1:21-24 is, along with 2 Corinthians 5:6, is one of the few places where Paul hints at an intermediary stage. But, death is not the end. Being with the Lord in some kind of disembodiment is not the end.
The Resurrection is still to come. So going to be with the Lord is not the ultimate goal.
Also, in Philippians, Paul is writing from prison and very likely is facing eminent death yet again, so he is showing the Philippians the confidence a Christian should have that death is not the end. It’s sting has been taken away.
Did you ever consider the fact that Jesus didn’t read Plato, but rather Plato simply prefigured the worldview and teachings of Jesus?
Yeah, pretty much your description of Plato’s beliefs is that of modern day Leftists. There is no Jewish concept of the soul — and Jesus talked of resurrection of the body. The Hebrew word translated as “Hell” in the Old Testament is more accurately translated as “Grave” — which has some pretty important implications.
Absolutely!
And when Jesus’ words are translated as hell, he’s really saying “Gehenna”, which also has some pretty important implications.
Hasn’t anybody heard of the parable of ‘The Rich Man and Lazarus’? Jesus didn’t just tell his story in a figurative matter. They were the Truth because He is the Living Word. Heaven and hell do exist, and our spirit goes to one or the other after earthly death. Resurrection is referring to when our physical bodies will be rejoined with our spirits, and we don’t have to worry if our bodies were cremated or by some cruel act hacked to pieces. Anyways, no matter if the view that we ’sleep’ until our bodies are revived might be true, the outcome is still the same so I don’t think there is really anything to worry about as far as that goes. There are in fact two books that I found at Wal-Mart that tell the story of one person that was literally taken to Heaven and saw everything and then God sent him back to write about what he saw. The other book was about an experience in which a man went down and witnessed Hell first-hand and was also brought back to his earthly life to write a book about it to tell others. I haven’t had a chance to research either of them, so I can’t say for sure the exact details, but maybe it would be something that others would want to look into.
Thinking that heaven is the ultimate destination has severe implications to how Christians act in the here and now. We have already seen it in our retreat in the culture. We throw up our hands and say “To hell with this world, we’re just going to heaven anyway”.
The scriptures say otherwise.
I agree that heaven exists but as for the existence of hell, the Bible does not support that. In fact, it says in Romans 6:7,23, “He who has died has been acquitted from his sin… for the wages sin pays is death.” How can you be punished for something in an eternal place of torment when you have been acquitted from all sins? You can’t. Georges Minois even said that Plato was the one who had the greatest influence on traditional views of hell in his book Histoire des enfers (The History of Hell). As for the two books at Wal-Mart, look up Colossians 2:8. Then think back to the story of Lazarus. If God wanted someone to write a book about their seeing heaven or hell, wouldn’t he have included it in his word and perhaps used Lazarus or any of the others who were resurrected to do so and if Lazarus really would have ascended to heaven then wouldn’t it have been cruel for Jesus to bring him back to Earth? He made sure that all that we needed to know is in the Bible. We don’t need any other book(s). If you really want an in depth study of the Bible, talk to Jehovah’s Witnesses. They only teach from it because it is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16). They also don’t allow Platonic thinking or “traditions of men” to cloud their teachings. (Colossians 2:8)
The antidote to Plato is Aristotle.
Amen to that!
Yes, i agree that we need to be wary of how we live here, environment and whatnot. But Jacob has a point: there is a heaven and hell. And if we do not welcome death, than we fear death, and that is a fear that the enemy can use. We die and go to live with God. Then, at the end of the world, Heaven and Earth become one, our earthly bodies and heavenly souls become one. So, basically, heaven is not the final destination, but it is a really nice waiting room.
That’s not true. I neither welcome nor fear death. I both enjoy this time on earth and look forward to the afterlife. To welcome death is to show a great deal of contempt for this world God made us, and as such it is to show a great deal of contempt for God’s creation, and for God Himself.
Not the way I see it. You’re entitled to your own opinion, but to me, Death is like a visitor. It’s gonna come over to your house sometime, you don’t know when, but when it gets there, you can either welcome it into your house, or slam the door in its face, but it’s coming in anyway. You don’t have to look forward to the visit, but you need to welcome it anyway. Besides, it’s not contempt for this world, it’s just looking forward to dancing with our Father God in the fields of grace.
It just is what it is. Both fearing death and welcoming it are ways of denying life. Death is part of life, but to welcome it means you don’t love life, either. This is the problem in Islam among certain groups right now. Those who are in and support al Qaida welcome death — actually welcome it — and they do so because they do not value life. To welcome death is to not value life; to fear death is to fear the unknown and it is to show a lack of faith in God, who promises us an afterlife.