Medieval Philosophy: New Concepts from Biblical Revelation
While Christian philosophers make use of many concepts used by the Greeks, adapting them to a new vision of reality (being, beyond, causality, soul, immortality, virtue, happiness, etc.), they also incorporate new ways of understanding the world, the fruit of biblical revelation.
1. Monotheism
Christian monotheism, based on the Bible, demonstrates the rationality of the existence of one God. The problem of whether there is one or more gods was addressed in Greek philosophy. The Bible unequivocally presents a totally transcendent God, making it impossible to deify anything else. It criticizes polytheism and idolatry. “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14). Being is the proper name of God, who alone truly is. His very essence is his existence, and He is the only being whose essence equals his existence: the pinnacle of Christian philosophy.
2. Creation
According to the Greeks, the cosmos originated from eternal matter sorted at random (pluralists, atomists), or by the intelligence of a demiurge (Plato), or a first unmoved mover (Aristotle), or a pantheistic logos (Heraclitus, Stoics). The Bible, however, speaks of the creation of the world by God, by his very will to create, from nothing: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). We are, therefore, introduced for the first time in the history of philosophy to a creator God who creates and gives life. To create is a radical action; it is to make something from nothing.
3. The Contingent World
God, in addition to giving existence, preserves the world at every moment. The world remains always “touched” by contingency. The world depends on a God who is not a mere thought or idea, but the freedom of someone who wills it. Our existence, our being, is dependent on the Being.
4. A New Divine Providence
The theory of nature is changed from Greek cosmocentrism to Christian anthropocentrism. The Greeks conceived of a universe with life and soul. Now it will be man, created in the image and likeness of God, who will receive God’s assignment to rule over the earth. From the Greek concept of Order (Socrates), the Bible introduces the loving care of a personal God for each person.
5. God as Supreme Legislator
God commands man what he must do, giving him commandments. Virtue is to obey God; the worst evil is to disobey Him through sin. The best example of obedience is Christ, who obeyed unto death, even death on a cross. The moral man is the man of goodwill.
6. A New Order of Moral Values
According to Christians, God loved man first and gave his life for him. He calls us to love, giving a new commandment: to love everyone, even our enemies. The Beatitudes show a revolutionary way for that time: a clean heart, an attitude in favor of the poor, the sick, prisoners, etc. Christ, therefore, requested that we deny ourselves and give our lives for others.
7. Immortality and Resurrection
The soul was a Socratic term, already present among the Pythagoreans and highly developed by Plato and Aristotle. The immortality of the soul was also defended by the Platonic-Pythagorean tradition. Christian tradition, however, asserts something far more daring: the resurrection of the dead. This involves the survival of the soul and the resurrection of the body. This was a sign of contradiction and an obstacle to many conversions of Greek philosophers after Aristotle.