How Greek Philosophy Corrupted The Christian Concept Of God

How Greek Philosophy Corrupted the Christian Concept of God brings profound new insights to the Trinitarian doctrines of "orthodox" Christianity. With clear and precise documentation, the book shows how these doctrines migrated into early Christianity from Greek philosophy. The various aspects of Trinitarian belief are isolated, linked to their Greek sources, and carefully analyzed to show they differ radically from biblical teaching. The writings of early church fathers, portrayed in their historical context, show that during the second century, theological concepts taught in Platonism were adopted as Christianity struggled to end Roman persecution. Emperor Marcus Aurelius, a famous Stoic philosopher, was putting Christians to death because their belief did not conform to the Hellenized religion of the day. The book shows that the early Church Fathers sought to save their people's lives by redefining the Christian God in Greek terms. Their efforts brought metaphysics to Christianity and ushered in concepts like the Trinity. After presenting the historical setting in which these philosophical errors were embraced as Christian doctrine, the book compares orthodox Christian theology today, called "classical theism," to biblical teachings. The book identifies how Greek phillosophy has influenced major atributes of God taught in classical theism. The book constitutes a major challenge to those who accept the tenants of classical theism but do not know the many aspects of their doctrine that are based on Greek philosophy.

This insightful book brings profound new insights to the Trinitarian doctrines of “orthodox” Christianity. With clear and precise documentation, the book shows how these doctrines migrated into early Christianity from Greek philosophy. The various aspects of Trinitarian belief are isolated, linked to their Greek sources, and carefully analyzed to show they differ radically from biblical teaching. The Writings of early Church Fathers, portrayed in their historical context, show that during the second century, theological concepts taught in Platonism were adopted as Christianity struggled to end Roman persecution. Emperor Marcus Aurelius, a famous Stoic philosopher, was putting Christians to death because their belief did not conform to the Hellenized religion of the day. The book shows that the early church fathers sought to save their people’s lives by redefining the Christian God in Greek terms. Their efforts brought metaphysics to Christianity and ushered in concepts like the Trinity. After presenting the historical setting in which these philosophical errors were embraced as Christian doctrine, the book compares orthodox Christian theology today, called “classical theism,” to biblical teachings. The book identifies how Greek philosophy has influenced major attributes of God taught in classical theism. The book constitutes a major challenge to those who accept the tenants of classical theism but do not know the many aspects of their doctrine that are based on Greek philosophy.

Greek philosophy had formed the minds of the educated classes of the Roman Empire for centuries before the early Christians set out to spread their message there. If they wished to gain a hearing, therefore, the language of Greek philosophy was the language they had to speak. This venture was to have a long history and an enduring effect both upon Christianity itself and on the world that it was seeking to convince and convert.

On the synthesis of faith and rational philosophy.

Why do so many American and European Christians struggle with believing for and operating in the supernatural? Many go through a lifetime and rarely if ever see a miracle or experience anything supernatural! The reason is because in the West we have been programmed to walk in and believe in the of the separation of the natural and spiritual realms. This dogma originated around 400AD when strains of Greek philosophy mingled with Western Christianity. Many are ignorant about this influence but follow religious traditions and are influenced by a Western mindset passed down from that time period. In this book we expose the impact of Greek philosophy on Western Christianity! Were you were raised to mostly believe the religious traditions of men rather than what Jesus taught? Would you be interested in finding out where that belief came from and compare it to what the early church embraced? In our travels worldwide, experiencing many different cultures we can see that most Western Christians are more influenced by Greek philosophy than they are by the Bible. In Part I we look at the history of Greek philosophy during the time of Jesus right up to the present. We look at leaders in Europe who were greatly influenced by Greek philosophy and brought that mentality into Western Christianity. In this book we compare the influence of Greek philosophy in Western Christianity to what Jesus and the early church taught, so you can easily make a distinction between the two. We also examine beliefs that came from the influence of Greek Philosophy, such vows of poverty, views on politics, vow of chastity, sex in marriage, views on physical suffering and does God have complete control of this earth! We seek to strike the proper balance and compare it all with what the scriptures say regarding these issues. Don't settle for a powerless Christian lifestyle when you can easily be walking in the power of Holy Spirit, affecting the atmosphere around you for the better. Sometimes we must unlearn and embrace change for the better if Holy Spirit is in it! We often have been in meetings or met people in India and Nepal who have seen Jesus face to face, seen angels and had supernatural encounters that radically transformed them. This can happen in North America and Europe with a renewed mind, that connects both the spiritual/invisible realm and physical/visible realms together as one. God is no respecter of persons ( see Romans 2:11). What He does for one He can easily do for another.

A history of the concept of God through the lens of process thought. Daniel A. Dombrowski explores the history of the concept of God from the perspective of neoclassical, or process, theism. His neoclassical approach assuages the current crisis in philosophical theism, caught between a defense of classical theism and assertions of religious skepticism. Instead, the work offers Charles Hartshorne’s notion of a God who always evolves, quite unlike the allegedly perfect figure of more traditional, and increasingly unsatisfactory, accounts. Dombrowski surveys the classical theists and their roots in ancient Greek philosophy before turning to contributions from the sixteenth through twentieth centuries, ultimately discussing twenty-three thinkers. The key figures in this history are Plato, who ironically provided the philosophical basis both for classical and neoclassical concepts, and three great figures in process theism: Henri Bergson, Alfred North Whitehead, and Hartshorne. The concept of God has a rich past; this book argues that it can have a rich future as well. Daniel A. Dombrowski is Professor of Philosophy at Seattle University. He is the author of many books, including Hartshorne and the Metaphysics of Animal Rights; Rawls and Religion: The Case for Political Liberalism; and A Platonic Philosophy of Religion: A Process Perspective, all published by SUNY Press.

In this classic work, the eminent Catholic philosopher Étienne Gilson deals with one of the most important and perplexing metaphysical problems: the relation between our notion of God and demonstrations of his existence. Gilson examines Greek, Christian, and modern philosophy as well as the thinking that has grown out of our age of science in this fundamental analysis of the problem of God. "[I] commend to another generation of seekers and students this deeply earnest and yet wistfully gentle little essay on the most important (and often, at least nowadays, the most neglected) of all metaphysical--and existential--questions. . . . The historical sweep is breathtaking, the one-liners arresting, and the style, both intellectual and literary, altogether engaging." --Jaroslav Pelikan, from the foreword "We have come to expect from the pen of M. Gilson not only an accurate exposition of the thought of the great philosophers, ancient and modern, but what is of much more importance and of greater interest, a keen and sympathetic insight into the reasons for that thought. The present volume does not fail to fulfill our expectations. It should be read by every Christian thinker." --Ralph O. Dates, America

Although Christian academics such as Dr. Stephen Webb, Margaret Barker, and Richard Mouw classify the Latter-Day Saints as Christian, most ordinary, believing Christians remain unaware of just how very Christ-centered the LDS Church is and what a strong position the church holds scripturally and theologically. Many Christians today have never had the opportunity to consider the numerous Bible prophecies fulfilled by the Book of Mormon, the prophet Joseph Smith, the historic Christian apostasy, and the prophecies of Gods great and marvelous latter-day work, which is a new dispensation to set things rightnamely the restoration we announce to the world. Christians everywhere must be informed about what God has done for them in these times and why it was necessary as we all prepare for the glorious return of our Lord Jesus with a vast host of angels to judge the earth.