Christian Worldview and Socrates

Christian Worldview The author of this brief report has been asked to ponder and consider the words and actions of classical authors such as Socrates and Descartes. With Socrates, it could easily be argued that he behaved and carried himself in a Christian way. Even with that, there are clear divergences between Christian philosophy and classical antiquity and those will be explored. Also up for debate are the subjects of doubt and in what ways Descartes pondered this.

While there is a lot of classical literature that is devoid of Christian mention, there are some principles and standards put forth that are very reminiscent of, and similar to, the Christian mindset and ideology. As for three things that are different between classical antiquity and Christian-based theology, one thing that is clear is that the people of those days obviously believed in a number of Gods and, quite often, the Christian God was not one of them.

Second of all, while there is still a huge amount of distrust and antipathy towards people of differing viewpoints (or religions), it was much higher in the days of Socrates, Plato and other authors of that age. While Christians faced persecution in those days, that has since moderate in much (but not all) of the world. Third, a big difference between classical antiquity and the Christian-based philosophy is that the perspective of Socrates and others was more introspective rather than "pleasing" the gods.

This may seem like a small thing, but Socrates was seemingly very self-sufficient and of his own mind when it came to what he thought and why. The presence and influence of the gods was certainly not irrelevant. Even so, it could easily be that he would feel the same way if he was a Christian or even if he was an atheist/agnostic (ESM, 2011; Bible Hub, 2016; Jackson, 2016). As for the ways in which Socrates was very much a Christian thinker, at least in similarity, is pretty clear.

First, he was very resolute and committed to what he believed. This was true even to this detriment and even if this meant he would be persecuted or even killed for what he spoke of and espoused to believe in. This is right in line with heroes and apostles of the Christian history dialog including Paul, John the Baptist and Peter, not to mention the other apostles. Another reason that Socrates very much matches up with Christian theology is that it was very moral in nature.

Socrates was all about doing the right thing even if it was to his own detriment and even though it might not be what a person with selfish interests would do. This leads to the third similarity and this was his self-espoused deference to others when it came to his morality. For example, if he was about to die and he could save himself by harming or killing someone else, it would be very safe to say that Socrates would never dream of going through with such an action.

He was very much focused on what is moral rather than what was self-preserving or even what was in his own self-interest. He was prepared to die as a man of principle rather than do whatever he could to save his own skin or perceived reputation (ESM, 2011; Bible Hub, 2016; Jackson, 2016). As for what the author of this report has learned in class, there are a number of profound things that the author could point to.

First, while a lot has changed over the three to five thousand years since Socrates and others like him lived, a lot has stayed the same and the general principles of selflessness, standing up for what one believes in and doing the right thing have not changed. Obviously, the context of what is right and wrong and what is possible in the modern world has changed in so many ways. Even with that being the case, right is right and wrong is wrong.

Second, even if the violence and enforcement of persecution has changed and been drawn down a lot, there is still a lot of persecution and prejudice in this world. Christians certainly know this first-hand and this can even hold true within the United States. However, Christians in Egypt, Syria and other places (just to name a few) are literally running for their lives and/or dying for what they believe in just because of white-hot and blind hatred towards Christians.

Indeed, the United States and western Europe are taking on refugees for a reason and anti-Christian sentiment and persecution is certainly one of them, although surely not the only one. The author of this response learned that the danger present and resolve required (whether it be Christianity or other faiths) is still rather high despite the passage of years and what has changed.

This fact makes the author thankful that Finally, it was revealed to the author of this report that even if the time of Socrates was thousands of years ago, he could easily pass for a scholar today even if the culture/time shock would be massive. Even so, he would probably handle it better than most due to his embracing of knowledge, change and scholarship.

The author would absolutely have Socrates on a list of people that could be talked to irrespective of when the person lived, right up there with Da Vinci, and a few others (ESM, 2011; Bible Hub, 2016; Jackson, 2016). As for Descartes and doubt, this is also a very useful lesson. Perhaps this lesson and Descartes in general does not get the same esteem as Socrates, but it is absolutely important. It is important that we realize that so much of our world is perception and presumption.

Sure, we can sometimes get things right but we surely get.