Lecture 4: The Bible and Boethius

Today's Lecture

I. Common Ground: Plato, Aristotle & the Bible
II. Common Ground: Bible & Plato only
III. Common Ground: Bible & Aristotle only
IV. Distinctive Elements of Biblical Worldview
V. Boethius: synthesizing Christianity and philosophy
VI. Introduction to Aquinas

I. Common Ground: Plato, Aristotle & the Bible

1. The world is teleologically organized -- full of systems with built-in purpose.
2. Human nature exists and is knowable by us. (The law written on the heart -- Rom 2:14-15)
3. There are absolute, universal values, grounded in human nature.
4. Acting morally, virtuously is an indispensable component of happiness (blessedness).
5. Knowing and contemplating God is the highest human good.
6. Human beings have an immaterial component (the soul).
7. To fulfill their true natures. human beings are in need of discipline, training and restraint. (The 10 commandments, the Sermon on the Mount)
8. God (a perfect, self-sufficient, eternal intelligence) exists.
9. Humanity is the highest form of life on earth (Gen. 1,2: created in God's image, commissioned to subdue the earth).

1. Human beings survive bodily death (it is uncertain what the mature Aristotle thought about this).
2. Actual human societies tend to fall far short of the ideal. (According to Plato, because of the recalcitrance of matter; according to the Bible, because of the misuse of human freedom, i.e., the Fall in Gen. 3; cf. Romans 3:12-15)
3. The creation of the world by a supreme intelligence (according to Aristotle, the world is eternal, uncreated).
4. One can be supremely happy, even when persecuted and mistreated, so long as one attains righteousness.

1. Human beings consist of a unity of soul and body. We are not merely souls that inhabit or possess a body. (Cf. Genesis, 1:7 and 3:19; Psalm 139:13. Also: eternal life involves a bodily resurrection: I Corinthians 15, Revalation 20, 21)
2. Friendship, fellowship between virtuous people is an essential part of happiness.

1. It is possible for friendship and mutual love to exist between God and individual human beings.
2. Physical work is a positive good, part of human happiness (Gen. 1:28,Jesus as carpenter)
3. Human beings are essentially equal before God, under God's law.
4. Divine forgiveness and mercy are not a violation of justice and provide no license for unrighteousness. (See Romans 4:21-26).
5. The truth that God reveals in history and in the Bible is in some conflict or tension with our "natural" knowledge. (I Corinthians 1:19-25).
6. The positivity of evil. Evil is more than merely the lack of goodness. Evil deeds lead to an "inherited" proclivity to evil. Evil is like a cancer.

Two reactions to philosophy from within the Biblical tradition

• Rejectionists: ³What has Jerusalem to do with Athens?² Tertullian, al-Gazzali, Martin Luther, Karl Barth, Anders Nygren.
• Synthesizers: Boethius, al-Farabi, Maimonides, Thomas Aquinas, Joseph Butler

1. All human beings seek happiness -- the supreme good.
2. Like drunkards, we have lost the way home and stumble into errors, identifying happiness with position, power, honor, wealth, or pleasure.
3. True happiness consists in possessing (by a kind of participation) God, who is absolute, self-sufficient goodness.

• Why does Boethius not mention anything specifically Christian in The C of P (e.g., Jesus, the Bible, the Church)?
• Is Boethius closer to Plato or Aristotle?
• What common denominator recurs in all of Boethius¹ refutations of false conceptions of happiness?

• Wealth
• Position
• Power
• Fame
• Pleasure

• Does it make one self-sufficient, independent? (wealth creates dependencies, new wants)
• Can it be used for bad, even self-destructive purposes? (wealth, power -- clearly can be)
• Is it a source of anxiety? (pleasure)
• Can it have bad effects? (pleasure)

• Once one possesses it, one has no further needs, wants, or reason for anxiety.
• It can never be used for anything but good purposes.
• It can never have anything but good effects. vIt cannot be deceptive or false.

• God is the very essence of happiness.
• If we can ³possess² God, then God would fulfill every need or want, and provide perfect security.
• God cannot be the source of evil.

• To a degree, Aristotle would agree with Boethius: the intellectual apprehension and comprehension of God is the highest good for human beings.
• However, Aristotle did not believe that human beings were capable of a permanent ³possession² of God. So, human happiness is inherently insecure, fleeting.

• Boethius argues, in effect, that the fact that human beings can be dissatisfied with any good obtainable in this life points to the reality of a further life (beyond the limits of organic death).
• Is this merely wishful thinking?

A. Historical context

Europe emerging from Dark Ages (700-1000)

Scientific works of Aristotle: Byzantium

->Islamic world -> Spain ->Jews ->Western Europe

Averroes, Maimonides -- 12th c. Spain

St. Albert the Great -- Paris, Cologne, 13th century. Revived use of observation & experimentation.

Roger Bacon (Oxford) -- revived Platonic application of mathematics to science

Thomas Aquinas -- student of Albert. Born near Naples. Joined Dominican order. Kidnapped by brothers.

B. Structure of Summa Theologicae

Work of theology. Encompasses the conclusions of philosophy.

Organized by questions.

Typical question:

Is ....? (the question)

It seems.... (thesis)

[Several plausible arguments, numbered]

On the contrary,.... (antithesis)

Response [Sets out Thomas's opinion -- typically, agrees with the antithesis, or accepts both as partially true.]

[The numbered plausible arguments are rebutted or corrected, one by one.]

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