
Lecture Description
The two most important non-Christian movements in religion and philosophy during the third and fourth centuries were Manichaeism and Neo-platonism. We have already considered the former, and now turn to the other, which was founded in the third century by Plotinus. We are especially interested in these two because of the impact each of them had on the thought of Augustin.
When Augustin was wrestling with the problem of evil, his pastor and mentor, Ambrose of Milan, suggested that he read the writings of Plotinus, who, even though a pagan, had a much more reasonable understanding of the nature of evil than did the Manichaeans. Augustin would eventually incorporate certain aspects of Plotinus' vision into his own philosophy of the Christian faith. Some have criticized him for this, but on the whole, Christian philosophers have agreed that Plotinus offered a useful approach to the issue.
Course Index
- Introduction to the Major Themes of Philosophy
- The Ionian Philosophers
- The Italian Philosophers
- The Athenian Pluralists
- The Life and Times of Socrates
- Introduction to Plato
- Plato's World of the Forms
- Plato's Parable of the Cave
- Dualism in Plato
- Introduction to Aristotle
- Aristotle's Metaphysics
- Aristotle's Categories
- Aristotle's Theory of Language
- Aristotle's God
- The Epicureans
- Stoicism
- Philo of Alexandria
- The Christian Synthesis
- Early Christian Apologists
- Antiochan Christianity
- Alexandrian Christianity
- The Council of Nicaea
- Manichaeism
- Neo-Platonism
- The Life of Augustine
- Overview of Augustin's Thought
- Augustin's Epistemology
- Augustin's Epistemology (part 2)
- Augustin's Theory of Faith
- Augustin's Understanding of the Church
- The Pelagian Controversy
- The Pelagian Controversy (cont)
- The Pelagian Controversy (concl)
- Anselm of Canterbury
- Anselm's Cur Deus Homo
- Introduction to the Classical Synthesis
- The Classical Synthesis (part 2)
- Thomas Aquinas and the Five Ways
- Art, Philosophy, and the Renaissance
Course Description
This wide ranging course starts with the pre-Socratic philosophers of the ancient world, and traces the history of philosophical speculation across the ages up to the present. Included along the way is special attention to the greatest Christian thinkers in history, including Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin and many others.