Platonicinfluences
Platonic concept of the dual human being
This Platonic concept of the dual human being contradicts the Jewish and early Christian idea that God created man “ex-nihilo” as one single unit.
Greek duality with Jewish singularity.
Patristic Christian theologians syncretised Greek duality with Jewish singularity. Christ is one in body but is also spiritual. So we get the preaching of theologians like Evagrius and Gregory of Nyssa. Gregory of Nyssa. “The intellect will not be able to go and accomplish this emigration and arrive at the incorporeal if it has not corrected the inside. Domestic troubles bring it back to what it had left”.
Representative of Platonic influence in Patristic literature and of desert spirituality, Evagrius Ponticus and the foundation of Christian Mysticism, “to take away what is foreign is to come back to the true and authentic nature of the soul.”
Ascetisism not Encratism
This wasn’t Encratism, the strongly negative attitude to the body, quite different from aseticism, denial of material substances entering the body, in order to heighten the spiritual part of the human being, something which is common in religious movements.
Christ Himself is spiritualised by the Gnostics.
Docetic trends developed among those for whom the bodily existence of Christ had no meaning and was a source of religious embarrassment. For them Christ was Chrestos, an idea to be admired, a spiritual entity having nothing to do with Jesus of Nazareth.
Gnostic thinkers
Gnostic thinkers in the 2nd century developed ways of thought strongly influenced by Middle Platomism. Described in ways that oppose matter to the realm of the spirit. It perceived salvation as a radical departure from the material world and the body.
Gnosticism sought to reject the cosmos, bringing in is a kind of internalisation and still remaining within the framework of Christianity.
Christian mysticism
These ideas led to Christian mysticism:
Behavioural patterns are considered to be irrelevant for the goal of the Mystic. “Gnosticism is Platonism gone wild.” AD Nock. Some of the dualistic trends “the Platonic underworld.” John Dillon.
Ideas of internalism or externalism
were not useful in promoting Christianity as a world religion. For spreading the new religion the definition of new social boundaries and the development of structures of authority was required.
Protestantism is widely viewed as a foundational force for modern revolution, fostering individualism, critical thinking, and resistance to established authority. By challenging papal authority, it encouraged the questioning of hierarchies, paving the way for the Enlightenment, the rise of democratic, nationalistic states, and the French Revolution.
Key aspects of Protestantism as a revolutionary progenitor include:
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Individualism and Conscience: By promoting the "priesthood of all believers" and the authority of the Bible over clerical dogma, it empowered individual judgment.
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Political Resistance: Early Protestantism introduced concepts of resisting tyrannical rule, such as in the Magdeburg Confession of 1550.
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Social Change: It fostered values of literacy, social reform, and hard work, often linked to the rise of capitalism.
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Revolutionary Catalyst: Many in the 18th century saw Protestantism as a cause of the French Revolution, giving credit to its "light" against the "darkness" of absolutism.
While it championed reform, it also influenced conservative, ordered liberty, rather than just radical upheaval.
Buddhist quotes.
1. By thinking of all sentient beings as even better than the wish-granting gem for accomplishing the highest aim, may I always consider them precious.
2. Wherever I go, with whomever I go, may I see myself as less than all others, and from the depth of my heart may I consider them supremely precious.
3. May I examine my mind in all actions and, as soon as a negative state occurs, since it endangers myself and others, may I firmly face and avert it.