Athens and Jerusalem

Classical Foundations of Christian Theology

BRIAN MARTINE | 10:30 – 11:30 am | Wednesdays, September 25 through November 20

Guided not least by the prejudices of early modern thinkers (Descartes et al.), especially as their ideas were crystallized during the Enlightenment, many in the West have come to view religious belief and philosophical (or scientific) inquiry as representing quite separate dimensions of human experience. But in the historical development of Christian theology, the philosophical thought of the Greeks provides touchstones at least as important as the religious beliefs of the early Abrahamic tradition. This course examines the complex interweaving of these traditions in the works of some well and lesser-known figures from the classical Greeks through the early Middle Ages, such as Parmenides, Plato, Philo Judeaus, Tertullian, Plotinus, and Augustine.

Brian Martine is professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Having established the department, he chaired it for twenty years. He served for ten years as director of the Humanities Center at UAH and led The Metaphysical Society of America. He is the author of Individuals and Individuality, Indeterminacy and Intelligibility.

This course is generously sponsored by Friends of The Learning Center, Ed and Diane Schmults.