Damian Mrugalski OP, Plato Read Moses and (Mis-) Understood: The Middle Platonic Context in Which the Creatio ex Nihilo Doctrine Was Devised, “Studia z Historii Filozofii” 4 (2019), 7-30. (original) (raw)

Bound by Goodness, Ruled by Reason: Plato's Theology and the Foundations of his Cosmology. Draft Book Proposal.

Book Proposal for: Bound by Goodness, Ruled by Reason: Plato's Theology and the Foundations of his Cosmology Theology constitutes both the core content of Plato’s cosmology and a key metaphysical foundation for Platonic cosmology as such. To put it another way, when Plato seeks to describe the most essential structures and functions of the sensible world he gives an account of gods; when Plato seeks to explain how it is possible for there to be perpetually beautiful, rational, and living divinities in a sensible world of otherwise constant and unstable generation and destruction, there too his answer looks to god. This book attempts to develop and detail an accurate and coherent account of Plato’s theology and to identify the several philosophical problems Plato devised it to address. It carefully reconstructs his views about the various kinds of entities identified by him as gods, their relationships to one another and the universe as a whole, and the roles they serve in his overall worldview. Such a study is very much needed, for while interest in Plato’s theology has been steadily growing, no full-length, systematic treatment of the subject has been written in English. This is the first book of its kind to give a thorough treatment of all the relevant texts from across Plato’s corpus; to examine all the relevant features or “parts” of his theology: the World-soul and other cosmic souls, “Nous” (i.e. reason or intellect), the Demiurge (Craftsman), the Form of the GOOD; and to attempts to organize the interpretation of all of these into a new, coherent narrative situating Plato’s theology centrally within his late thought. Moreover, while several good books and articles have been written on the subject, nearly all the work that has been done on Plato’s theology for the last 80 years has recapitulated or offered only minor variations on one of the same three or four inadequate interpretative schemes, all of which were developed before the Second World War. Thus progress on the topic has been at a standstill for more than three quarters of a century. This book offers to break this deadlock and to offer a novel interpretation by resolving the central dilemma over Plato’s theology that has made fully coherent and well-motivated interpretations impossible. To do so, it rejects the identification of the Craftsman god (Demiurge) of his Timaeus and other dialogues with “Nous” (reason or intellect)—an identification that is the common, shared assumption of all of the unsuccessful contemporary interpretations as well as of nearly every historical interpretation of Plato’s theology in the long history of its reception. While I am proposing to do away with an interpretive orthodoxy, the result is a clearer view of the Demiurge, Nous, and their respective key roles in Plato’s late metaphysics and cosmology. Table of Contents PART I – FOREGROUND AND BACKGROUND Chapter 1. Introduction to Plato’s Theology: Themes, Questions, and Methods Chapter 2. The Ancient Quarrel: Traditional Greek religion and its philosophical critics PART II – IMMANENT THEOLOGY Chapter 3. The Goals of Plato’s Public Theology Chapter 4. The Implementation Problem and the Panpsychic Solution Chapter 5. The World, the World-soul, and other cosmic gods PART III – TRANSCENDENT THEOLOGY Chapter 6. The Demiurge is the GOOD Chapter 7. The Demiurge is not Nous Chapter 8. Pre-panpsychic Intellect?: Cosmic Intellect and the World-soul in the Philebus PART IV – INTERSTITIALS AND INTERCESSORIES Chapter 9. Culture-Heroes, Daemons, and the Gods of Tradition Conclusion

Plato's Influence in the New Testament: A Theological Deconstruction

This paper explores the profound influence of Platonic philosophy on the New Testament and its enduring legacy in Christian theology. By examining key texts such as the Gospel of John, the Pauline Epistles, and the Epistle to the Hebrews, the study uncovers how Platonic metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical frameworks shaped early Christian articulations of divine truth, human existence, and eschatological hope. The paper also considers the role of Plato’s philosophy in Martin Luther’s theological vision, particularly through the mediating influence of Augustine. Employing a deconstructive and multidisciplinary approach, this analysis reveals both the richness and the tensions of integrating Platonic ideas into Christian doctrine. While Platonic concepts such as the Theory of Forms, dualism, and the notion of the Good provided valuable tools for expressing theological insights, they also introduced challenges, particularly in reconciling the devaluation of the material world with the biblical affirmation of creation and bodily resurrection. Through a critical engagement with primary texts, historical contexts, and contemporary scholarship, this paper illuminates the dynamic interplay between philosophy and theology. It argues that early Christian thinkers appropriated and transformed Platonic ideas to articulate the distinctiveness of the Gospel message, offering a vision of salvation and renewal that transcends the limitations of human thought. The study ultimately invites readers to reflect on the ongoing dialogue between faith and reason, philosophy and Scripture, and tradition and innovation in the Christian intellectual tradition.

Plato's Concept of the Divine and Christian Theology

In this essay, I contend that Plato’s notion of the Divine or God is companionable – in a telling sense of the word, rather than comparable – with a Christian notion of God in three ways. Firstly, Plato provided proofs for the Divine in his first cause (cosmology) position, maintaining all that exists or transpires essentially has, or had a cause; this is also insisted on in the Christian Doctrine of God. Secondly (teleology), Plato’s precept is that humanity is not on its own, amid creation, in its moral involvement – goodness is embodied in creation – therefore, we can discover, and even encounter, order and perfection by examining the universe; this is demonstrated within Christian Theology and Doctrine. Thirdly (ontology), Plato locates supreme importance in the demesne of the unseen; similarly, Christianity locates uppermost value in things not of this world, but on resources from an unseen realm of the heavenlies – a place of origin and ultimate being.

Plato: The Creator of Natural Theology

International Studies in Philosophy, 2004

Natural theology (theologia naturalis or physicos) has a long and complex history that is closely connected with the origin and evolution of western philosophy. By “natural theology,” I understand a rational discourse that aims to demonstrate that god organizes and governs the world. In this paper, I retrace the origin and controversy surrounding the notion. My aim is to show why Plato of the Laws (notably, Laws 10) should be considered as the true creator of “natural theology.” In conjunction, I argue that the natural theology of the Laws is similar what we generally attribute to Stoics. This natural theology demonstrates that god (or reason) governs nature and that god is immanent in nature (or even identified with it) and not external to it. This paper was originally published in International Studies in Philosophy 36 (1) 2004, 129-150. Publication of International Studies in Philosophy was suspended by the editor, Stephen David Ross, in 2008 with the completion of volume 40, issue 2. The journal was acquired by the Philosophy Documentation Center in 2011, and is being reorganized under its auspices. All published issues of the journal (under both titles) are available online. There is also a French version in Une philosophie dans l’histoire: Hommages à Raymond Klibansky (eds Bjarne Melkevik et Jean-Marc Narbonne), Sainte- Foy : Les Presses de l’Université Laval, 2000, 25-46. I’m uploading here the penultimate version. My position on some of the points argued for in this paper have since changed, but not the primary thesis.

Plato’s Timaeus and Catholic Metaphysics

In light of the Timaeus, I will assess Eusebius of Caesarea’s claim that Plato “has attained the porch of [Christian] Truth”. 1 In analysing this claim, I will expose and then evaluate the more obvious parallels to Christian doctrine and metaphysics that can be found in the Timaeus. My conclusion is that I share Eusebius’s wonder of Plato. I am astounded at the consistency with which Plato arrives at the same conclusions as Revealed Christian doctrine, especially in his marvellously Christian metaphysics, the attributes of God, and his ordering and origins of the cosmos and his belief in the singularity of the Demiurge as creator God

Cosmological speculations: the alleged influence of philo in early christian philosophy

Kerygma, 2016

O principal objetivo desse artigo é demonstrar a influência de Filo de Alexandria sobre as especulações cosmológicas na filosofia do cristianismo primitivo. Um judeu conhecedor do pensamento grego clássico, Filo criou um precedente para a fusão da religião com o Helenismo. Quando apologistas cristãos sentiram a necessidade de defender sua fé ao mundo pagão, eles utilizaram métodos e ideias já conhecidas a seus leitores, a filosofia grega. Este artigo compara a reinterpretação de Filo do platonismo com o uso do dualismo platonico dos principais pais da igreja em suas diferentes formas a fim de mostrar a extensão da influência de Filo sobre a visão de Deus cristã.