Mashburn only mentioned this in class but it's something I wondered throughout the entire Apology. I noticed sometimes Socrates would mention "the gods" but many times he would mention "God". I wondered if this was sort of reference to Zeus or if they called the "god" they followed their "God". One example is when Socrates says is, “I shall obey God rather than you." Was he a closet monotheist? Maybe that's why his accusers thought him to be atheist... because they did not understand the concept of God rather than gods. The next thing I wondered is who is Socrates God? Is it YHWH? Which principality does he live by? Which lifestyle does he follow?
I commented on Fimbulvetr's
I thought about that too. He makes references to God (with a capital G) and the gods (with lower case g's). Maybe he was talking about Zeus, but I couldn't help thinking he was talking about God.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Socrates himself isn't completely sure as to what kind of a god he believes in, since he is flip-floping back and forth. However, it is important to note that Socrates began his mission in order to prove the oracle at Delphi wrong, and in the end he comes to the conclusion that the oracle is right. Therefore, Socrates must have believed in th existance of this god, and he must have revered him for his wisdom when he found that he could not prove him wrong.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Callie. Socrates did believe in a god. Which one or ones? I don't know haha. But then I think about why he's in jail. He's in jail because he was accused of being an atheist. But if he was accused of that, why would he talk about a god? I think that he just didn't want anyone to know who or what he believed in.
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