Aristotle in my opinion reaches what is possibly as far as a human mind can get to the truth without attaining it. Many things he says seem like Christian philosophies. In book one he talks about the two sides of us, the rational and the irrational and how the irrational part lives within all of us and resists reason. “the impulses of morally weak persons turn in the direction opposite to that in which reason leads them.” This sounds very similar to what Paul says in Romans 7 about wanting to do good, but the flesh don’t let us.
Both Paul and Aristotle talk about the purpose of man however, they have different goals in mind. Aristotle thinks that the highest potential of man is to reach excellence and in order to do this we must find our proper function. This is so similar to what Paul says about one body, many parts and they even use some of the same vocabulary. I find it interesting how close Aristotle and Paul are to each other in concept and yet they had different answers.
It is sad to me how much thought Aristotle put into all of his theories and how close he came to what the Bible says, but he never quite got it.
ps. I commented on Brittany's post
Ah, the flaws of the unsaved people, if only they were closer to God, then He might actually help them with their thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time pitying Aristotle. Lucas and I were just talking about this--it's rather like pitying a lion in the prime of his health and strength. Remember, too, that Aristotle is pre-Christian; more, that he is a maker of the Hellenic world in which the Christian revelation takes place. It's a complex business.
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