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Did the Catholic church choose the wrong philosopher as a means to back their religious beliefs (Aristotle)? Can reason be used as validation for God, and is their a better ideologue for church theory to be represented by? I have often felt that reason was a means to dispel mysticism, and that Plato's view of the world have seemed a more substantive argument for the church's cause: What was their means of choosing someone who is opposite their fundamentals. |
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Reason, properly validated and utilized, dispels mysticism. The grasp Aristotle had developed has influenced many thinkers in the world. Influential individuals in religion found it necessary to consider the positions Aristotle had developed, and try to integrate it in with the interpretations of the scriptures via rationalization - which may appear as reason to those who do not have a validated understanding of reason. |
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I'm not sure it's accurate to say that the Catholic Church 'chose' Aristotle as the philosopher to back up their theology. For most of the Dark Ages the Church drew heavily on neo-Platonic philosophy, and many within the church sought to ban the study of Aristotle when his works were reintroduced to the West in the 13th century. The Thomistic synthesis of Christianity and Aristotelianism wasn't so much a choice as a necessary adaptation to a rival comprehensive thinker who refused to go away. |
