Opus 2012-301: Victory of Reason: What About the Greeks?

In my reading over the years I have come across many writers who claim that Christianity was influenced by other schools of thought and religions.  Recently one of the college students at our church ran into this thinking in regard to Judaism.  The professor was advocating that the Hebrew idea of good and evil was borrowed from the Zoroastrians and other eastern religions.  It was confusing for the college student with little knowledge, but it wasn’t very difficult poking holes in the argument. 

Another idea that keeps coming up is the influence of the Greeks.  Stark makes this comment which I found interesting,

“Christian faith in reason was influenced by Greek philosophy.  But the more important fact is that Greek philosophy had little impact on Greek religions.” p. x

There is no reason to think that the writers of the Old Testament lived in a vacuum and had no knowledge of Greek  philosophy.  The Kingdom of Israel was located on the trade routes that linked the corners of the known world.  The New Testament and Christianity would be even more exposed to the thinking of the rest of the world.  In the book of Acts you have an account of the apostle Paul going to Mars Hill and debating with the thinkers of his day. 

But what was interesting in this comment was the second part.  The polytheistic, paganism of the Greeks was not influenced by the call to reason of the Greek philosophers.  My read is that the Greeks tended to keep their religion and reason in separate compartments.  They did not mix.  Thus these great philosophers and thinkers were able to pay allegiance to gods that moderns think are a bit silly and immature.  The gods did not influence their thinking and values.  It was two worlds in one community.

Although we have many pseudo-Christians and church-goers who also think that way, genuine Christianity does not accommodate that separation.  Our understanding of daily life and priorities are tied intimately with our view of eternity and moral values.  The two march together.  They stimulate and challenge each other.  We are not able to compartmentalize our lives.

Notice I am talking about those who are serious about their faith.  There are many who attend church or call themselves Christian who don’t really want it to interfere with their quest for gratification.  Don’t judge the Faith by the faithless and unfaithful.

In the development of the West you have had many of the great thinkers and scientists who were devote in their Christian faith.  Sure, you had those on the atheist and agnostic side but being on the cutting edge did not mean walking away from the Bible.  The same is true today.  Believing and thinking go very well together.  Thinking is necessary to reach the truth and believing is a requirement to accept it when you find it.

Stark, Rodney, The Victory of Reason.  New York:  Random House, 2005.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-297: Victory of Reason: Is Christianity Really Reasonable?

In his book, The Victory of Reason, Rodney Stark is tracing some principles that underlie the development of Western culture in general and American culture in particular.  I gave a quote from the book in my introductory comments: 

“While other world religions emphasized mystery and intuition, Christianity alone embraced reason and logic as the primary guide to religious truth.” p. x

This looks like it is a statement about Christianity, and it is, but that is not the focus of his remarks.  What he is doing is trying to explain the foundations for Western dominance in our modern world.  His point here is that, unlike other world religions, Christianity was open to reason and logic.

Most modern “wisdom” would have a wide gulf between Christianity and reason.  Since we talk about being saved by the grace of God and that grace being appropriated by faith, most people think that means turning off your brain and just believing.

He is pointing out that such a stereotype is not accurate.  He is speaking as a scholar and sociologist, not as a believer.  He is not saying there is no mystery or intuition.  He is simply saying that Biblical Christianity never requires you to turn off your brain or abandon your reason.  In the notes that I took, he specifically compares Christianity to Judaism and Islam.  Because he mentioned world religions I would assume he was also including Buddhism and Hinduism. 

I am a follower of Jesus Christ because I believe the claims of the Bible but that belief does not exist in a vacuum.  I have a wide range of knowledge.  I am sure there are large gaps but my data base if very eclectic.  As an indicator, years ago when working on my teaching credential I took a nationally normed test on general knowledge.  With no studying or preparation I scored in the 98th percentile.  For those who have not had statistics in years, that means I scored better than 98 percent of the people who take the test.  I have continued reading and learning since then.  I say this, not to toot my own horn, but to point out that being a believer is not a sign of being ignorant. 

When I put it all together, science, history, philosophy, experience, emotion and observation all tell me that Jesus is the best answer for all the questions of life.  So I agree with his analysis, at least about Christianity.  It is a religion of faith, reason and logic.  It is a powerful combination.

Stark, Rodney, The Victory of Reason.  New York:  Random House, 2005.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-296: Victory of Reason: An Introduction

One of the books I have read in the last few years is called The Victory of Reason by Rodney Stark.  I have adopted a discipline of taking notes on books that I think have something to say and then type them into my computer so that I can review them.  Since I am away from the posts I have been working on, I felt this was a good time to do some review.

Stark has a lot of interesting things to say in this book.  For instance, in his introductory comments he says,

“While other world religions emphasized mystery and intuition, Christianity alone embraced reason and logic as the primary guide to religious truth.” p. x

When I read something like this I always ask myself, “Where is this person coming from?”  A statement like this, written by someone with my dominant Christian beliefs, while being an honest expression of opinion would need to be examined carefully because of the  presuppositions.  So, is Stark a Bible believing Christian?

First, I looked at the publisher of the book, Random House.  This is a secular publisher.  I think that is an indication that this is offered as a scholarly, intellectual publication. 

Second, I checked out Stark online.  Wikipedia gives a summery of his life and deals with his “personal religious faith.”  Based on his own statements he would be at most a general believer, at worst an agnostic.  He does not seem to have a strong, focused faith that would cause him to give pro-Christian analysis.

With that, I feel I am able to accept him as an unbiased source.  When he says “Christianity alone embraced reason and logic,” I can accept that as an analysis not a conviction.  Conviction does not invalidate a statement but it needs to be considered.  As one with a strong faith and strong convictions I admit that.  At the same time having strong convictions does not make your beliefs invalid. 

Third, he is a sociologist of religion.  He did graduate work at Berkeley which tends to be liberal and teaches at Baylor, affiliated with conservative Baptists.  He is a scholar in the area he is writing about.

I hope to look at and discuss some of his points while I am away from home.

Stark, Rodney, The Victory of Reason.  New York:  Random House, 2005.

homo unius libri