OnFaith Discussion: The Perceived Irrelevance Of Christianity'S Intellectual History

From the international bestseller, Luc Ferry's "A Brief History of Thought: A Philosopical Guide to Living": "When I was a student – in 1968, when religious questions were not the most fashionable...it was possible pass our exams and even become a philosophy professor by knowing next to nothing about Judaism, Islam or Christianity. Of course, we had to attend lectures on ancient thought– Greek thought, above all – after which we could cut straight to Descartes. Without any transition, we leapt 15 centuries, broadly speaking from the end of the second century (the late Stoics) to the beginning of the 17th century. As a result, for years I knew more or less nothing about the intellectual history of Christianity, beyond the cultural commonplaces. This strikes me as absurd." Exactly so.

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1 Shawn Bose = "This is a great quotation in context of how indeed our modern education dismisses multiple cycles in the evolution of western thought - omitting such great philosophers/thinkers such as Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, Luther & Calvin - and that is just a sprinkling within the Christian faith alone - one could go on to also list Maimonides, and Muhammad ibn Zakariyā Rāzī in reference to the other Abrahamic religions Ferry refers to.To take a step even further in our increasingly globally connected environment, it could be stated that omitting the study of the development of Eastern thought completely from its ancient origins to its modern state also leaves us ill equipped to see things in as complete a manner as we would want."

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The Perceived Irrelevance of Christianity's Intellectual History

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The Perceived Irrelevance of Christianity's Intellectual History

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