Early Christian Views on Plato and Greek Philosophy
Early Christians gave mixed views of Plato and Greek philosophy. Clement of Alexandria called philosophy a preparation for faith, while Origen, Tertullian, and Lactantius warned that philosophy could be empty or misleading. Justin Martyr also argued that Plato borrowed some ideas from Moses and the prophets.
103 early-church witnesses · 203 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about plato and Greek Philosophy?
Early Christian writers did not all say the same thing about Plato and Greek philosophy. Clement of Alexandria and some others treated philosophy as a useful preparation that could point Greeks toward truth, while Origen, Tertullian, and Lactantius often warned that philosophy could be empty, mixed with deceit, or unable to save. Justin Martyr and several others also argued that Plato borrowed ideas from Moses or the prophets, so Greek thought was not fully original.
The overall pattern is mixed: philosophy is sometimes praised as a partial help, but it is also sharply limited under Christ and Scripture. Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Some early Christians used Greek philosophy as a stepping stone toward Christian truth.
- Other early writers said philosophy could mislead people if it was not tested by Christ and Scripture.
- Several writers claimed Plato borrowed ideas from Moses or the prophets.
Questions Answered by the Sources
Did early Christians think Greek philosophy helped or harmed faith?
The sources present two main views: philosophy can be dangerous if it leads away from Christ, but it can also be a preparation or aid when subordinated to the truth. Clement especially treats it as useful in a limited way, while Origen, Cyprian, Tertullian, and Lactantius stress its dangers and limits.
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching
What could be said that is more contradictory? If the teachings of philosophy ought to be known, they ought to be known for this reason: so that we may live well and wisely. But if we must live as members of a community, then philosophy is not wisdom, if it is better to live according to society than according to philosophy. For if what is called philosophy is wisdom, then the man who does not live according to philosophy certainly lives foolishly. But if the man who lives according to society does not live foolishly, it follows that the man who lives according to philosophy lives foolishly. Therefore, by your own judgment, philosophy is condemned as foolish and empty. And you also, in your Consolation, that is, not in a work of lightness and amusement, expressed this view about philosophy: "But I do not know what error has taken hold of us, or what miserable ignorance of the truth." Where, then, is the guidance of philosophy? Or what has that parent of life taught you, if you are miserably ignorant of the truth? But if this confession of error and ignorance has been forced from your inmost heart, almost against your will, why do you not finally admit to yourself the truth: that ph
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching
it appears that philosophy is altogether false and empty, since it does not prepare us for the duties of justice, nor strengthen the obligations and settled course of man's life.
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Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness
And when the apostle says, Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, Colossians 2:8 we are to avoid those things which do not come from God's clemency, but are begotten of the presumption of a too rigid philosophy.
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness
...t, and you explained the subject itself in Latin writings, and presented yourself as an imitator of Plato. Tell us, therefore, what you learned, or in what sect you discovered the truth. No doubt it was in the Academy, which you followed and approved. But this teaches nothing, except that you know your own ignorance. Therefore your own books refute you, and show how worthless the learning is that may be gained from philosophy for life. These are your words: "But to me we seem not only blind to wisdom, but also dull and slow even in those very things which seem in some measure to be understood." If, therefore, philosophy is the teacher of life, why did you seem to yourself blind, and dull, and slow? Under her teaching, you ought both to understand and to be wise, and to live in the clearest light. But we learn how you admitted the truth about philosophy from the letters addressed to your son. In them you advise him that the teachings of philosophy ought to be known, but that we must live as members of a community.
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Tertullian, De Anima (On the Soul) Supporting witness
... by using arguments that both sides admit are valid, and that sometimes even fit with our system of belief. In this way, the truth has almost been shut out by the philosophers through the poisons with which they have infected it. Therefore, if we consider both kinds of mixing that I have just mentioned, and both are equally hostile to the truth, we see the urgent need to do two things. First, we must free the ideas that we hold in common with them from the philosophers' arguments. Second, we must separate the arguments that both sides use from the philosophers' own opinions. And we can do this by bringing every question back to God's inspired standard, except in simple cases that are free from the confusion of preconceived notions, where one may fairly accept mere human testimony. For sometimes we must borrow plain evidence of that kind even from opponents, when our opponents have nothing to gain from it. Now I am not unaware of how great a mass of writing the philosophers have gathered on this subject in their own commentaries. I know how many schools of thought there are, how many conflicts of opinion, how many rich sources of questions, and how many confusing methods of solvi
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Colossians 2:8 Background
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
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Archelaus, Disputation with Manes Supporting witness
Beware lest any one spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
What did early Christians say about Plato?
Plato is repeatedly discussed as a major philosopher worth naming, but not as a final source of truth. Some writers praise his insight or think he drew from older traditions, while others criticize his teaching, his myths, or his inability to bring readers to pure worship of God.
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Direct teaching
Accordingly, before the coming of the Lord, philosophy was necessary for the Greeks in order to reach righteousness. And now it helps lead to piety. It is a kind of preparation for those who come to faith through demonstration. For it is said, "Your foot will not stumble," if you trace what is good, whether it belongs to the Greeks or to us, back to Providence. Proverbs 3:23 For God is the cause of all good things. He is the primary cause of some, such as the Old and New Testament. He is the indirect cause of others, such as philosophy. Perhaps, too, philosophy was given to the Greeks directly and primarily, until the Lord should call the Greeks. For philosophy was a schoolmaster to lead the Greek mind to Christ, just as the law led the Hebrews. Galatians 3:24 Therefore, philosophy was a preparation, making the way ready for the one who is made perfect in Christ.
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness
...self is not the cause of the ship being pulled, but only together with the others. In the same way, philosophy, which is the search for truth, helps us understand the truth. It is not the cause of understanding by itself, but a cause along with other things, and a co-worker. Perhaps it may also be called a joint-cause. And just as several virtues are causes of one person’s happiness, and just as the sun, fire, a bath, and clothing all help one person become warm, so also truth is one, yet many things help in the search for it. But its discovery is through the Son. If we think carefully, virtue is one in its power. But when it appears in different matters, it is called prudence in some cases, temperance in others, and in others courage or righteousness. By the same comparison, truth is one, yet in geometry there is the truth of geometry, in music the truth of music, and in the right philosophy there will be Hellenic truth. But the only true and secure truth, which cannot be overthrown, is that in which we are taught by the Son of God. In the same way, we say that a drachma is one and the same coin. But when it is given to the shipmaster, it is called fare; to the tax collector, t
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Gregory Thaumaturgus, Oration to Origen Supporting witness
He was also the first and only man who urged me to study the philosophy of the Greeks. By his own moral example, he persuaded me both to listen to moral teaching and to hold fast to it. At that time, no other philosophers had won me over to that. I admit that again. It was not right on my part. But, sadly, it turned out to my harm, as I may say without exaggeration. At first, however, I did not associate with many, but only with a few who claimed to be teachers. Yet, in truth, all of them established their philosophy only in words. This man, however, was the first who moved me to practice philosophy by his words, because he showed the call to it by his deeds before he gave it in words. He did not merely repeat carefully prepared sayings. No, he did not even think it right to speak on the subject at all except with a sincere mind, and with a mind earnestly set on carrying out in practice the things he expressed. All the while, he tried to show in his character that he was like the man he describes in his discourses as the person who will live a noble life. Indeed, he always displayed in himself, I would say, the pattern of the wise man. But since our discussion at the beginning prop
Did Christians contrast Greek wisdom with Christ?
The Bible texts in this set warn against being captured by philosophy and worldly wisdom, and they contrast human wisdom with the wisdom and power of God in Christ. These passages are the clearest scriptural backbone for the early Christian warnings in the dossier.
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Justin Martyr, Hortatory Address to the Greeks Direct teaching
But Plato, though he accepted, as is likely, the doctrine of Moses and the other prophets regarding one only God, which he learned while in Egypt, yet fearing, on account of what had befallen Socrates, lest he also should raise up some Anytus or Meletus against himself, who should accuse him before the Athenians, and say, “Plato is doing harm, and making himself mischievously busy, not acknowledging the gods recognised by the state;” in fear of the hemlock-juice, contrives an elaborate and ambiguous discourse concerning the gods, furnishing by his treatise gods to those who wish them, and none for those who are differently disposed, as may readily be seen from his own statements.
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Direct teaching
And Plato does not deny that he procured all that is most excellent in philosophy from the barbarians;
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness
And Numenius, the Pythagorean philosopher, expressly writes: For what is Plato, but Moses speaking in Attic Greek?
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness
...nt Scriptures. And Aristobulus, in his first book addressed to Philometor, writes these words: "And Plato followed the laws given to us, and had plainly studied all that is said in them. And before Demetrius, another translation had been made, before the rule of Alexander and of the Persians, of the account of the departure of our countrymen the Hebrews from Egypt, and the report of all that happened to them, and their taking possession of the land, and the account of the whole code of laws. So it is perfectly clear that the philosopher mentioned above drew a great deal from this source, for he was very learned, as Pythagoras also was, who transferred many things from our books into his own system of teachings." And Numenius, the Pythagorean philosopher, writes plainly: "For what is Plato, but Moses speaking in Attic Greek?" This Moses was a theologian and prophet, and, as some say, an interpreter of sacred laws. His family, his deeds, and his life are related by the Scriptures themselves, which are completely trustworthy. But we must also tell them ourselves as well as we can.
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Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness
It is not very clear, indeed, whether Plato fell in with these stories by chance, or whether, as some think, meeting during his visit to Egypt with certain individuals who philosophized on the Jewish mysteries, and learning some things from them, he may have preserved a few of their ideas, and thrown others aside, being careful not to offend the Greeks by a complete adoption of all the points of the philosophy of the Jews, who were in bad repute with the multitude, on account of the foreign character of their laws and their peculiar polity.
Did any early Christians see philosophy as preparation for Christ?
Clement of Alexandria says philosophy was a preparation for the Greeks and a helper in coming to faith, and he even describes it as leading toward piety. This is the strongest positive reading of Greek philosophy in the supplied sources.
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Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Supporting witness
His disciple Plato, whom Tully speaks of as the god of philosophers, alone of all so studied philosophy that he approached nearer to the truth;
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Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness
...Now, if those who read these words were to imitate the malignity of Celsus—which may it be far from Christians to do!—they would ridicule the myth, and would turn this great Plato into a subject of jest. But if, on examining in a philosophical spirit what is conveyed in the dress of a myth, they should be able to discover the meaning of Plato, they will admire the way in which he was able, on account of the multitude, to conceal in the form of this myth the great ideas that presented themselves to him, and to speak in a fitting manner to those who know how to find from myths the true meaning of him who wove them together. Now I have brought forward this myth occurring in the writings of Plato, because of the mention in it of the garden of Zeus, which appears to bear some resemblance to the paradise of God, and of the comparison between Penia and the serpent, and the plot against Porus by Penia, which may be compared with the plot of the serpent against the man. It is not very clear, indeed, whether Plato came upon these stories by chance, or whether, as some think, during his visit to Egypt he met certain individuals who philosophized on the Jewish mysteries, and learned some th
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Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness
and notice that the truth as it is contained in Plato concerning this subject did not at all help his readers to attain to a pure worship of God, nor even himself, who could philosophize so grandly about the chief good, whereas the simple language of the holy Scriptures has led to their honest readers being filled with a divine spirit;
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Arnobius, Against the Heathen Supporting witness
The divine Plato, many of whose thoughts are worthy of God, and not such as the vulgar hold, in that discussion and treatise entitled the Timaeus, says that the gods and the world are corruptible by nature, and in no wise beyond the reach of death, but that their being is ever maintained by the will of God, their King and Prince;
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Supporting witness
5. Plato is proved to be more religious than these men, for he allowed that the same God was both just and good, having power over all things, and Himself executing judgment, expressing himself thus, “And God indeed, as He is also the ancient Word, possessing the beginning, the end, and the mean of all existing things, does everything rightly, moving round about them according to their nature;
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Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness
See, then, if Plato and the wise men among the Greeks, in the beautiful things they say, are not like those physicians who confine their attentions to what are called the better classes of society, and despise the multitude;
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Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness
“ ‘It is both unbegotten and immortal, according to some who are styled Platonists.’
Common Questions
Did early Christians think Plato was always wrong?
No. Some, like Clement and Justin, treated Plato as partly useful or partly borrowed from Moses, while others criticized philosophy more sharply.
Did early Christians see Greek philosophy as a help to faith?
Some did. Clement called it a preparation for the Lord, but Origen and Lactantius warned it could also be deceptive or empty.
Did any early Christian writers think Plato learned from Moses?
Yes. Justin and Clement both said Plato may have taken key ideas from Moses, the prophets, or the Jews.
Source Index for Plato and Greek Philosophy
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 160 ranked source links from 203 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 160 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 103
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
Bible Passages 80 shown of 100
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.
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