Faith verses Philosophy in the middle ages

Throughout history, philosophers have sought to understand the world, proposing various theories along the way. From the early Greeks to Aristotle, there was a predominant belief in supernatural elements such as water, air, and fire. This intellectual journey continued through renowned philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates, who advanced the field of philosophy. However, progress in physics, ethics, morality, science, and philosophy faced stagnation with the rise of Christianity and Judaism. During this time, asceticism and altruism began to overshadow reason and logic. Influential philosophers like Augustine and Thomas Aquinas worked to integrate Platonic and Aristotelian ideas with Christian faith, helping to preserve the principles of reason, logic, and empiricism within the religious context of the Middle Ages.

During medieval times, thinkers from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim backgrounds were focused on the challenge of harmonizing philosophy with religion. The Neo-Platonic philosophy of Plotinus attempted to achieve this synthesis. Additionally, the revival of Aristotelian metaphysics was significantly influenced by prominent Muslim Arab thinkers, who played a key role in gaining broader acceptance of Aristotle’s ideas within theological discussions.

Plato's ideas were adopted by subsequent cultures, particularly after the Roman Empire conquered and absorbed Greek culture. The Romans played a crucial role in preserving the remarkable achievements of the Greeks in arts, philosophy, and politics. About 500 years after Plato's death, Plotinus was born. He revived Plato’s ideas and initiated an intellectual movement known as Neo-Platonism. Plotinus embraced Plato's concepts of duality, arguing that the soul is a spiritual substance that exists independently of the body and is superior to it. He viewed the physical body as imperfect, suggesting that the soul is trapped within this flawed vessel. Plotinus's thoughts profoundly influenced Saint Augustine and shaped Western consciousness.

One of Augustine's significant achievements was his integration of Plato’s philosophical concepts with the principles of Christianity. The aim of medieval philosophy was to reconcile the rational truths of philosophy with the dogmatic truths of the Christian faith. This served two purposes: first, it strengthened Christianity as a powerful faith, and second, it supported the authority of the Church.

Augustine argued that Platonism and Christianity were natural partners. He adopted Plato’s concept of two realms: one is the intelligible realm, where truth exists, and the other is the sensible world, which corresponds to our physical senses. Augustine incorporated Plato’s metaphysics into Christian beliefs, transforming Plato’s eternal realm of forms into the transcendent God of Christianity. 

In Plato’s vision, immortal souls strive for the eternal realm through intellectual enlightenment. Augustine reinterpreted this to mean that immortal souls seek to achieve union with God through faith and reason. Thus, Plato’s metaphysics provided a philosophical justification for Christian beliefs, where immortal souls attain eternality by uniting with the transcendent realm of God in Christianity, similar to the intellectual enlightenment sought in Plato’s philosophy.

Around nine hundred years after Saint Augustine emerged as a significant figure in Western thought, St. Thomas Aquinas came onto the scene. Aquinas was a priest, philosopher, and theologian. Unlike Augustine, he was drawn to Aristotle's metaphysical philosophy and utilized it as a framework for articulating Christian ideas about the self and reality. Similar to Aristotle, Aquinas rejected Plato's concept of dualism.

Aristotle’s metaphysics is fundamentally based on two concepts: Matter and Form. Together, Matter and Form comprise the universe and represent the essence of all things. When Matter and Form combine, they create substances that make up everything we observe in the universe. For instance, when a carpenter takes a piece of wood— which itself embodies both Matter and Form— he shapes it into a specific design that exists in his mind.

Aristotle asserts that Matter and Form are inseparable; they cannot exist independently from one another. In the case of human beings, the soul and body cannot be separated into distinct entities. Thus, Aristotle's metaphysics emphasizes the importance of Form, asserting that Form and Matter always exist in conjunction with each other.

Thomas Aquinas embodied Aristotle's metaphysics, asserting that life arises from the union of matter and form. Over time, matter and form develop self-awareness. Just as milk and water blend together, every entity consists of inseparable matter and form. In contrast, Plato and Augustine's dualism posits that the soul and body are distinct entities, with the soul considered superior and trapped within the confines of the body. The soul is the essence of every living organism, serving as the defining characteristic that differentiates living things from non-living things.

The Western world emerged from the Dark Ages largely due to the contributions of philosophers like Thomas Aquinas and Augustine, who incorporated the metaphysical ideas of Aristotle and Plato into Christian theology. The Muslim Golden Age also played a crucial role in reviving the philosophies of these great thinkers. While Plato's and Aristotle's metaphysics differ in core principles, both were blended with Christian faith by Aquinas and Augustine. The knowledge from Aristotle and Plato empowered the Greeks to establish a remarkable civilization during their era, and it similarly equipped the Roman Empire to exert its influence across the world. The insights of Aristotle and Plato further enriched the Muslim Golden Age. Ultimately, the Enlightenment in the West would not have been possible without the revival of these philosophical ideas.