Patriarch Bartholomew on Europes Christian Roots

The ecumenical patriarch emphasizes the importance that philosophy has had in Europe since the birth of Christianity.

ISTANBUL (AsiaNews) - Europe has its roots in Christian doctrine and in Greek thought. This has been highlighted by ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew, taking the opportunity presented by the feasts dedicated to the three fathers and doctors of the universal Church: St. Basil, St. Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom, whose relics were given back to Constantinople by John Paul II in 2004, precisely in order to celebrate and emphasize the importance of the Christian roots of Europe, based on Greek thought and Christian doctrine, and born and raised in a land where Christianity lives in captivity.

One must, in the end - Bartholomew says - emphasize the contribution of Greek-Hellenistic literature and philosophy to the Church's activity. Since its beginning, meaning since the time of the apostles - who are unjustly considered uneducated persons - it has received the beneficial influence of Greek literature and philosophy, using these as a means for enhancing our Christian faith.

The evangelist John was himself perfectly familiar with Pythagorean philosophy, and with all philosophical thought, with which he came into contact through the philosopher Philo. And his theology of the word, which introduces his gospel, presupposes knowledge of Platonic philosophy and Philo's thought. The apostles Peter and Andrew themselves had extensive knowledge of Greek philosophical thought, as shown in the two letters by Peter.

The first texts of Christianity, which narrate the thoughts and actions of Our Lord, resemble those of Xenophon from a morphological point of view. Even the term "theology" is found in Plato's Republic, while Seneca preached that God is father and companion of man, who must always express his gratitude to God through the virtues. Aristotle asserted the supremacy of theology over all the other sciences, while Pythagoras paired science and religion.

Parallel to the philosophical schools, Bartholomew continues, there were also the schools in which all of the Church's thinkers were educated. The more famous include that of Athens, where St. Basil, St. Gregory the Theologian, and Dionysus the Areopagite were educated, the school of Antioch, and the one in Alexandria where John Philoponus, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen the Great were educated. Origen went on to found the school of Kessaria. And it was the school of Alexandria that educated the famous Christian scholars of Gaza, a land that is suffering a great deal at this time. And one cannot leave out the school of Rome, with Justin and Hippolytus.

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The Church, concludes the ecumenical patriarch, which by its educational activities instructed the people of God in revealed truth through the centuries, owes much to these schools of human thought, which contributed to man's intellectual and spiritual development, drawing him away from useless preservationism. And it is no accident, finally, that most of the members of the philosophical schools were absorbed into Christianity. And Europe cannot ignore this.