Chrześcijanie przeciwko filozofii greckiej. Uwagi na temat antyfilozoficznych postaw apologetów

Abstract

In History of philosophy handbooks Christian apologists of 2nd century are often shown as divided in two groups. First group with the most famous Justin Martyr had a positive attitude towards Greek philosophy. Second was rejecting philosophy as containing only lies, and useless in building true knowledge about God and universe. The most severe critics of philosophical thinking was Tatian and Tertullian. This article shows, that such division is a simplification of the matter, which causes unjust opinions o f anti-philosophical authors. They surely spoke against philosophy, but there are no evidences that, by underlying the importance of faith, they spoke against reason. Second-century apologetics writings were voices of times which are often called “epoch of anxiety” and it surely had influence on the sharpness of their oratorical style. It seems that each of these authors agreed that Greek thinking contained certain truth. But philosophers cannot give the man certain knowledge and means to achieve ultimate happiness. So it is most o f all critique o f the practical aspect of philosophy as the way of life, not the critique of theoretical concepts. That’s why Christianity was in their eyes only and true philosophy.