Philosophy is the scientific investigation or analysis of the causes or principles of reality, knowledge, and values based on logic. On the other hand, religion is a set of beliefs, values, and practices associated with spirituality. To say that philosophy and religion disagree would be an understatement. Several philosophers in the past have taken it upon themselves to take on the mission to mend the gap between the two by ‘Christianizing’ some of the concepts of philosophy.
In the novel, Alberto told Sophie that Aquinas and St. Augustine tried to Christianize, or implement Christian beliefs to, Aristotle and Plato’s findings. The Christianizing of philosophical ideas began because many Christians were unhappy with the ideas that were being established and those philosophers wanted total support so they decided to explain their ideas in a way that would please Christians while also sticking to their original conclusions. This wasn’t particularly difficult because philosophy and Christianity often have similar ideas.
The combining of philosophy and Christianity wasn’t as difficult as expected because of their already similar ideas. This combination of ideas made it easier for philosophers to prove that people are able to recognize the basic differences between right and wrong from the moment we are born. Thanks to Aquinas and St. Augustine’s combination of Plato’s and Aristotle’s teachings with the teachings found in the Bible, it became possible for the philosophical ideas and Christian beliefs to be viewed as similar and even understood as roughly the same ideas.
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