THE THEOLOGICAL METHOD OF ST. AUGUSTINE AND ST. THOMAS AQUINAS IS WRONG. Plato was not Christian or even Jewish, but he developed the idea of there being one God, and the idea of heaven, from Greek philosophy. Augustine and Aquinas were influenced by Platonic logic and philosophy. The result of all such adaptation was that Christian theology lost its Biblical purity. Traditional Theology has identified two moments in its methodological dynamics, integrating both faith and reason: I believe that I may understand and I understand that I may believe. St. Augustine of Hippo argued that philosophical reflection firmly grounded in the truth of the Christian faith can help theology. He thought to understand what we believe, we need philosophy - “faith seeks understanding”. But the biblical position is that the anointing in the believer will teach him all things and give enough light to understand what he believes. Hence the position of St. Augustine that the believer needs the philosophy of the world to understand the Biblical truth, is unbiblical, wrong and unacceptable.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. According to Thomas philosophy and theology are distinct enterprises, differing primarily in their intellectual starting points. In Philosophy mind confronts the natural world: what we see, hear, taste, touch, and smell. In Theology, mind confronts the divine revelations contained in the Bible. Thomas Aquinas believed that all people could have a basic knowledge of God purely through natural reason, without any special revelation. Theology is the higher form of wisdom, but it needs the tools of science and philosophy in order to practice its own trade. Theology learns from philosophy, because ultimately theology is a human task. "I understand in order to believe." This position that worldly pagan philosophy is useful to believing is wrong. Understanding need not lead to belief. The wise of the world did not believe in God with their wisdom.

Their position opened the doors to the illegitimate marriage of pagan philosophy and Christian theology for about 2000 years now. This has ultimately lead to the emergence of modern liberal theology which in turn prepared the way for the weakening of Christianity and the revival of Islam and Hinduism.

MODERN LIBERAL THEOLOGY AND THOMAS AQUINAS. Natural theology accepts natural revelation as the basis and raw material for making theology, and rejects the need of special revelation both in written and incarnate word. Natural theology believes God can be just as deeply known through nature as he is through the message of Jesus and the cross. This belief devalues the teachings of Jesus and treats his death on the cross as unnecessary. The division of theology into “natural” and “revealed” had its roots in the writings of Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas (A.D. 1224 - 1274). In an attempt to apply Aristotelian logic to the Christian faith, Aquinas emphasized man’s ability to comprehend certain truths about God from nature alone. Later theologians took Aquinas’s idea and expanded it. Over the years, the miraculous was downplayed as Christianity was reduced more and more to a “rational” philosophy. The deists relied solely on natural theology for their knowledge of God, to the complete exclusion of special revelation. An undue emphasis on natural theology has even accommodated pantheism. Some have gone past the idea that nature is an expression of God to the idea that nature is an extension of God. Since, the logic goes, we are part of nature, then we are all a little part of God, and we can therefore know Him. In more modern times, “natural theology” can also refer to the attempt to synthesize human knowledge from every area of science, religion, history, and the arts. The new natural theology pursues a transcendent “encompassing reality” in which mankind exists, but the focus is humanity, not God; consequently, it is really another form of humanism. NAM?

TERTULLIAN AND PAUL WERE RIGHT IN STANDING FOR REASONING UNDER REVELATION KNOWLEDGE. Some early Christian thinkers such as Paul and Tertullian were of the view that any intrusion of secular philosophy into theological reflection is wrong. Tertullian was convinced that the Christian faith and human wisdom were opposites. It was his conviction that God had revealed His plan of salvation in the Bible alone. So mixing the Biblical theology with the philosophy of the world will only distort God's message. Apostle Paul attempted to reach common ground with them by quoting some of their own philosophers, picking out isolated statements from pagan thinkers which were consistent with Scripture, while still maintaining the absolute truth of Scripture as his foundation. In this way, he was able to gain a hearing with some of his listeners. But this presupposes some familiarity with pagan thought. This familiarity made Paul a more effective witness to his audience. In Athens, we read, Saint Paul entered into discussion with "certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers" (17:18); and exegetical analysis of his speech at the Areopagus has revealed frequent allusions to popular beliefs deriving for the most part from Stoicism. This is by no means accidental. If pagans were to understand them, the first Christians could not refer only to "Moses and the prophets" when they spoke. They had to refer to natural knowledge of God and to the voice of conscience in every human being (cf. Rom 1:19-21; 2:14-15;Acts 14:16-17). Paul's reference to pagan philosophy is not consistent with those of Augustine and Aquinas. He was not using the pagan philosophical references to his understanding of divine revelation truth but for the sake of his unbelieving audience to understand the divine revelation, and thus only as bridge building, communicating the message of gospel to the audience, for evangelism.  This is the right biblical position.

GOD MADE WORLDLY WISDOM FOOLISH. HENCE TO UNDERSTAND CHRISTIAN TRUTH, STUDY OF PHILOSOPHY IS WASTE. In 1 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV) the apostle Paul wrote, “Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Cor. 1:21).

BUT SOME KNOWLEDGE OF THE DECEPTIVE GLOBAL PHILOSOPHY IS USEFUL FOR EVANGELISM. In Colossians 2:8 the apostle Paul wrote, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” Paul is condemning all philosophy that go against knowledge of Christ. One can study philosophy, even “empty and deceptive” philosophy, without being taken captive by it. What does it mean to be “taken captive”? When men are taken captive in war, they are forced to go where their captors lead them. Captives are under the control of their captors. He’s urging them to not let their beliefs and attitudes be controlled by an alien, non-Christian philosophy. He’s not saying that philosophy in general is bad or that it’s wrong to study philosophy as an academic discipline. BUT WE MUST FOCUS CHRIST.

GOOD PHILOSOPHY MUST EXIST AND DEFEND THE TRUTH AGAINST THE ERROR OF BAD PHILOSOPHY. Of course, not all philosophy is friendly to Christianity. Indeed, some of it is downright hostile. The church has always needed, and still needs today, talented men and women who can use philosophy to rationally declare and defend the Christian faith to everyone who asks for a reason for the hope that we have in Christ (1 Pet. 3:15). The early church faced intellectual and cultural ridicule from Romans and Greeks. It was primarily the presence of philosophers and apologists within the church that enhanced the self-image of the Christian community because these early scholars showed that the Christian community was just as rich intellectually and culturally as was the pagan culture surrounding it. Christian philosophers and apologists in our own day continue to serve a similar function. By carefully explaining and defending the Christian faith, they help enhance the self-image of the church, increase the confidence and boldness of believers in evangelism, and help keep Christianity a viable option among sincere seekers in the intellectual marketplace of ideas.

Philosophy is of tremendous value in the tasks of Christian apologetics and polemics. Whereas the goal of apologetics is to provide a reasoned defense of the truth of Christianity, “polemics is the task of criticizing and refuting alternative views of the world.” Both tasks are important, and both are biblical. The apostle Peter tells us to always be ready “to make a defense” for the hope that we have in Christ (1 Pet. 3:15). Jude exhorts us to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (v. 3). And Paul says that elders in the church should “be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict” (Tit. 1:9). The proper use of philosophy can be a great help in fulfilling each of these biblical injunctions. Additionally, good philosophy serves as the handmaid of theology by bringing clarity and precision to the formulation of Christian doctrine. The task of the theologian can be made easier with the help of his friends in philosophy.