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Orthodox Philosophy & Ethics

Orthodoxy & Hellenistic Philosophy

Orthodoxy & Hellenistic Philosophy, by Spiridon Ion Cepleanu, 2014-12-21
Double headed eagle of the Byzantine Empire Spiridon Ion Cepleanu, 2014-12-21 Public domain

The Church Fathers 'baptized' Greek philosophy: using Platonic, Aristotelian, and Stoic concepts to articulate Christian truth while rejecting pagan theology. Key syntheses: Ousia/Hypostasis terminology (Cappadocians), logos theology (Justin Martyr), apophatic method (Pseudo-Dionysius). Orthodoxy insists philosophy serves theology, not the reverse: 'philosophy is the handmaid of theology.'

Sources

  • St. Justin Martyr, Second Apology, Ch. 13 ANF
  • St. Basil the Great, Address to Young Men on Reading Greek Literature
  • Georges Florovsky, The Ways of Russian Theology archive.org

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