Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, are the ways by which we, as Christians, attain Truth. But simultaneously, there are things that we can see, in ourselves, in the world, in logic, namely in the understanding and philosophy which preceded Christianity, that affirm the truth as we know it through the Scriptures and faith. But in recognizing these things, are we betraying the faith and falling towards weakness? In Tertullian’s “Prescription against Heretics,” he discusses the nature of heresy. He makes the point first, that heresy is always around, for it is a result of weakness, and there is always weakness. Second, that it is self-inflicted, just as sin is. His main point is that it displays a lack of faith, because it more often than not comes out of man’s desire to justify or explain things that don’t make worldly sense, rather than trusting that they are true through faith. Faith is the full submission of the self to God, the Divine, heresy being the lack thereof. “Our instruction comes from ‘the porch of Solomon,’ who had himself taught that ‘the Lord should be sought in simplicity of heart.’” Therefore seeking God through reason as if trying to prove Him is heretical. “The Son of God was crucified; I am not ashamed because men must needs be ashamed of it. And the Son of God died; it is by all means to be believed, because it is absurd. And He was buried, and rose again; the fact is certain, because it is impossible.” To be a Christian means to come to God as a child, an obedient child, thus submitting to Him without question.

So if Faith is full submission to the Divine, and lack of faith constitutes heresy, and man inserting his own contemplation into the faith is a display of lack of faith, then this is heresy. This leaves a bit of a problem for the Athens Christians, those who came out of a pagan world. Tertullian expresses this sentiment in his more well known phrase, “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” In the section where he writes this, he writes about how the pagan ideals, philosophy and dialectic of Athens influence its Christianity. To him this is a prime example of inserting the contemplations of man into the Word of God, or heresy. “Away with all attempts to produce a mottled Christianity of Stoic, Platonic, and dialectic composition! We want no curious disputation after possessing Christ Jesus, no inquisition after enjoying the gospel! With our faith, we desire no further belief. For this is our palmary faith, that there is nothing which we ought to believe besides. “

Clement of Alexandria is an Athens Christian who does these things which Tertullian speaks against. In Clement’s work The Paedagogus, he writes of God as the Divine Instructor. God is the instructor and we are his children, and he transforms our souls for the higher Good. He uses language that suggests similarities to that of the philosophers. He guides us away from the passions of the soul, which are irrational for they are against reason, and creates virtue in us, which is that which is reasonable. This language is identical to that of the Stoics and Platonists; that we should not indulge our passions but look to Reason, for all that is against Reason is irrational, and that which is in alignment with it is Good, and considered “virtue.” Here is a quote from The Paedagogus: “But if human wisdom, as it remains to understand, is the glorying in knowledge, hear the law of Scripture: ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the mighty man glory in his might; but let him that glories glory in the Lord.’ But we are God-taught, and glory in the name of Christ.” He makes the point that God teaches us, not only through his Word, but through life. He can shape us towards good and virtue and incline our hearts to his Wisdom, therefore the wisdom of the world (foolishness) that Tertullian so speaks of, according to Clement is still also the wisdom of God.

So Tertullian claims that man should need no further belief than his faith in the Word of God. Any contemplations that man makes which are outside of the concreteness of the Word itself are foolish and a show of weakness of faith. Clement, however, as an Athens Christian, uses the wisdom of the stoic and other philosophers to articulate ideas about the Faith. The heart of the conflict lies in the idea of what the meaning of “worldly wisdom” means. To Tertullian, he just cites Proverbs. The wisdom of the world is just foolishness, for it abides not in God or Christ but in man’s own inferior mind. Clement, however claims that some of this “worldly wisdom” is God-taught. Does wisdom become stupid when the thing that it is directed it is not Christ? Or is wisdom still wise, just incomplete, without God? Wisdom is how one should live their life. Tertullian would claim that if their life is not for God, it is not wise, but Clement may assert that how one approaches the Good is a big part of wisdom. His approach to the faith is basically substituting God into the principles of Stoicism, which just happen to coincide with the principles expressed in God’s word.

I am inclined to agree more with Clement. I believe that Christianity did not cancel out every part of Paganism; it did not just tell them, “you’re wrong, only we have the truth,” but rather, “You are on the right track, but here is the truth which completes it.” When Plato talks of the Good, True, and Beautiful, Reason, the gods, as all the other philosophers do, he is only using these terms because he does not know of the God of the Trinity, who fulfills all of these roles. God is the Good, True, and Beautiful, he is the force which drives all things, he is Reason, he is Justice, he is Virtue, and he is Love. Philosophers sought Truth, and when Truth came in the form of a man, all of their contemplations needed not go further. Christ provided an end to their contemplations, and satisfied their hearts. Now, I do also see the value in Tertullian’s argument. It is indeed by Faith alone that we should believe in God, because unlike everything else, God is not a contingent reality, but rather an eternal truth. He is, in spite of all things, what we may call evidence or indication. So if all things which point to Christ, all contemplations that were somewhat in accordance with the Word, were to disappear, a Christian would not stop believing, for it would be by faith that he knows the Truth. But if there are other things which are clearly in front of us that point to Christ in various different ways, then there is no heresy or corruption in acknowledging them, though at the end of all, it is grounded in faith. Just as the beauty of nature and the glory of art proclaims his Creation and divine intelligence, it is not what a Christian would rely on for belief. So, Clement and Tertullian I’m sure can agree that faith is the basis for all belief initially, and the belief does not die until the faith does.

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