Christian Philosophy

One of the greatest problems in modern Christianity today is the lack of intellectualism. We know nothing of Church history, or the nature of the Sacraments, or even the validity of Holy Canon itself. We push ahead without looking behind and call ourselves "progressive" and then mock the past and call it "stagnant"or worse.

Understanding the past it key to living in the present and forming the future. Nowhere is this more clearly demonstrated than in Christian thought and tradition.

When one has read the great Christian Classics, including St. Augustine, St. Jerome, Justin Martyr, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Eusebius, Bede, he is much more able to defend his faith against the heresies that arise against the Church today - neo-Gnosticism, neo-Arianism, etc. Even the Protestant Classics are beneficial - Spurgeon, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and most importantly, C.S. Lewis. His work is among the greatest of modern Christian thought and free from denominational scathing. He clarifies important doctrines and confronts thorny theological issues like few other writers have done and he does it in the Old Style, reminiscent of St. Augustine and the rest. Naturally, he might be horrified if he could see this post and see my respect for his work, but he, like it or not, has become a Christian giant.

This post has little point that I can see (I am putting it together as I go along), but I suppose my goal is impressing the immense importance of highly intellectualized study, both of the written Word and of the Classics. We must look back in order to look forward. So go get those dusty Bibles (Catholic Bibles, mind you) off the shelves and read them thoroughly. When you have done that, read the books by Bishop Eusebius, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and C.S. Lewis. Spend a few years, read them all. When you are done, well-equipped you are to defend the Holy Mother Church!