Christianity was born into a world which was dominated by philosophy. Plato was prominent among the philosophers and thrived on probing all theories put forward until the truth was established. The initial followers of Christianity did not support questioning of their religion because they viewed it as being divine. However, a new crop of believers arose in Alexandria and Athens where philosophy thrived. These are the ones that started putting the teachings of Jesus into organized formats. Philosophers like Justin Martyr also converted to Christianity and just like Socrates fought the old establishment by pushing for reasoned believes as opposed to blind obedience. Later, it became more accepted and learned Christians relied on philosophy to provide a neutral view of things. Christian teachers like, Origen went further to translate most of the works of Aristotle and also came up with his own works which seemed to merge the two disciplines.
Organized education arose from the informal study of philosophy. Young men with an insatiable desire for knowledge followed teachers from place to place so as to get and assimilate knowledge. After some time, that generation seemed to be more interested in the physical aspect which included astronomy and physics. They also had the resolve to document all existing information in a manner that would be accessible. This gave rise to fields like law. The drive later helped the creation of universities which were able to teach a certain field and issue a degree. Resultantly, the focus slowly shifted from the desire to acquire knowledge to building a career. New field like arts and linguistics came up leading to the evolution of education and religion, both of which contained philosophy.
In the sixteenth century, the humanists formed a strong opposition to theology, arts and law terming the proponents of these declines as largely academic and uncompassionate. Led by Erasmus, they castigated theology for having ‘forgotten’ the Bible while pursuing intellectual satisfaction. Luther in 1521 questioned how universities had changed the initial intentions of religion to a worldly adventure by merging it with philosophy. This led to the Catholic Church to address Protestants and introduction of humanity courses in the universities. Lutheranism came to live, and many more took up his fight in tearing down what was perceived to be a rigid Roman catholic church. However, in the seventeenth century it also had its share of scholastic controversy. In the 1560s, Protestants passed the use of vernacular and abolished celibacy for clergy. Catholics nonetheless rejected the later. Universities proved to be resilient by establishing faculties which suited both the environment they operated in and the academicians.
Question: Is sacred doctrine defendable?
Sacred doctrine is advocated by a certain class of believers who do not like to question. The background of a person plays a vital role in accepting doctrines by way of faith. If one has been brought up in a family which belong to such school of thought, and never interacts with people of opposed opinion, they are bound to follow blindly. The level of education also plays a role in accepting or rejecting sacred doctrine. When one is exposed to many points of view, they tend to develop intellectual curiosity. It is this thirst of knowledge that leads one to questioning these doctrines. However, this school of thought is not defendable because human beings have brains which they should utilize. By making use of the brains, they question the doctrine and therefor it does lose the sacred mystery. Those that have been indoctrinated still believe, and likely hold that view for a long time. However, this number is minimal and will diminish with time.
