Plato and Luther

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Christianity inherited much of its ethics and discourse from ancient Greek philosophers; although Platonic philosophy and Christian theology differed in their scope, Plato and Martin Luther converged regarding the efficacy of faith. The author points out that salvation is central to both Plato's and Luther's writings; for Luther, salvation of the body and of the soul is attained through faith in Christ and Plato expresses similar sentiments, when rather than confess to crimes he was not guilty of, Socrates remains true to his faith. The paper relates that both Luther and Plato expound on the importance of obedience to the word of God for obtaining eternal salvation.

From the Paper:

"Luther states, "For faith alone...bring salvation." More important than one's actions or deeds, faith clarifies an individual's devotion to God. Luther suggests that good deeds may be meaningless when they are performed without ascription to Christ. For Luther, faith is therefore expressed most strongly through a belief in the resurrection. The resurrection becomes the central symbol for Christianity and the most significant means by which a human being can express faith in God because of the inherent irrationality of the resurrection. For a human being to make the leap of faith that such a belief requires implies total and true devotion to God."

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