| I think that some religious traditions are better than others, precisely because they are more conformable to philosophic notions of Divinity and morality. In Hinduism, you see the process of assimilating the earlier mythology (the Vedas, with Indra and Ganesha and such) with the higher order theology (the Upanishads, where the ranking of the devi is a result of their realization of the truth that the atman is Brahm, and their understanding of the Trimurti). In Mediterranean paganism, the Stoics and Neoplatonists provided allegorizing interpretations of the old myths, to raise them to a more enlightened level. Buddhism, itself more philosophy than religion at the outset, syncretistically assimilated local mythologies in various configurations to provide a place for the old gods and myths under the perspective of the pantheon of Bodhisattvas, seeking to lead the faithful to enlightenment. By the time the Greeks discovered the Bible, many thought that they had found the nearest thing to a testament of the God of the Philosophers, since the trend of Greek philosophy was monotheistic and moralizing. Justin Martyr, who was one of the most philosophically educated of the early church Fathers, argues that Christianity is the fullfillment of Platonism, accessible to all men, not just an intellectual elite. By the time of Aquinas, the difference between natural theology and revelation, between natural justice and sacred law, and so on, was well understood, and contributed to the idea that there was a common ground that those of differing dogmatic confessions could use to speak to one another. Thus, Aquinas could quote Maimonides or Averroes with respect, as well as Aristotle, of course. In the end, then, it is my view that religion which has made itself accessible to philosophical reflection, is mainly a benign influence on society, and that the more unreflective forms of religion, if treated with some respect, can be brought along to shed some of their more disreputable traits, and become more open to modernizing influences........ |
