| Chapter 15 Conclusion Part II In the last chapter we studied Plato, and to a certain degree, Socrates, to study the mood and intellect of the ancient dichotomous Greeks. I feel that we are beginning to see that in truth there is no difference between the dichotomous Jew and the dichotomous Greek. In this chapter we shall touch briefly on Aristotle, who taught Alexander the great; and a pair of Roman philosophers, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, who were slave and master. Aristotle was a critic in many areas, in the fields of science, philosophy, morals, politics, and literature. Because some of his statements were later proven faulty or dead wrong, it is tempting to totally dismiss him. However, if for no other reason than the fact that he was Alexander the Great's teacher he must be mentioned here. As stated earlier, Aristotle made the final step away from Socrates by approaching all subjects through scientific inquiry. He was unwilling to accept a statement strictly on it's theological value, but insisted on a physical explanation for everything, through either deductive reasoning or inductive reasoning. Because of this, he was unable to make the transition from dichotomy to trichotomy. This requires a step of faith into the intangible and unexplained, and is not proven through the scientific method. Unfortunately, we are told, the final proof, the visible return of our Lord and Saviour will close the time for election, and judgement will commence. There is a danger in over intellectualizing our salvation. In Walter J. Black's publication of 'On Man In The Universe' by Aristotle, we see in Metaphysics, Book XII, Aristotle's description of God, beginning in Chapter 6: "There being three kinds of substance, two that are physical and one immovable, we must now consider the last named and show that there must be some eternal and immovable substance. For substances are the first things that are, and if they are all perishable, everything is bound to perish. But it is impossible that motion should have ever begun to be or should ever be 113 _______________________________________________________________________________ destroyed, for it always was. Time too can never have begun; for there could not be a before nor an after, if time did not exist. Motion then is forever continuing, as time is; for time is either the same as motion or a condition of motion. (But there is no continuous motion but motion in place, and of this only motion in a circle.) If, however, there is something capable of moving or producing things, but which is not actually doing so, there may be no motion, because that which has the potentiality may not be making it actual. Nothing is gained then by supposing substances that are eternal, as the believers in ideas do, unless there is in them a power to cause change.". We pause here for a few comments. Aristotle was refuting Plato's theory of eternally existing ideas. He, also, seemed perplexed to some degree by the need to describe perpetual motion, which he could not reproduce. We see here and throughout, his overwhelming need to label everything with a scientific explanation. We now continue: "And even this would not be enough, nor would any other substance beside the ideas be enough; unless it actually exerted its power, there would be no motion. Furthermore, even if it were active, it would not be enough, if its essence were a potentiality, since in that case there would be no eternal motion. For a thing that exists potentially may perhaps not exist. There must therefore be a first principle of this kind, whose essence is actuality. Moreover, these substances must be free of matter, for they must be eternal - if anything is to be eternal. Thus they must actually be.... For these reasons some thinkers, such as Leucippus and Plato, believe in something forever actual, because they say, motion is everlasting. But why it is and what it is they do not tell, nor, if it moves in such and such a way, do they give us the cause. Now nothing is moved at random, but there must always be something there to move it, even as things are moved in one way by Nature and in another by force or by mind or something else.... Therefore 114 ____________________________________________________________________________ |
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