Martin Luther's anti-Aristotelianism:

[Abd al-Haqq Marshall]

I find that his thoughts on Aristotle's influence on Christianity can readily be applied to our opposition to Ashari thought if you replace words like "church" with "ummah" or "Christ and the Apostles" with "Muhammad and the Sahabah":

"The men who interpret them [Aristotle's works] are bound to keep silence, not for five years as did the Pythagoreans, but forever and ever, like the dead. They must believe all, obey always; nor may they ever, even for practice in argument, skirmish with their master, nor mutter a syllable against him. What will they not believe who have credited that ridiculous and injurious blasphemer Aristotle? His propositions are so absurd that an ass or a stone would cry out at them.

"My soul longs for nothing so ardently as to expose and publicly shame that Greek buffoon, who like a spectre has befooled the Church. If Aristotle had not lived in the flesh I should not hesitate to call him a devil.

"The schoolmen had forced the contents of divine revelation into the thought forms of the Aristotelian philosophy. In course of time they had borrowed from him not only the dialectical forms, but also his definitions and principles. Aristotle had behaved himself as the proverbial camel. At first the schoolmen had allowed him to protrude his nose into the tent of Christian theology. He had ended by forcing his way in completely. Philosophy at first had acted as the handmaid of theology, but finally became its mistress. Hagar had usurped Sarah's place. The teaching of the Church had been corrupted by a rationalism, in which Aristotle had been permitted to sit in judgment on Christ and the Apostles.

"The greatest part of my cross is to be forced to see brothers with brilliant minds, born for useful studies, compelled to spend their lives and waste their labor in these follies."

Taken from http://www.tamuk.edu/mcpe/kirch.htm

[Suhaib Jobst]

Jazakallah Khair. I remember as a former Catholic, reading some church books which made doctrinal statements very similar to Greek philosophers such as Aristotle. It is clear that the pure hanif message of Isa ('alaihi sallam), was corrupted and church leaders made serious compromises with the temporal authorities and other institutions whose basis went back to Greco-Roman traditions. Of course, the source was not acknowledged, but rather it was couched into Christian terms.

So in this sense, Martin Luther was closer to Islam than the Catholic Church. It is good he abandoned the practice of indulgences, the belief the priests and church fathers were intermediaries between human beings and God, and the complex philosophical tradition. The sad fact is, however, Martin Luther failed to make any compromises on the fundamental problem of the Trinity.

[Abuz Zubair]

Very interesting! JK for sharing with us!

[Skillganon]

Actually even if you have studied a bit of christian apocropya you can find lot of alarming text.

You will find clearly greek philosphical influence and even gnostic influence.

Although this apocrophya have foreign influence their are elements of truth in it. Like some stories of Esa.

For example: His crucifixion and some miracle that are not found in the Bible.

[Suhaib Jobst]

The following are some examples from a book still in my possession, which outlines the official doctrines and teachings of the Catholic Church. The inherent philosophical nature of these arguments are clear, and so is the very pantheistic nature, which not as blatant as the arguments of the ancient Greek philosophers, is present nevertheless and couched in terms of "monotheistic" Christian theology....

"God is not the name of some impersonal force; He is not merely some dimension or depth of the universe. He is a personal God, a God of knowledge and love who is forever, entirely distinct from all He chose to make. He created freely, out of love." (The Teaching of Christ: A Catholic Catechism for Adults, 2nd edition, Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 1983, p. 45).

Although Catholic theologians affirm that God is distinct from the creation, they make similar conclusions as the philosophers, i.e. linking Him with love and knowledge, akin to saying our human emotions are divine and we can discover God solely through those mediums, without singling out Him in worship.

"The Catholic faith speaks clearly of the many facets of the revealed doctrine of creation. 'This one and only true God, of His own goodness and 'almighty power,' not in order to increase or to acquire His happiness, but in order to manifest His perfection through the blessings He bestows on His creatures, by a most free decision 'from the very beginning of time created out of nothing both the spiritual and the corporeal creature, that is, the angelic and the earthly, and then the human creature, which is as it were common to both, being composed of spirit and body.'" (ibid.).

This seems to be comparing human beings to the angels, whose inherent nature we allegedly possess, i.e. from the Light of God. As for confirmation that Catholic theologians are encouraged to view philosophical methods as useful to arrive at questions of faith:

"The Church welcomes not only a certain pluralism of expression, but also a certain philosophical pluralism. A Catholic philosopher is by no means required to accept the methods and techniques of any particular philosophy. Indeed, the creative work of many philosophical schools has been found useful in understanding and serving the message of faith. There is, however, a kind of 'Christian philosophy' that has developed over the centuries." (ibid., p. 50).

After making a long effort to state the human qualities of Isa ('alaihi sallam), here are some statements which are clearly pantheistic and captures the essence behind the contradictory Christian doctrine of the Trinity:

"The Catholic faith steadfastly professes that Jesus is literally and truly God, the eternal Son of the eternal Father." (ibid., p. 83).

"He who is almighty, the eternal Lord of all, whose unseen might and mercy sustain all things, 'stepped into the tide of the years' and 'dwelt among us' in the visible humanity He had made His own." (ibid., pp. 83-84).

"We have been so loved by God that the eternal Son of God, Himself true God, has become our Brother." (ibid., p. 84).

[Skillganon]

Read "Aristides the Philosopher of Athen" (http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/aristides-kay.html)

It is an intersting read