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How Did the Roman Greek Europe and Renssisan Art Affect the Cultures

Written By Friday, April 29, 2022 Add Comment Edit

Judaism gave birth to Christianity in a Greco-Roman world where Christianity'due south Jewish roots merged with the Roman imperial culture and Greek philosophical ideas to mold Christianity into the institution information technology became in the early Church and through the Eye-Ages. Some of this Greco-Roman influence tin can be seen in the following ways:

  • Plato'southward philosophy profoundly influenced the early Christian debate regarding the nature of God,
  • Aristotle'southward philosophy was the basis for much of the scholastic movement in the Church during the late Middle-Ages,
  • Pilgrimages to Greek oracles paved the way to monasticism, and
  • The Roman magisterial structure influenced the Church building arrangement.

You may recall the comical father of the bride in the movie "Large Fat Greek Wedding" who proudly proclaimed that everything of value in the world today came from Greece. Considering the substance and volume of advancements realized in aboriginal Greece, this assertion is not far from the truth. His attitude regarding the unmatched significance of Greece was shared by many of the ancient Greeks. Alexander the Great certainly believed that Hellenistic culture was the gods' gift to humanity, which he had a duty to export throughout the world. Let's take a glimpse at the Greco-Roman world and see if we tin spot various ways it impacts Christian theology and influences society today.

greek origins of mathematicsThe emergence of private rights and republic in the Western World is traced dorsum to 6th Century B.C. Athens. The Greeks developed many of the basic rules of mathematics, peculiarly for geometry. The Pythagorean theorem is the bane of students to this 24-hour interval. These mathematical discoveries advanced the arts and architecture which proceed to influence the mod world. The Greek physician, Hippocrates, is considered the "male parent of medicine." Indeed, many of the advancements of science in the modern era that we view as original and monumental are just reiterations and refinements of ancient Greek scientific ideas. Most people today will be surprised to learn that long earlier Copernicus declared that the globe rotated effectually the dominicus, Gregor Mendel experimented with the genetics of pea plants, and Charles Darwin wrote On the Origin of Species, ancient Greeks were pedagogy the essence of the ideas these modern scientists "discovered."1

This unbroken chain of Hellenistic influence stretches from aboriginal Greece to the Roman Empire , the Muslim golden age, medieval Christendom, the Renaissance , and modern science. When Rome conquered Hellenic republic, Romans adopted much of the Greek culture. ancient greek vaseIndeed, Horace wrote, "Captive Greece took captive her uncivilized conqueror and instilled her arts in rustic Latium." Greek civilization is the foundation of Western culture, and its philosophy greatly influenced Christian idea and dogmas. Above all of these cracking accomplishments, the greatest Greek influence on the world was classical Greek philosophy with its emphasis on the role of reason.

Socrates

Socrates (470–399 B.C.) is the most famous philosopher for a reason. Philosophers before him were mainly concerned with explaining physical phenomena and less concerned with the inner homo. Socrates is credited with being the father of philosophy because he taught that the private must begin by outset examining himself. One needs to "Know thyself" in club to examine the world. Fifty-fifty then, he exclaimed, "Ane thing I know, and that is that I know nil." The basis of his approach to reason was to dubiousness everything, be inquisitive, and to inquire questions. He taught past asking questions, a practice utilized in constabulary schools to this day. The Socratic method insists on defining terms before any contend, logical thinking and accurate analysis. He believed in one God, but endeavored to create a moral organisation independent of organized religion that was reasonable for all to follow, regardless of their religious understanding. He gave nascency to philosophy that was concerned with the morality of humans and society and non simply based on our interaction with the material earth.

Withal, many of his contemporaries were upset with his corrupting influence on the youth of his 24-hour interval. He wandered almost with no visible means of support, entertaining the questions of wealthy youth who flocked to him. He undermined their faith in the gods of Olympus and the established order of their civilization. He distrusted democracy for its trend to dumb down gild and reward mediocrity. When an aristocratic minority'southward revolution failed, Socrates' fate was set. Even though he was personally quite pacific, he was still the intellectual source of the rebellion. Given a risk to recant or escape by blackmail, he refused. He stated that he had to remain true to the inner voice that directed his thoughts and actions. So hemlock became his final repast while several faithful followers endeavored to save him. 1 of those followers was Plato (428–348 B.C.), the Greek philosopher who would have a huge influence on formative early Christian concepts. Upon reading Plato's apology for Socrates , one of my astonished teenage sons remarked, "I didn't know aboriginal philosophers believed in following the voice of the Spirit, like they teach in Church ?" Socrates' dedication to truth notwithstanding influences youth today.

Greek Philosophy

Plato

After Socrates' death, twenty-eight twelvemonth-old Plato realized that Athens was no longer safe, so he left and traveled the world, standing Socrates quest for truth. He visited Italian republic, Egypt , Judea, and India. He returned to Greece as a well traveled xl twelvemonth-old human. The first Christian philosopher, Justin Martyr (110–155 A.D.), insisted that Plato adopted many concepts from Judaism while developing his philosophy. Plato believed in one God, that humans come downwardly to globe from a pre-mortal being with God and will either go back upwards to heaven or down to hell when we dice. The Christian concept of a person's ultimate terminate being either in sky to a higher place the earth or in hell below comes from Plato , which binary concept replaced Paul's teachings of three heavens or degrees of glory.

Plato ascribes many of his teachings to Socrates , but eloquently elaborates on them. Plato believed in a duelist view of beingness, a temporal world and a non-cloth world. This physical world was created by a transcendent eternal being, a chief craftsman, who initiated time and fashioned this material universe in replica of a pre-existing eternal model. This eternal model is the essence of and more real than the physical substance we touch with our easily and see with our eyes. This eternal essence is the intellectual ideal of the material replica. The circle or triangle nosotros meet in our mind'southward eye is more real than the one we draw on the chalkboard because the image we hold in our mind is flawless, not subject to distortion, and eternal while the prototype on the lath is imperfect and volition before long be erased. Plato called these eternal unvarying ethics forms. Call back of forms as the intellectual belongings of a patented invention that is worth much more than the first physical epitome.

Universe
These non-material intelligible forms always existed in the heed of the eternal craftsman, and he used them to impose mathematical lodge on chaos to organize an orderly universe. The pre-cosmic universe consisted of eternal pre-existing substrata substance that moved in an erratic disorganized mode and produced only traces of the iv fundamental elements, earth, air, water and burn down that these substrata particles would eventually get. These quasi-particles acted every bit receptacles that the divine craftsman filled with these intelligible forms to create affair, and through a procedure, brought order to the universe. Plato refers to the universe as a living organism that possesses intelligence associated with these forms which he views as a sort of soul. Souls of individual humans consist of this same course of intelligence or soul equally the universe, but at a lower level. Early on Christians liked this concept and adapted it to a belief that God imbued matter with a portion of his grace and thereby was intimately involved in the affairs of this mortal globe. This concept was referred to as realism due to the idea that these "spiritual" forms were more existent than the physical realm, and this formed the ground for a potent belief in God'due south providence that permeated Christendom throughout the Middle Ages, echoing even to this day.

Human intellect always existed and is the essence of beingness human.

Plato believed that intelligence is not a form or substance but a class of eternal essence all its own. Homo intellect always existed and is the essence of being human. Plato endeavored to prove human pre-being by pointing out that we all know things which nosotros did non acquire during this life, so nosotros must exist remembering things that nosotros previously knew. He subscribed to Socrates' description of himself every bit a midwife, helping others to give birth to ideas that were already inside them. Humans autumn from heaven when they get imprisoned in their physical bodies and desire to return dorsum where they belong. In this mortal state nosotros are influenced by three central forces: our intellect centered in our caput, our emotions centered in our chest, and our appetites establish in our gut and loins. These two mortal forces, appetites and passions, interfere with our intellect and throw our eternal essence out of residuum, so it is imperative for man to learn how to utilize his intellect to control his appetites and passions.

Everything was created for a purpose, and fulfillment comes from realizing that objective. Happiness is the ultimate goal for humans. But this concept entails much more than what our modern conception of happiness implies. The Greeks did non believe it meant living a hedonistic lifestyle, but instead it meant true fulfillment, realizing our total potential, reaching our destiny. They used the term telos, from which the term theology is derived, to encapsulate this concept of the consummation of our ultimate purpose. Human happiness comes from realizing our divine destiny to return to our pre-mortal country of harmony and unity with intelligence. Evil is disharmony, so living an orderly life through reason is the goal for a truly successful life.

Plato introduced the idea of eternity–beyond fourth dimension–to Greek philosophy.

Plato introduced the idea of eternity–beyond fourth dimension–to Greek philosophy. This concept plays an of import part in subsequent philosophy and Christian theology. Plato believed that diverse things are eternal while others are created. Created things change, deteriorate, and cease to be. They are not eternal. All the same, God is eternal, and consequently is both perfect and unchangeable because one can't change perfection. Plato held that this textile earth is good because it was created afterwards a prefect model, but it has flaws that were created past other cooperating lesser gods in the artistic process. Neo-Platonists took this concept fifty-fifty further to concur that this textile world is not of divine origin but is evil. This concept greatly influenced early Christian Gnostics and fifty-fifty the Christian creeds. Renowned historian, Will Durant, wrote in his distinguished work, The Story of Philosophy: "Much of the politics of Catholicism was derived from Plato…the ideas of heaven, purgatory , and hell, in their medieval grade, are traceable to the last volume of the Democracy; the cosmology of scholasticism comes largely from the Timaeus; the doctrine of realism (the objective reality of general ideas) was an interpretation of the doctrine of Ideas." Plato's influence on philosophy, Greco-Roman culture and Christian theology tin hardly be overstated.

Aristotle

Aristotle (385–323 B.C.) was ane of Plato'south star pupils and built his philosophy on much that Plato taught, but diverged from him in diverse ways. One of Aristotle'due south greatest contributions was his creation of logic as a scientific discipline. He developed formulas to exam and right ideas and propositions. He determined that correct thinking can be distilled down to universal rules like math and physics, and tin and then be taught to any normal person . His work became the foundation of medieval scholasticism , which we will discuss later. Based on his approach to logic, Aristotle finds Plato's teaching that universal concepts are a reality to exist nonsensical. He propounds a more tangible hands-on philosophy.

Ernest Renan states, " Socrates gave philosophy to mankind, and Aristotle gave it science."i Aristotle was quite the naturalist. Beyond his ain efforts, information technology is said that at whatsoever given time he would accept grand students scouring the known globe, collecting specimens of flora and creature. He meticulously listed, analyzed and categorized each species in groups of ascending general attributes. Aristotle'south work remained the foundation of science until the Enlightenment , nearly two thousand years subsequently.

Aristotle Zoology insects Aristotle Zoology birds

Everything is guided by an inner urge to go something greater than it is.

Many of Aristotle's philosophical ideas spring from his biological science. He ended that evolution is not adventitious or haphazard. Everything is guided past an inner urge to become something greater than it is. A bird's egg internally is designed to produce the aforementioned type of bird and not a snake. It is not a divine craftsman that instills this purposeful existence in creation but nature itself, which each organism inherits from its parent. Unlike Plato , Aristotle believed that the grade or essence of an item was contained in the object itself and was not some abstract idea. He concluded that the course or essence of an object is the feature of an object, and matter is what information technology is made of. Then, the form of a chair consists of a seat with a base or legs and a dorsum, but the matter information technology is fabricated of is woods or some other type of affair. Thus, grade and matter are unified to produce a material object without the directly aid of a hands-on transcendent causal agent. Aristotle'due south concept of course and matter was integral in the development of the concept of transubstantiation of the bread and wine of the Eucharist , which nosotros will discuss in depth later.

Aristotle found that fifty-fifty though nature internally contains its pattern, there still must be a god that initiated the procedure of motion to bring most creation. Affair may be eternal, just information technology notwithstanding needed some forcefulness to set things in motion to create the universe. To Aristotle , this forcefulness is an eternal, perfect, immaterial, unchanging god. He is pure energy, more akin to a magnetic strength than a person . Aristotle says that God is this "prime number mover unmoved." He is the first cause of all things, yet after setting everything in motion he does nada considering he is perfect and not afflicted by whatever outside stimuli. Will Durant describes it well: "Aristotle's God never does anything; he has no desires, no will, no purpose; he is activity so pure that he never acts. He is absolutely perfect; therefore he cannot want anything; therefore he does nada. His merely occupation is to contemplate the essence of things; and since he himself is the essence of all things, the form of all forms, his sole employment is the contemplation of himself."ii   This concept was instrumental in the germination of the creeds declaring that God is without body, parts or passion .

"Aristotle's God never does anything; he has no desires, no will, no purpose; he is activity so pure that he never acts. He is admittedly perfect; therefore he cannot desire annihilation; therefore he does nothing. His only occupation is to contemplate the essence of things; and since he himself is the essence of all things, the form of all forms, his sole employment is the contemplation of himself."

In spite of all his contributions to the development of logic and science, he realized that the greatest question of all was what is the purpose of life? Like Plato , he concluded it was to notice happiness through fulfillment of our eternal destiny. Aristotle taught that humans realize fulfillment past developing the unique homo feature of a rational mind.

Aristotle taught that humans realize fulfillment by developing the unique human characteristic of a rational mind.

Our rational mind is eternal, while our physical body is temporal . Rational thinking leads to a life of moderation. He called this the golden mean or middle style between two extremes. We develop virtue by obtaining knowledge and experience to enable us to improve live a life of moderation. Virtues are formed through our actions. They are habits, not simply single isolated acts. Humans realize their divine potential and find happiness through a concerted effort to learn wisdom by living a rational life of moderation. Aristotle's instruction that we tin acquire and develop virtues through practice greatly influenced medieval scholastic theology and Catholic practices that Protestants rejected.

Aristotle's teaching that we tin acquire and develop virtues through practice profoundly influenced medieval scholastic theology and Catholic practices that Protestants rejected.

Alexander the Dandy

Alexander The GreatAlexander the Keen's father, Philip, united all of the various Greek states under his rule. He invited the near renowned thinker in Greece, Aristotle , to instruct Alexander when he was thirteen years erstwhile. Aristotle likely instilled in Alexander a vision of extending the blessings of classic Greek culture to the whole world. At a very young age Alexander conquered the Mediterranean world as far east every bit India and set nigh a concerted effort to assimilate each nation into Greek culture. His dream was to create a Pan-Hellenic world where there would no longer exist Greeks and Barbarians. He encouraged his soldiers to intermarry and he established institutions similar the gymnasium to infuse Greek culture into the conquered societies. He assimilated the religions of the conquered people by asserting that all of the gods were the same only they were only chosen by dissimilar names in different cultures. Alexander established a corking city bearing his proper name in Arab republic of egypt on the oral fissure of the Nile that became a great center of learning. Here Platonist philosophers, especially the Stoics , promoted an allegorical estimation of Classic Greek literature, which arroyo was then practical to Jewish and Christian scriptures. The dispute between the Alexandrian allegorical approach and the Antioch literal arroyo to interpreting scripture became a central issue in Christian doctrinal disputes that prompted and shaped the creeds. Greek became the universal language throughout the conquered world. With all this, Greece left its imprint on the Mediterranean world for nearly two thousand years. Library in Alexandria Egypt

The impact of Alexander the Not bad on Christianity is greater than almost persons realize. Some scholars argue that he is the source of the myth of Jesus' divinity, while some religious persons see in Alexander a blazon or forerunner for Christ . Regardless, at a minimum, he provided a span between the monotheistic culture of the Jews and the quasi-polytheistic doctrine of Christianity (trinity) facilitating the conversion of Jews and Gentiles to Christianity. What am I referring to?

There are a number of parallels betwixt Jesus and Alexander. They both died when they were 33 years erstwhile. They both claimed divine sonship and dual paternity (Zeus for Alexander) and equally human beings with flesh and blood they broke the bulwark between humanity and the divine. Virgin births are attributed to both and world rule were their destiny, yet they both died before they fully realized their missions to bless all humanity. The popular ancient myths surrounding Alexander certainly contributed to the acceptance of the Christian message, even if its influence was subliminal.

Reason, Oracles and Mystery Cults

Aristotle's didactics that virtue is realized through an active life of moderation complemented Socrates' teaching that virtue is obtained with knowledge and Plato's quest for harmony, and formed the foundation of the Greco-Roman culture that valued reason practically more than anything else. Numerous philosophical schools adult over fourth dimension, with varying degrees of acceptance. Three that had the greatest impact on Christian ideas and practices were the Stoics , Pythagoreans and the Epicureans . The Stoics were the most influential moral philosophers in the ancient globe. They taught that a virtuous life was obtained through living a life of reason without passions. They viewed passions as a corrupting outside influence that moves people. Hence, the term motion is contained in the word emotion. The most wise and virtuous person has no passions. Many early Christians adopted this thought which contributed to the merits in the Christian creeds that God does not take any emotions, including love , pity or anger. The Stoics were materialists and believed that God and our soul were literally made out of hot air and divine eternal light. Some early on Christians concurred with the Stoics and believed that God did have a material being, while subsequent theologians rejected this idea.

The Pythagorean and Epicurean philosophy schools formed organized communal centers where moral standards were taught and followers lived an acerb lifestyle. Ironically, these tight communities provided a rough model followed past Jewish separatist groups such every bit the Essenes (the grouping that wrote the Dead Ocean Scrolls) and later on past monks and nuns in Christian monastic orders, which both sprang into existence in a big measure as a reaction to increased Hellenization of Judaism and subsequently of Christianity. The emphasize of these Greek schools on an ascetic lifestyle has had a major impact on Christian beliefs, doctrine and practices throughout the ages.

Female oraclesFemale oracles played a major role in Hellenist society and in the creation of monasticism in Christianity. An oracle was a person who acted as a medium who spoke on behalf of a god and was the source of wisdom and prophetic utterances. The discussion actually means "ane who speaks." The Oracle of Delphi was the virtually popular and influential oracle in ancient Greece, with hordes of people including wealthy citizens and rulers flocking to seek guidance from her and her assistants. Pilgrimages to various oracles were a regular aspect of the Hellenistic world. This tradition continued in Christendom with hermits, renowned monks and relics replacing the oracles equally the source of wisdom and healing.

The ancient Greek mystery cults also influenced early Christianity, peculiarly the heresies associated with Gnosticism . A central chemical element of these mystery schools was the secrecy associated with their initiation rites and ritual practice, and with the hidden knowledge associated with these rituals. In the 2nd century, Justin Martyr asserted that these cults were "demonic imitations" of the true faith and the covenant, rituals and doctrine that God gave to Moses , evidently referring to temple worship. Scholars assert that this elevation of mystery played a role in the development of the sacraments in Christianity, and its reliance on and ease of acceptance of mystery to explain the inconsistencies involving the trinity and the incarnation of Christ .

Greco-Roman Civilization

religion was a public and political activity geared towards maintaining society in a civil society.

Greek and Roman social club was non specially religious in and of itself. Instead, they were primarily concerned with order and stability. Consequently, religious practice played a vital role in maintaining this order in what is referred to as the combined "city of gods and men." Equally such, organized religion was a public and political activeness geared towards maintaining order in a civil society. The Roman Empire was particularly friendly to the new religions of its conquered people and tried to assimilate these conquered societies into the orderly Roman culture by claiming that all of their gods were basically the same as the Roman gods merely simply were called different names. Yet, no tolerance was given to whatsoever belief that appeared to promote destructive ideas. This is where Christianity got into trouble.

Athens Greece

This Hellenistic society was deeply stratified. A very small noble grade endemic great estates every bit absentee landlords. Depending on time and location slaves fabricated upward 25-50% of the population and provided much of the labor provided by technology today. Cities were big and crowded. Order was maintained in society through the practice of patronage. The wealthy noble class would distribute cloth benefits to their clients whom they felt were worthy in return for the award these clients would bestow upon their patrons. Award and shame were a major motivating factor of daily life. Greek theology mirrored this social structure. The gods grant blessings to humans who in turn owe honor to their patron gods. Consequently, Christian egalitarian teachings were initially considered a threat to stable Roman society. Later, the influence of this stratified globe carried over into Christianity both in the social society of Church building organisation and also through the veneration of saints .

Equally Hellenism expanded, information technology lost some of its spark. Instead of the exceptionalism and citizen participation that initially inspired classic Greek culture, over time mediocrity reigned throughout the empire, somewhen leading to it existence conquered by Rome. The middle class and the conquered people began to lose their sense of purpose and continuing. Chance and fate emerged as inescapable forces more powerful than the gods. Philosophy shifted to providing therapy instead of expounding theory. Philosophy became the source of instruction for virtuous living, and religious life receded to a realm of superstition and rituals.

Philosophy became the source of teaching for virtuous living, and religious life receded to a realm of superstition and rituals.

Greek arts and architectureThe Roman Empire consciously adopted this Greek culture. The Roman noble course utilized Greek tutors for their children in a concerted endeavour to more than fully ingrain this Hellenistic influence in their lives. Nonetheless, Romans valued the applied benefits of establishing and maintaining order more than the theoretical ideas of philosophy. This led to the pax romana, or the Roman Peace, 1 of the major contributions that Rome brought to the globe. The heavy hand of Roman war machine rule eliminated bandits and pirates, thus facilitating peaceful travel and commerce. Rome created an extensive system of roads for military and commercial utilise and other infrastructure improvements which also facilitated travel and an increased standard of living amid its subjects. This carrot and stick approach of providing temporal improvements forth with the rule of law throughout the Empire created a level of stability and travel betwixt vast areas on a scale unheard of throughout history.

At the time of Christ's birth, many persons in the Mediterranean world had lost organized religion in the traditional pagan organized religion but yet participated in its do as part of their cultural duty. The influence of philosophy, which taught that there was one source of all cosmos, 1 deity, usurped the role of polytheistic religion, particularly among the more than educated class, much like our order today places greater reliance on scientific discipline equally information technology becomes more secular . This void in the religious world would soon exist filled by Christianity.

Jesus mosaic

loyalty to Rome was paramount and any hint of disloyalty was aggressively repressed,

All these factors set the stage for the rapid spread of Christianity. However, Rome was constantly engaged in struggles to protect its borders from invasion from without and to suppress rebellion from inside. This abiding effort to maintain order over this vast empire created an environs where loyalty to Rome was paramount and any hint of disloyalty was aggressively repressed, which would lead to the persecution of Christians whose showtime loyalty was to their God instead of the Emperor.

Judaism gave birth to Christianity in this Greco-Roman world where the influence of its Jewish religious roots mixed with the atmosphere of the temporal Roman world and Greek philosophical ideas to mold the Christian religion for centuries.

i The historian Will Durant summarizes in his renowned book, The Story of Philosophy, some of concepts understood by Greek scientist several hundred years before Christ:
Thales (640–550 B.C.), the "Begetter of Philosophy," was primarily an astronomer, who astonished the natives of Miletus by informing then that the sun and stars (which they were wont to worship as gods) were just assurance of fire. His student Anaximander (610–540 B.C.), the beginning Greek to make astronomical and geographical charts, believed that the universe had begun as an undifferentiated mass, from which all things had arisen past the separation of opposites; that astronomic history periodically repeated itself in the evolution and dissolution of an space number of worlds; that the globe was at rest in space by a balance of internal impulsions (like Buridan's donkey); that all our planet had in one case been fluid, only had been evaporated by the sun; that life had first been formed by the sea, only had been driven upon the land by the subsidence of the water; that of these stranded animals some had developed the chapters to exhale air, and had so go the progenitors of all later land life; that man could not from the beginning have been what he now was, for if man, on his first appearance, had been so helpless at birth, and had required so long an boyhood, as in these later days, he could not possibly have survived. Anaximenes, some other Milesian (fl. 450 B.C.), described the primeval condition of things as a very rarefied mass, gradually condensing into wind, cloud, water, world, and stone; the 3 forms of affair- gas, liquid, and solid-were progressive stages of condensation; estrus and cold were but rarefaction and condensation; earthquakes were due to the solidification of an originally fluid globe; life and soul were one, an animating and expansive force nowadays in everything everywhere. Anaxagoras (500–428 B.C.), teacher of Pericles, seems to have given a right explanation of solar and lunar eclipses; he discovered the process of respiration in plants and fishes; and he explained man's intelligence by the power of manipulation that came when the fore-limbs were freed from the tasks of locomotion. Slowly, in these men, noesis grew into science.

Heraclitus (530–470 B.C.), who left wealth and its cares to alive a life of poverty and study in the shade of the temple porticoes at Ephesus, turned scientific discipline from astronomy to earthlier concerns. All things forever flow and alter, he said; even in the stillest matter in that location is unseen flux and motion. Cosmic history runs in repetitious cycles, each beginning and ending in fire (hither is one source of the Stoic and Christian doctrine of concluding judgment and hell). "Through strife," says Heraclitus, "all things ascend and pass away…War is the father and male monarch of all: some he has fabricated gods, and some men; some slaves, and some gratuitous." Where at that place is no strife in that location is decay: "the mixture which is not shaken decomposes." In this flux of alter and struggle and selection, just i thing is constant and that is law. "This order, the same for all things, no one of gods or men has made; but it always was, and is, and shall exist." Empedocles (fl. 445 B.C., in Sicily) developed to a further stage the thought of evolution. Organs arise not past design just past pick. Nature makes many trials and experiments with organisms, combining organs variously; where the combination meets ecology needs the organism survives and perpetuates its similar; where the combination fails, the organism is weeded out; as time goes on organisms are more than and more intricately and successfully adjusted to their surroundings. Finally, in Leucippus (fl. 445 B.C.) and Democritus (460–360 B.C.), master and pupil in Thracian Abdera, nosotros get the last stage of pre-Aristotelian science- materialistic, deterministic atomism. Everything," said Leucippus, "is driven by necessity." "In reality," said Democritus, "at that place are only atoms and the void." Perception is due to the expulsion of atoms from the object upon the sense organ. There is or have been or will exist an infinite number of worlds; at every moment planets are colliding and dying, and new worlds are rising out of chaos past the selective aggregation of atoms of similar size and shape. There is no design; the universe is a motorcar.

i Ernest Renan, Life of Jesus, London, Watts & Co., 1861, Ch. 28.
2 Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1961, pg 57.

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IMAGES:

Panorama of Mykonos, Greece

Ancient Greek vase

Engraving of Greek Playwright Aeschylus past Gijsbert Van Veen, 1683.

Depiction of Alexander the Slap-upembossed in statuary.

Library of Alexandria past the German artist O. Von Corven. National Library, Alexandria, Egypt.

Acropolis in Athens, Greece, 448 B.C.

Brace Porch of the Erechtheion ancient temple in Athens, Greece, 421–407 B.C.

Mosaic of Christ Pantocrator for Humanity on Judgment Mean solar day Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey, A.D. 1261.

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