A Look Inside the New Issue of Credo Magazine: What does Plato have to do with Jesus?

The new issue of Credo Magazine is here!

What does Plato have to do with Jesus?

We live in a day when goodness, truth, and beauty exist in the eye of the beholder alone, mere social constructs we name (Nominalism). As a result, skepticism reigns as society questions whether reality even exists beyond the material realm, doubting the existence of the soul and a Creator as the first principle of the cosmos. Naturally, purpose in this world (final causality) is thrown into doubt as we are ever so content to entertain ourselves with shadows of our own invention in the darkness of the cave. Yet glimmers of hope shine bright on the horizon as Christians from all traditions resurrect Plato and invite him to enter the darkness of our cave to tell us about the radiance of the sun outside, a reality that is…real. More exciting still, Christians are discovering that a long tradition before them—from Augustine to C.S. Lewis—considered themselves Christian Platonists. Of course, they were prudent, rejecting those components of Platonism incompatible with Christianity. Yet they were also strategic, utilizing those components that establish a philosophy capable of defending Christianity’s belief in an eternal, unchanging first cause whose goodness, truth, and beauty explain reality and give this life true meaning and purpose. The authors of this issue ask how God in his providence used Plato to prepare the way for the full revelation of his Savior.

Featured Articles:

Why We Still Need Plato

Four Reasons to Reject the Relative Insubstantiality of our Current World

LOUIS MARKOS

The Platonism of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas

How abstract concepts allow for the precise expression of the truths of the Faith

MARK K. SPENCER

What exactly is Protestant Scholasticism and why does it matter?

On the Protestant Adoption of Realism

JORDAN B. COOPER

It’s All in Lewis, All in Lewis, Bless me!

The Resplendent Christian Platonism of C. S. Lewis

SAMUEL G. PARKISON

Why Should We Affirm Christian Platonism?

Historical and Systemic Reasons

CRAIG A. CARTER

The Truth Will Set You Free

The Metaphysics of the New Testament for Today

PAUL TYSON

Columns:

Further Up and Further In

Appreciating the Platonic Tradition and the Reformed Conception of Union with Christ

SAMUEL G. PARKISON

The Divine Brilliance

Recovering the Platonic-Thomistic (or Christian) Tradition of Beauty

ALICE RAMOS

First Principles

No Plato, No Augustine: The humility to quote their poets and philosophers

MATTHEW BARRETT

Interviews:

Christian Platonism: An interview with John Peter Kenney

10 Questions with Dan DeWitt

The Platonism of Augustine

Book Reviews:

The Contemplation of the Good, Beautiful, and True

SCOTT MEADOWS

The Gospel of Life in the Triune God

MICHAELA WINGERD

The Divine Purpose for Education

GARY STEWARD