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PERSONAL MANIFESTO
OF PHILOSOPHY



Is Christianity a way of living, or
is it a way of thinking, or is it a
way of reasoning?



BY: AURA CHIRIBOGA
BLOCK 2
January 24, 2013






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Table of contents:
3. Chapter 1: Christian Philosophy
5 Chapter 2: Worldview
8.Bibliography













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Chapter 1: Christian Philosophy
A common question is where does Christian philosophy develop from?
Its origins form in the Jewish religion, which is the oldest monotheistic religion
known. A branch of Judaism is Christianity, which, throughout time, has
influenced society in it many aspects. It all started with Paul of Tarsus, or St.
Paul. He was one of the first Christians to spread and develop the Christian
faith through the Eastern part of the world. On the other side, there is St. Peter
who was the one who spread the Christian faith in the Western world during the
same period of time as St. Paul. The philosophy established by Christianity is
centered on three important aspects: the trinity, the incarnation, and the
atonement. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, these three
aspects are the main focus on Christian philosophy because they are
characteristics that differentiate Christianity from other religions.
Many Christian philosophers have existed throughout time. One of the
most important and influential is Augustine of Hippo. He is commonly known as
St. Augustine. His views on evil helped on the development of its concept.
Augustine realized that an explanation for the existence of evil must be given,
or else accepted either that god created evil and so is partly evil as good.
(Oregon State, 2002) Not only Augustine of Hippo has been a very influential
Christian philosophy, there has also been the influence of Peter Abelard. Prior
to the recovery of Aristotle, he brought the native Latin tradition in philosophy to
its highest pitch. (King, 2010) Abelard influenced people of his time by being
the teacher of his generation. His great theological approaches promoted the
use of reason and logic to understand faith. During the High Middle Ages, it was
a controversial idea that was later adopted by people. For more than two
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thousand years, Christian philosophy has and will always be affected by the
religious views.
















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Chapter 2: Worldview
Even though many people criticize Christianity in actual times, they
dont see how it has influenced their lives and their actions. In the Western
world, society has had a great influence on its value and standards due to
Christianity. The majority of the Western world was, at some point, influenced
by these religious views. Starting from the Middle East and ending in the
Americas, this influence has been a huge part of society.
Christian philosophy has had a massive impact on Latin-American
society. This encouragement of Christianity was set since the Spaniards
colonized the area. The religious view was set by these people who came to
South America and imposed their beliefs by fear. This fear that, throughout
time, has being transformed into love. It is a love that leads a society towards
good and away from the evil. Even though the concepts of good and evil have
abstract definitions, there are set definitions by Christianity and it views. Those
are concept that leads the society around the world.
There is not only a philosophical influence on society, but it has also
influenced the media. Nowadays, news reports, newspapers, internet articles,
and many others broadcast things that happen around the Christian faith. These
things may not necessarily be true, accurate, or even relevant. It is known
around the world, that the news an individual watches, listens, or reads are
biased due to the fact that its created by humans. By nature, humans tend to
be biased when providing information because everyone has a different opinion
or point of view formulated from a single idea. This is another way in which
Christianity has impacted todays society. We live in a world in which media
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uses some information for their purposes and from their point of view.
Information is not accurate in 100% due how biased it is.
A third aspect that Christianity has influences the world is through
politics. The Pope has become a political figure since the Middle Ages. Today,
the figure of the Pope is not mainly political, but it influences decisions and
actions around the world. For example, Pope Francis I made a global plea to
promote awareness of the worlds society around the Syrian Civil War on
September 4, 2013. This plea united people from all around the world, which
included Muslim, Christian Orthodox, Jewish leaders, and many other people. It
was a way to unite the people from all over the world to be aware of the
seriousness of the crisis. The fact that this plea was done while the United
States was fighting in the Security Council for having the acceptance to have
any type of involvement of foreign military force inside Syria. This caused
polemic around the world, so one of the main purposes of Pope Francis I was to
make the people who supported USA realize about the lack of necessity for the
involvement of foreign forces.
These have only been a few ways in which Christian theology and
philosophy have influenced the world. In conclusion, since the beginning of time
religious views have influenced the world. In the case of the Western World, it
has been the influence of Christianity, even though there have been many splits
within the same religion. Those branches have lead people to believe on the
main doctrines of Christianity through another type of approximation, such as
Abelard tried to do.
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In my life, Christian philosophy has been a huge part of it. Since I was a
kid I have had a Christian education. Even though my whole life I studied in a
nonreligious school, my family has still promoted the values and ideas set by
Christian theology. Theology is a philosophical approach to God, from my
perspective. I like to attribute the person that I am today to this beliefs. I have
my values and morals well-established in my life. As many people criticize
Christian for being too conservative, I dont consider myself to be like. I dont
consider any Christian to be like that. There are things, such as homosexuality,
that the Church does not prohibit because every human being, no matter their
sexual orientation, is still a son or daughter of God. The only thing that the
Church prohibits about homosexuality is the practice of it. By this I refer to
sexual intercourse, marriage, and adoption. In Christianity, a marriage is
established by the commitment between a man and a woman, so this is why
homosexual marriage is forbidden. I agree with this idea. I dont hate
homosexuals, but I dont consider marriage and adoption to be for them. Going
back to topic, for me, Christian philosophy has helped to shape me as the
person I am right now. I firmly believe on the Church, the Holy Trinity, and
atonement.





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Bibliography
Online. (n.d.). St. Augustine of Hippo. - Saints & Angels. Retrieved January 20,
2014, from http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=418
Murray, M. (2002, May 13). Philosophy and Christian Theology. Stanford
University. Retrieved January 21, 2014, from
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/christiantheology-philosophy/
State. (n.d.). Great Philosophers: Augustine On Evil. Great Philosophers:
Augustine On Evil. Retrieved January 20, 2014, from
http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl201/modules/Philosophers/Augustine/
augustine_evil.html
Sadler, G. (n.d.). Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Christian Philosophy:
The 1930s French Debates []. Retrieved January 21, 2014, from
http://www.iep.utm.edu/chri1930/
Wikipedia. (2014, January 17). Christian philosophy. Wikipedia. Retrieved
January 21, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_philosophy