I will defer my never ending debate with beloved brother in Christ, kosta50, on whether the Hebrew or the Greek is to be preferred concerning the discussion of mind, soul and spirit per se.
” No fair, I thought I was the greatest of sinners and the worst of heretics!”
Nope! We’ve got a corner on those commodities, I’m afraid. :)
No fair!!!! I thought that was me!!!!!!!
As to the latter characterization at least, let me offer proof. :^)
The Protestant denominations tend to have little use for classical philosophy on the grounds that it isn't "scripturally based." I imagine this has to do with St. Paul, who was so "thoroughly Jewish" that he regarded all classical philosophy as "pagan," and thus not trustworthy (according to Voegelin). It took "young radicals" like Justin Martyr to see that Christianity actually validated the insights of the great pagans, such as Plato and Aristotle; whereby in due course they entered into Christian theology, "by the back door" as it were.
Justin at least saw that this Christian theology that he encountered was a more powerful "philosophy" than any offered by the philosophical schools of his time -- or of any other time, I might add. One could further say (as Voegelin does) that without this connection to the classical past becoming explicit over time, Christianity might not have survived. If it were to depend for its life on its identification as a radical Jewish sect, it probably would not have survived....
Christian life, it seems to me, is the life of both faith and reason. The orthodox confessions of Christianity -- Eastern and Roman -- set great store by the life of reason as set forth in the classical philosophy of ancient Greece. The Eastern Orthodox give pride of place to Plato; the Roman Church after Thomas, to Aristotle (whereby you get Plato, too; for Plato was Aristotle's great teacher and a profound influence on his work. Plus Aristotle was the great teacher of Alexander, whose imperial expansion helped spread Christianity to the four quarters of the then-known world).
It seems to me that the Gospel of John has a strongly Platonist "flavor" to it. Which might have something to do with the fact that certain of my Protestant friends, whose formation is essentially Pauline, find John so puzzling....
I am now going to go hunker down in the bomb shelter.... :^)
Thank you oh so much, my dearest sister in Christ, for your splendid essay/post!