Religion Vs Greco-Roman Philosophy

The ancient Greek and Roman worlds made important contributions to both religion and philosophy in which they searched for truth, knowledge, and moral values. Greco-Roman philosophy focused on unbiased investigation. Ancient Greek philosophy was the first system of thought to propose rational conception, or ideas, of how the universe came into being and how it is constructed. While the Greco-Roman beliefs were based on polytheism, the Judeo-Christians were monotheistic and approached their God with a greater fear. God is perfect without any human faults and was beyond the reach of human understanding. Both cultures lived their lives to attain a specific highest good. The knowledge of their mortality influenced how the Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian …show more content…
It is through virtuous action and activities of the soul that humans find happiness in life. A person’s identity is defined by the rational part of the soul and the point of acting virtuously is to become more like ourselves. Finding the balance between the two extremes of one’s character traits will allow the person to be good and just and live a life guided by reason. Aristotle explains, “the human good becomes an activity of the soul in accord with virtue, and if there are several virtues, then in accord with the best and most complete one” (Aristot. Nic. Eth. 1.7, pp.13). Aristotle connects his conception of the good life with his conception of virtue. Happiness cannot exist in solitude, which is why friendships are essential. Genuine friendships based on virtue are important because both friends will grow in virtue and it will help with self-knowledge. Pleasure and worldly possessions are considered a good thing. Pleasure is outlined as important for happiness because it perfects actions. The goodness of pleasure is related to the goodness of the accompanying action. Aristotle doesn’t suggest one should aim at happiness, rather that they already do aim at happiness compared to Matthew who believes one should live to aim towards salvation. However, salvation can never be reached through human actions, one can only aim towards it. Salvation is achieved by grace through faith. Having total faith in Jesus means loving God with all one’s heart and following Him wholly. Jesus tells the story of the rich young ruler to highlight this point. The rich young ruler believed he deserved salvation because he did not sin, followed the Ten Commandments, and loved God. However, when Jesus told him to “sell what you possess and give it to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven,” he would not (Matt. 19:21). Jesus explains to His disciples, “it will be hard