A Day with Plato

A Day with Plato

On a day not so unlike today, giving off feelings of newness and intrigue, there was a wisp in the air that could not be described. A man approached in what would be obviously ancient garb. He walked with a kind of sophisticated step, however his shoulders were moving with little gyration, making one think of nothing but humility. The strong faced, bearded man came staring into the working gears of my mind. The fact he had accepted his invitation to council with me and discusses theological matters like those at the council of Nicaea. Sitting down, he simply stared waiting for the beginning of the Socratic journey that is before us.

            The first thing was to greet as was the tradition of almost all cultures throughout time. Being very appreciative of him coming to listen, telling him that there is some good news that may perhaps bring relief to his wandering mind. The news that was being referred to is only relevant to him because of the epoch he was born in. He came from a time that was more or less unaware of Jewish culture. He knew nothing of the age of Christ. The entire purpose for this meeting is to bring into the mind of the one of the greatest influencers of thought, the coherency and persistence of truth that can be found in Christianity. If there was a world in which Plato who brought philosophy as a newborn into this world, believed and understood the worldview concerning Christianity, this would be a different world.

            So, the bearded Plato, with a slight grin his head at a slight tilt and his right eyebrow raised, as curious as a cat in a room full of empty boxes asks me, how does this “Christianity” answer the problem of a deity? Does it say that there are a plethora of deities all governing a different thing, or perhaps that you have a monotheistic view that you must sacrifice to in order so that it remains content. The simple reply is the beginning of a potentially profound discussion. I quickly began to use his own tactic of Q: and A: dialectic, and so the discussion begins.

            Plato, do you remember when you came up with the formation of what is concrete and what is subjective philosophically? Well of course I do, he replied. So you also remember the nature of all things intelligible and knowledge and intellect are of a more concrete nature I suppose, and that also if I recall you believe that a man’s soul is perfectible of able to be made more pure if it is ambivalent toward all things emotional. You believed that things outside of intellect and knowledge, things that are simply of this world are conceptually “shadows” of the true reality correct? Again with an affirmative response, as he cocked his head again the other direction with a curious look, retorting what are you getting at, I do believe in what all that you say. I then began to elaborate on how these are things that have been tested by time and some have stood true even without revelation of Christ. In a similar way as Einstein’s theories still are accurate in this current age although he lacked the technology to verify what he believed, Plato lacked a key factor but still hit the nail on the head in a lot of areas.

            Plato, There has been a great new understanding of a human incarnate deity that had come to the Jews. In him, and through the overarching creator that has become spread across the world, truth has been revealed. As you believed in a reality that of which is far more true than ours is, in the teachings of this religion, it is explained that there is a place called heaven (similar to your Elysium retrospectively) that of which God has created that exists in which everything follows down logically from the supernatural to the natural. In the explaining of this, elaborating on the fact we are made in the created image of a monotheistic deity being as some philosophers have said “The greatest conceivable being”. The characteristics of this deity are the virtues that you found to be so highly supreme in regard to all things, however his super intendancy is not restricted to simply those things, although he is those things, he is also the creative genius and the emotions that man feels but in a perfect stat. Let me ask you, can you truly do away with emotion? The answer was an abrupt “well, frankly I’m not entirely sure”. Then let us look at this critically. An emotion we will define as a particular feeling that of which you are experiencing relevant to your relationships or environment or concepts outside of the “environment”. By this definition, seeing as though we cannot truly remove environment or relationships, it seems as though we cannot remove them. Perhaps I am being daft, correct me if I am wrong? Plato nodded his head in agreement. So then if we cannot truly remove relationships because the relationship we will always have is with our self and the dialogue in our mind. The environment is not something we can earnestly speaking, completely destruct or do away with, for even if you are alone in a cave, you will still be afflicted with the emotion that of which you will have about being in said place all alone with [the relationship of] yourself. Would you agree then that we cannot do away with emotions since we cannot remove them? With a slightly noticeable tightening of muscles in the right corner of his mouth he nods with signs of contempt. I would like to suggest to you then that emotions and such other things of neither good of bad pejorative connotation that all men have and cannot be done away with were just passed down from God and his pure state which is Holy and Righteous. In this religion there is neither supremacy in the intellect nor the supremacy intuitive.

            Considering man has these things along with an inevitable ability to do evil, man is contingent would you agree? He answered; of course man must be contingent especially in light of the reality of “ ’ouk oude” in Greek, or more commonly known as “ex nihilo” in Latin. Plato conversed with me for a while on the necessity of man to have come from somewhere; this is partially why he came to the conclusion that there must be a higher truer reality than this one.

            Out of this I began to have discernment about it being opportune time to intellectually offer Christ as a means of salvation to a man in such a desperate need of not simply truth, but of The Truth. Plato I asked, have you ever noticed that there is perhaps a daunting feeling of emptiness that has plagued you and so many of those who were your cohorts in life? Plato responded distraughtly replied, that he believes all men are at times subjected to such a folly of the mind. That it should not be allowed to cause you to think or act differently, just something that the mind must arduously work away from. So I then asked do you thing purpose it is because there is a creator out there, so unlike the Greek anthropomorphized gods, that simply wants to be in relation to you. He who is not contingent has made he who is contingent simply to bring His own glory down and to be in relationship, not to bully or to make a man to abuse him, but to love him. Love truly is the embodiment of your highest virtues and nobilities. The creator is referred to in this religion as love itself, a never wavering or abandoning love that of which is constantly calling out to us. This is the hope which is what I believe is necessary to fill that empty void in the hearts of man. Not that any amount emotional indulgence, or as you would say, artisanal or fleshly indulgence, or intellectual arrival at truth, but an acceptance in a Creator that of which is above all things. Plato broke out into tears expressing himself as one who has been spending his entire life learning and seeking after an intellectual answer to the problems of life that of which could not fully be understood. Morality, ethics, such things needed a base that is outside of this reality to be true, but he could not find such a base except a more true place then here. He told me that this has given him a new ideological perspective on how to view purpose. That he has a long way to go but an eternity to think about. Shortly after this, Plato begins to hear his name be called out but a familiar voice. In a brief eclipse of the present, he found himself lying down in a meadow being called by a young Aristotle to talk with. Plato now has something to think about, that is, if he remembers his dream.