This
famous painting of Raphael, “The School of Athens,” pictures the
great philosophers Plato and Aristotle entering the school of Athens
debating the proper role of philosophy. Plato points up, away from
the earth to the heavens where reside the eternal forms that shape
and give meaning to all earthly reality. Contemplation is the way of
true knowledge. Aristotle, on the other hand, is pointing down to
the earth. Observation and reflection on daily reality is the to
discover the forms, which inhere in daily reality.
That's
all fine. But I also see in this painting a parable of the current
debates about the gospel within North American Christianity. Let's
imagine the figure pointing up is not Plato but Paul/Jesus, the
former predominating over the latter. Paul/Jesus' upraised finger
indicates that the focus of the gospel is “up there” and on how
we can get there (heaven) at life's end. The other figure is
Jesus/Paul who, in concert, point down and say, “No, the focus of
the gospel is God's good creation and how we can become a people fit
to live here now and when this creation is renewed to its full
flourishing.”
They
are entering the church with their respective messages and the
challenge for us is to discern which most clearly reflects the gospel
and us as Jesus' followers.
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