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I wish to follow Plato's belief of the forms and find other's who do so. Erm, question is, in Christianity is that actually a 'thing'? CS Lewis followed Plato. Peter Kreeft does...so Christians CAN but, well, how to know if you're among those who support it and can talk freely?

To clarify, the Platonist belief I am mostly interested in is the idea that everything has a heavenly archaetype that is more perfect than it, and that a bad thing made bad by being (to whatever degree) far away from its perfect, ideal form.

Sehnsucht
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    Yay! I've posted a new question! (Sort of-in a way- observed from a certain point of view...you shan't have to hire an assassin after all @curiousdanni (thanks for noticing- I had no idea I was banging on about the same old thing for so long!) – Sehnsucht Jan 07 '14 at 19:51
  • I just want to get some clarifications, is there anything that would be gained by attributing what is taught in the Scriptures to a particular person's taught (Plato in this case)? – Will Jan 08 '14 at 22:43
  • I am largely thinking about Plato's notion of 'the Forms' and wondered if many others (apart from me) thought that such an idea IS backed up by the Scriptures – Sehnsucht Jan 09 '14 at 13:36
  • Ah, I see. So you are still holding the Scriptures as the one with higher authority than man's thoughts. Thanks for the clarification. – Will Jan 09 '14 at 14:40

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Saint Augustine, an African theologian who was one of the most significant post-Biblical Christian thinkers in the early church, was heavily influenced by Plato. His descriptions of God the Father can be connected directly with Plato's Form of the Good, an immaterial, eternal, perfect entity that is the source of all good within the universe.

Given the shaping impact of this line of thought on the church, you might, in some sense, say that we are all Platonists.

With that said, I am not aware of any denomination or sect that specifically adapts the rest of Plato's theory of the Forms to Christian belief.

Chris Sunami
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