Plato

Also known as: Plato of Athens
Dates: c. 428–c. 348 BC
Role: Greek philosopher

Greek philosopher. Traveled laboriously through Egypt and to Archytas of Tarentum; though a master at Athens, preferred to learn modestly. Jerome says "the learned Plato" did not know the mystery of the Logos.

Works

Pope Clement VIII, Jerome's Prefaces, On Worship

II. JEROME TO PAULINUS. — Traveled laboriously through Egypt and to Archytas of Tarentum and Magna Graecia; though a master at Athens, preferred to learn modestly; captured by pirates, sold, and enslaved, yet greater than his buyer
"thus Plato most laboriously traveled through Egypt, and to Archytas of Tarentum, and that coast of Italy which was once called Magna Graecia"
II. JEROME TO PAULINUS. — "The learned Plato did not know" the mystery of the Logos; contrasted with John's prologue
"This the learned Plato did not know; this the eloquent Demosthenes was ignorant of."
ON THE WORSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE SCRIPTURES. — Lacordaire says Paul is "more passionate than Plato"
"more passionate than Plato"

Preface and Praise of Sacred Scripture

Chapter I: On the Excellence, Necessity, and Fruit of Sacred Scripture — The academy of Plato knew nothing of faith, hope, virginity; listed among philosophers as "children" before Scripture
"the academy of Plato knew nothing of these things"
Chapter II: On the Object and Breadth of Sacred Scripture — With Aristotle, prince of philosophers; attained much but left much ambiguous
"An illustrious example is provided by the princes of the philosophers, Plato and Aristotle"
Chapter II: On the Object and Breadth of Sacred Scripture — Eight grossest errors listed: God is corporeal, world soul, lesser gods, pre-existence of souls, etc.
"the grossest errors of Plato are eight in number"
Chapter V: On the Dispositions Required for This Study — In the Theaetetus, asserts memory is the mother of the Muses
"Plato in the Theaetetus asserts that memory is the mother of the Muses"
Praises of Moses from Scripture and the Fathers — In Timaeus, quoted on Solon and Egyptian priest: "You Greeks are always children"
"Plato also wrote in the Timaeus that Solon"
Praises of Moses from Scripture and the Fathers — Learned about God from Moses; called Him "to on"; fell into errors
"Plato learned about God from Moses"
Moses and Christ: Nineteen Parallels — Numenius: "What is Plato but Moses speaking Attic?"
"what is Plato, he says, but Moses speaking Attic?"
I. The Old Testament Establishes Faith — Eusebius teaches Plato drew teachings from Moses
"Plato, I say, drew his teachings about God... from Moses"
Moses as the Most Ancient Theologian, Philosopher, Poet, and Historian — Listed among sages preceded by Moses
"preceded by a great span of time all the sages of Greece"

Commentary on the Pentateuch of Moses

Canons Bearing a Torch Before the Pentateuch — Called "the broad one" from his broad shoulders; previously called Aristocles
"The Greeks called Plato, as it were, "the broad one," from his broad shoulders, though he was previously called Aristocles"

Chapter I (The Six Days of Creation)

In the Beginning: Nine Interpretations — Named alongside Aristotle for the erroneous view that the world is eternal
"it is clear against Plato, Aristotle, and others that the world is not eternal."
He Created — Cited for saying "good works should come from a good God"
"it was fitting that good works should come from a good God, says Plato, and after Plato, St. Augustine"
He Created — Named alongside the Stoics for the error of creating from eternal matter
"Second, the error of Plato and the Stoics, who said that the world was indeed created by God, but from eternal and unbegotten matter"
He Created — Listed among philosophers who affirm the world was made by God
"So Plato, the Stoics, Cicero, Plutarch, and Aristotle"
Verse 2: And the earth was without form and void — Cited for saying the spirit giving life to waters was the soul of the world
"This spirit that gives life to the waters and to all things, Plato said was the soul of the world."
Verse 14: Let There Be Lights in the Firmament — Named for asserting that stars are animated
"although Plato asserts"
Verse 26: Let Us Make Man in Our Image and Likeness — Cited from the Timaeus for the view that God commanded angels to fashion the body
"as Plato wished in the Timaeus"
Verse 26: Let Us Make Man in Our Image and Likeness — Cited for calling man "the Horizon of the universe"
"by Plato he is called the Horizon of the universe"
Verse 26: Let Us Make Man in Our Image and Likeness — Cited through Philo for the abstract/universal man concept
"as Philo wished following Plato."
Verse 27: Male and Female He Created Them — Cited from the Symposium for the androgynous view
"Plato in the Symposium held that the first humans were androgynous."