The Influence of Plato on Christian End-Times Theology

For those of you wanting some heftier reading on the subject of eschatology, consider how Greek philosophy might have impacted some of the early church fathers.  Specifically, Plato spoke of universal ideals, and that is exactly how many interpret the imagery of the Book of Revelation.  Such ideas translate into a hermeneutic of spiritualizing or allegorizing the meaning of the text.

Dr. Michael Vlach wrote an academic journal article on this subject titled "Platonism's Influence on Christian Eschatology."  Below is the abstract, and you can read the PDF here.
Much attention in recent years has been devoted to the influence of Greek philosophy on Christian doctrine. This has been especially true in regard to the nature and attributes of God. Some have also contended that Christian eschatology has been negatively influenced by Greek Platonic assumptions and ideas. Randy Alcorn’s book, Heaven, for instance, asserts that biblical eschatology has been largely replaced by Christoplatonism which is a merger of Christianity and the ideas of Plato. According to Alcorn, common conceptions of heaven are often influenced more by Platonic ideas than they are the Bible. In an interview with Time, N. T. Wright blamed Platonic influence on Christianity for a distortion of the doctrine of Heaven. “Greek-speaking Christians influenced by Plato saw our cosmos as shabby and misshapen and full of lies, and the idea was not to make it right, but to escape it and leave behind our material bodies,” 2 says Wright. In this article we will summarize what Platonism is and survey the impact of Platonism on Christian eschatology. This paper will end with a summary of observations concerning how Christians should view the relationship between Platonism and eschatology. 

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