Greatest Christian Thinker?

[Chaigidel]

who was the greatest of all the christians!!!! science /philosophy you know the drill !

of course dont mention your primary religious figures im talking about subsequent thinkers which became part of the church/ protestants.

[jankren]

Thomas Aquinas.

[Feliks]

Thomas Aquinas.

I don't care for Aquinas, he spent too much time attempting to make an argument for proving the existence of God, rather than moving on from that quagmire and doing more positive things with his faith.

[SigniferOne]

It's kind of weird to be asking this question. Have you heard of the Western civilization? All the paintings, statues, exploration, inventions, writings? All Christians. So take your pick, these were giants.

[nce_wht_guy]

lol, these two threads are kinda pointless. I mean christians and muslims actually thinking, thats a sin isn't it? and no SigniferOne, they weren't all christians. In fact the vast majority of them weren't. "Western" civilization is built largly upon the achievments of pre-christian thinkers. If christians have really done anything as a whole its hold the world back. come to think of it the term western doesn't really do a good job of describing it either, given the many "eastern" influences in our culture today.

[Marcius Lucius 211]

lol, these two threads are kinda pointless. I mean christians and muslims actually thinking, thats a sin isn't it? and no SigniferOne, they weren't all christians. In fact the vast majority of them weren't. "Western" civilization is built largly upon the achievments of pre-christian thinkers. If christians have really done anything as a whole its hold the world back. come to think of it the term western doesn't really do a good job of describing it either, given the many "eastern" influences in our culture today.

We are talking now of Christians and their ideas, not Christianity as such. There can be no doubt many had an immensely positive effect on the history of the west. Any great man from the Renaissance onward may be given as an example. Locke is to a large degree responsible for the natural law movement which culminated in the American Revolution. Newton, Leibniz, Copernicus, and Galileo laid the foundation for modern physics and mathematics. The most important achievement of Christian thinkers is to take the focus off the collective (i.e. the state) and focus it on the individual. While the Romans and Greeks had conceptions of liberty they were primarily focused on the "liberty" of an entire people, whereas Locke as well as the Founding Fathers were also concerned about the liberty of individuals, where it properly lies.

[boofhead]

These threads are also interesting in that it could be seen as a complete contradiction in terms, the idea of a "Christian" or "Muslim" and a "Thinker".

Both hold adherence of thought in high esteem, and yet vocal opponents generate more publicity/sympathy than practitioners, it seems to me.

So who wins? Or who is winning?

[Ummon]

I would go with Saint Augustine, although Bernard de Clairvaux and Ockham were not bad.

[Zenith Darksea]

As usual, Westerners demonstrate their ignorance of those great saints of the Eastern Church without whom even Protestants would be theologically lost (well, more so). Here are my top ten, though in no particular order, as it would be very difficult to say who was better than another.

1. Ag. Ioannes Chrysostomos (St John 'the Golden-mouthed') - composer of the current version of the Orthodox Divine Liturgy and one of the three great theologians given the title of 'Hierarch'
2. Ag. Maximos Homologetes (St Maximus 'the Confessor') - an extremely Orthodox theologian
3. Ag. Ioannes Klimakos (St John 'of the Ladder') - theologian and writer of the 'Ladder of Divine Ascent'
4. Ag. Ioannes Damaskenos (St John of Damascus) - theologian and writer of 'An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith', also renowned opponent of iconoclasm
5. Ag. Gregorios Palamas (St Gregory Palamas) - theologian and hesychast
6. Ag. Markos Ephesou (St Mark of Ephesus) - a great champion of Orthodoxy who vigorously opposed the Roman Catholic attempts to take over the Orthodox Church in the latter days of the Byzantine Empire
7. Ag. Basileios Megas (St Basil the Great) - composer of the Orthodox Divine Liturgy named after him and one of the three great theologians given the title of 'Hierarch'
8. Ag. Gregorios Nazianzenos (St Gregory of Nazianzus) - brought Christianity and Hellenism together and one of the three great theologians given the title of 'Hierarch'
9. Ag. Theodoros Studites (St Theodore of Studium) - opponent of iconoclasm and inspiration for monastic revival
10. Ag. Photios (St Photius) - Patriarch of Constantinople who vigorously opposed the theological innovations of the Roman Papacy and its attempts to dominate the Church

[Boyar Son]

As usual, Westerners demonstrate their ignorance of those great saints of the Eastern Church without whom even Protestants would be theologically lost (well, more so). Here are my top ten, though in no particular order, as it would be very difficult to say who was better than another.

1. Ag. Ioannes Chrysostomos (St John 'the Golden-mouthed') - composer of the current version of the Orthodox Divine Liturgy and one of the three great theologians given the title of 'Hierarch'
2. Ag. Maximos Homologetes (St Maximus 'the Confessor') - an extremely Orthodox theologian
3. Ag. Ioannes Klimakos (St John 'of the Ladder') - theologian and writer of the 'Ladder of Divine Ascent'
4. Ag. Ioannes Damaskenos (St John of Damascus) - theologian and writer of 'An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith', also renowned opponent of iconoclasm
5. Ag. Gregorios Palamas (St Gregory Palamas) - theologian and hesychast
6. Ag. Markos Ephesou (St Mark of Ephesus) - a great champion of Orthodoxy who vigorously opposed the Roman Catholic attempts to take over the Orthodox Church in the latter days of the Byzantine Empire
7. Ag. Basileios Megas (St Basil the Great) - composer of the Orthodox Divine Liturgy named after him and one of the three great theologians given the title of 'Hierarch'
8. Ag. Gregorios Nazianzenos (St Gregory of Nazianzus) - brought Christianity and Hellenism together and one of the three great theologians given the title of 'Hierarch'
9. Ag. Theodoros Studites (St Theodore of Studium) - opponent of iconoclasm and inspiration for monastic revival
10. Ag. Photios (St Photius) - Patriarch of Constantinople who vigorously opposed the theological innovations of the Roman Papacy and its attempts to dominate the Church

I mean really, didnt these guys all influence one part of the world, and the rest by western theology? like 3 continents give or take a country.

they didnt matter to the west and were considered heritics. So no one wouldve paid attention to the east version.

And I would like to nominate myself, of course still in the shadows of the past greats.

[Chaigidel]

the point o these threads is for people to express personal favorites as they have great thinkers have been of all persuasions, I just thought with all the forum could do with some discussion about the greatness of religious minds.

[Erwin Rommel]

St. Augustine Doctor Gratiae

St. John Chrysostom

St. Ambrose

St. Thomas Aquinas Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis

St. Cyril of Alexandria, Doctor Incarnationis

St. Theresa of Avila

thats all i can remember

[Tajir]

Isaac Newton.

[Erwin Rommel]

not all, some of whom are also doctors of the catholic church

like Ioannes Chrysostomos or John Of Chrysostom or was it him only

[Teutonic Joe]

Jesus.....no one seemed to name him so i did
well i view Martin Luther as the best Christian thinker in my opinion.

[ThiudareiksGunthigg]

Jesus.....no one seemed to name him so i did

Sorry, he was a devout practising Jew. Christians can't claim him.

[God-Emperor of Mankind]

Would Voltaire count ?? Or are deists not allowed ?

[Zenith Darksea]

they didnt matter to the west and were considered heritics. So no one wouldve paid attention to the east version.

Sorry, but that's totally untrue. With the exception of St Photius and St Mark, these are all recognised as saints in the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches. If you've heard of the Holy Trinity (to give just one example), then you can thank these saints.

Also, where did Christianity begin? The West? No! It was in the East - you should see now why the early Eastern theologians were so influential, I hope.

[Boyar Son]

Sorry, but that's totally untrue. With the exception of St Photius and St Mark, these are all recognised as saints in the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches. If you've heard of the Holy Trinity (to give just one example), then you can thank these saints.

Also, where did Christianity begin? The West? No! It was in the East - you should see now why the early Eastern theologians were so influential, I hope.

Yes I know it begun in the east (and the holy trinity) but it was so apparent that when both churches broke off, there was no connection again. You mentioned some very early saints, but since the schism, both churches disregarded each other from then on, including becoming more unique.

They're still separate with their own ideology...

Aquinas should be incuded as a great thinker.

[Exarch]