Socrates

I am a huge fan of the philosopher Socrates. Every time I read his writings, it seems as though he is referencing the Bible, especially the NT which was written hundreds of years after his death.

Here are some examples.

"One who is injured ought not to return the injury, for on no account can it be right to do an injustice; and it is not right to return an injury, or to do an evil to any man, however much we have suffered from him"
-Socrates

Now compare this to Jesus telling us that we should love our enemies as ourselves.

Socrates was a man who pursued truth at any cost. In fact, it eventually cost him his life.

Interestingly, he had this to say.

"The true champion of justice, if he intends to survive even for a short time, must necessarily confine himself to private life and leave politics alone"

The truth is, we all fall short of the truth, which is why the truth is so offensive. What is intriguing is that Socrates does not seem to run away from his short comings.

Here is what he had to say about it.

"Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions; but those who kindly reprove thy faults. A life without criticism is not worth living"

Originally posted by whodey
I am a huge fan of the philosopher Socrates. Every time I read his writings, it seems as though he is referencing the Bible, especially the NT which was written hundreds of years after his death.

Here are some examples.

"One who is injured ought not to return the injury, for on no account can it be right to do an injustice; and it is not right to retur ...[text shortened]... actions; but those who kindly reprove thy faults. A life without criticism is not worth living"

Socrates wrote nothing. We depend on his students, Plato and Xenophon, for the quotations.

Originally posted by HandyAndy
Socrates wrote nothing. We depend on his students, Plato and Xenophon, for the quotations.

I guess you missed the point. Amazing how fast a thread can go off topic.

Originally posted by whodey
I am a huge fan of the philosopher Socrates. Every time I read his writings, it seems as though he is referencing the Bible, especially the NT which was written hundreds of years after his death.

Here are some examples.

"One who is injured ought not to return the injury, for on no account can it be right to do an injustice; and it is not right to retur ...[text shortened]... actions; but those who kindly reprove thy faults. A life without criticism is not worth living"

I wonder if Socrates didn't have a copy of the O.T. Scriptures.

Originally posted by josephw
I guess you missed the point. Amazing how fast a thread can go off topic.

What was the point, o wise one?

Originally posted by whodey
I am a huge fan of the philosopher Socrates. Every time I read his writings, it seems as though he is referencing the Bible, especially the NT which was written hundreds of years after his death.

Perhaps the writers of the New Testament were familiar with the quotations attributed to Socrates.

Originally posted by HandyAndy
What was the point, o wise one?

What is the point of saying that someone else said those things?

The point here is striving to find truth.

Socrates would probably be the first to admit that much of his philosophy came from wisdom hear elsewhere.

"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for."
- Socrates

Another good quote is this,

"I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing"

Originally posted by whodey
What is the point of saying that someone else said those things?

Accuracy?

Originally posted by whodey
Every time I read his writings, it seems as though he is referencing the Bible, especially the NT which was written hundreds of years after his death.

Do you think the people setting up the cult of personality surrounding Jesus in the decades and centuries after his death may have simply kind of half-inched Socrates' ideas and passed them off as their own?

Originally posted by whodey
Another good quote is this,

"I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing"

Good for what? A fridge magnet or a bumper sticker perhaps?

It's a bit long I think.

Just "I know nothing" then?

Whether it's the short version or the long version, I don't think it's profound at all really.

Why do you think it is?

Originally posted by whodey
I am a huge fan of the philosopher Socrates. Every time I read his writings, it seems as though he is referencing the Bible, especially the NT which was written hundreds of years after his death.

Here are some examples.

"One who is injured ought not to return the injury, for on no account can it be right to do an injustice; and it is not right to retur ...[text shortened]... actions; but those who kindly reprove thy faults. A life without criticism is not worth living"

That's interesting. At the time Socrates was probably considered the biggest hippie around by his society.

Originally posted by whodey
The point here is striving to find truth.

It's said that Socrates wrote nothing down because he didn't want his followers to acquire his ideas simply by reading them.

He wanted people to find out for themselves.

Originally posted by FMF
Do you think the people setting up the cult of personality surrounding Jesus in the decades and centuries after his death may have simply kind of half-inched Socrates' ideas and passed them off as their own?

What I find the most interesting is that people like yourself have no problem believing what Joe Shmoe said in history but when it comes to men like Socrates and Jesus Christ all of a sudden they become mythical due to the truth they espoused.

Originally posted by FMF
Good for what? A fridge magnet or a bumper sticker perhaps?

It's a bit long I think.

Just "I know nothing" then?

Whether it's the short version or the long version, I don't think it's profound at all really.

Why do you think it is?

I have found that the more you learn the more you realize what you don't know.

Perhaps this is a better way of saying it.

Originally posted by HandyAndy
It's said that Socrates wrote nothing down because he didn't want his followers to acquire his ideas simply by reading them.

He wanted people to find out for themselves.

Where did you get that?