What is Philosophy? The Handmaiden of Theology

There was a popular saying that was a kind of mantra in the Middle Ages that went like this: "Theology is the queen of the sciences and philosophy is its handmaiden." What does this mean? And how is philosophy related to Christian theology? In this episode Dr. Anthony Alberino recounts the failure of Greek philosophy to reconcile itself with Greek religion and the success of Christian theology to reconcile itself with Greek philosophy. The God revealed in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures brings together the philosophical notions of first cause and ultimate principle with the religious notion of a creator God providentially directing the affairs of men. Christian revelation at once provided philosophy with the insight it needed to move from the stagnate plane of the essential to the living and active plane of the existential. The interpenetration of Christianity with Greek philosophy at once lifted the latter to heights it could not reach on its own and enriched the former with an indispensable asset and tool that would become essential for the formulation and defense of the faith.