The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity's Search for Meaning

by Jeremy Lent

An important focus of the debate was the difference between reasoned conviction and blind faith or pistis. Celsus, following the Platonic tradition, saw reason as the only valid route to understanding the cosmos. Pistis was the state of mind of the ignorant who blindly accepted whatever they were told. And yet, to the astonishment of Celsus and his peers, pistis formed the foundation of the Christian approach. Origen's response is illuminating. Instead of dismissing Greek philosophy, he showed nearly as much admiration for Plato as Celsus had. The difference, for Origen, was that Plato's ideas could be accessed only by those with a scholarly education: it is as though Plato spiced his dish to please the upper-class palate, whereas Christian preachers, flavoring their sermons with pistis, “[cooked] for the multitude.” We accept pistis, Origen explained, “as useful for the multitude”; it is the best that can be done for them, since “very few people are enthusiastic about rational thought.” The dish could be flavored with reason or pistis, but it remained essentially the same meal. Christianity, Origen implied, was Platonism for the masses.10