grgr: overcoming of metaphysics

[Terrance]

Paul Mackin wrote:
> 
> Another example (possibly) of this UNreadiness-to-hand and breaking down
> idea is the development of Christian doctrine though philosophical
> (Platonic or Aristotilian) thought. Orthodox Christianity is very much
> of an idealized, intellectualized affair, whereas one can at least
> conceive of  an "original" Christianity as a simple matter of going around
> loving your neighbor as yourself. Something as simple and ready-to hand as
> the proverbial hammer. But this was not to be. The challenge of Gnosticism
> was much like a breakdown. Philosophy had to be called in to rationalize
> and intellectualize and shore up the structure.
> 
> I read something like this somewhere but don't remember where. Could be
> completely wrong.
> 
>                         P.


Well, as you know it was not only the challenge of
Gnosticism, but of other views as well,  Greek religion and
philosophy included. And Gnosticism, while an important
enemy, was not the guiding foe of the Apologists and
philosophers. The Church Father's were refuting what they
considered, ideas opposed to the apostolic tradition. This
is another thing I think most non-Catholic christians do not
know about, the role of tradition, but anyway. So it's a
good story,  but only a simple story that cannot begin to
explain the complexity, the wonderful stories full of
paradox and irony of  these historical religious/political
events and texts. I say paradoxical, for several reasons,
one being that in reproaching the various heathens and
magicians and so forth, the Fathers deepened, broadened and
extended these issues, incorporating some of the very ideas
they mocked and accused of falsehood, they also, of course,
wrote the only history or "historical accounts" as artifacts
of history, since the Gnostics had no interest in history.
In any event,  I would not characterize many of their
arguments as rational, though I get your point. Pynchon
recognizes many of these absurd and amusing ironies and add
his own with his bogus citation of Thomas in GR. 


Does Heidegger agree with St. Augustine on free will? What
does Pynchon think of free will?