Plato was a first class philosopher, a student of Socrates. Plato was there when a jury found his teacher guilty of corrupting the youth of Athens by a vote of 280-220 and he was there when they sentenced him to death by a vote of 360-140. This was back in 339 BC.
Plato was there when Socrates, according the dictate of the jury, committed suicide by drinking the hemlock; he left a written account of Socrates' self-execution as he and the other students gathered around his bed and conversed with him.
THE GREAT PLATO
Most people think of Plato as that gold medal philosopher, but before he was a philosopher, he was, of all things, a wrestler. It's difficult to associate wrestling with philosophy, but so be it.
Plato isn't just a philosopher, he's THE philosopher because, after he passed off the scene, every philosopher has had to reckon with him. They have to accept him, modify him, or reject him. But the one thing they can't do is ignore him. So wrote Dr. Carl Richard in his book, Twelve Greeks and Romans that Changed the World.
SAME THING
And this brings us to Jesus of Nazareth. When asked to give the number of books written about Jesus, one authority answered, "It's impossible to give the number; they run into the tens of thousands." It's in these books that the human race has been dealing with Him for over 2,000 years and counting.
Along the way, tens of thousands of books and articles have been written agreeing with Him; tens of thousands have been written modifying Him; tens of thousands have been written rejecting Him. And all of these uncountable numbers demonstrate the fact that we can't just can't help ourselves; we can't ignore Him.
BACK THEN
It was ever thus. While on earth, crowds and crowds of people came to hear and see Him, some even came to touch Him. His words impacted them then and us today. What He said drove people to anger or adoration. His words and deeds led to shouts of, "We have found the Messiah!" "Hosanna!" or "Crucify Him!"
He broke up every funeral He ever attended; He performed miracles at a wedding, in homes, in a boat, on the road, and on the sea by calming it or walking on it. He created food to satisfy the hunger of thousands. What He did and what He said generated committees, cabals, and conclaves to kill Him or worshipers to fall at His feet, declaring, "My Lord and my God." He did so many miracles that, applying a song to their writing, we'd have to say,
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the [the miracles] of [Christ] above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
Jesus' words and deeds so got into the core of Nicodemus, he couldn't rest until he'd made an appointment to talk to Him, even a night time meeting.
Even after His death, they couldn't leave Him alone--they sealed and set a guard on His tomb. After they discovered it empty, they held more meetings to deal with that disturbing report, concocted a pathetic story to explain it, then paid money to disseminate it and buy the silence of the guards.
After He ascended into heaven, His followers started walking and riding all over the world to talk about what Jesus began to do and to teach. Their words about His words and deeds caused riots, revivals, lashings, courtroom violence, stonings, jailings, trials, churches, more missionaries, and continual meetings of worshipers in something new--churches.
In evangelism, there are many sure things and one of those is that whoever listens to the gospel, even if he rejects it, will reckon with Christ and Him crucified for the rest of their life. He's the burr under their saddle as they ride through life.
Even those convinced that the Christ described in the Bible never existed can't leave Him alone--they're obsessed with Him. They write books about Him and they start arguing about Him even when no one has has mentioned His name, so all-consuming is their obsession.
It's as if they're trying to convince themselves. Who else spends more time on what they don't believe than on what they do believe? Who else spends so much time insulting those with whom they disagree? Who else spends so much time trying to force people to agree with them and get angry when they don't? Who else spends so much of their lives being angry?
THE RADICAL BERKLEY BOY
Back in the 1960's and for much of his life, David Horowitz was as radical as they came. In his university days, he was one of the premier student leaders seeking to tear America apart and down. He got involved with the Black Panthers and the Free Speech Movement at Berkley. You name a radical cause and he was either inventing, participating, or propagating it. He came by it naturally--his parents were dedicated communists all their lives.
Then one day, David noticed something: those who left the cause suffered the most vicious attacks, slander, vilification, and physical harassment one could imagine from those still loyal to the cause, the friends they'd left behind. Those who had been their friends, turned on those who left the radical movement. Those who defected became the victims of outrageous lies and scathing denunciations in print and otherwise. Their former friends dug up all the dirt they could, invented dirt if they couldn't, and tried to wreck the lives, businesses, and reputations of the now enlightened who saw their radicalism for what it was, evil and dangerous.
But David noticed that when someone left the principles of the other side, their former friends engaged in no such tactics--they told no lies about them; they refused to ridicule them; they didn't insult them in print or on the air; they didn't demonstrate against them or harass them in any way, and they never tried to destroy or damage their livelihood. They just let them go their chosen way, sad to see them leave. But that was it.
It's the same way with biblical Christians; they don't harass, lie about, or seek to harm those who defect from Christianity. Biblical Christians are saddened by such defections, but they realize that people have a right to be wrong. It's part of free will. Like the father in the story of the Prodigal Son, they just let them go, praying they'll one day return.
PLATO, ONE MORE TIME
Every philosopher must reckon with Plato; but there's difference between the great Plato and the greater Jesus: every person, small or great, must reckon with Christ. The one thing that can't be done now or for all of eternity is ignore Him.
Why is that? That's because of who and what He is: the Son of God.
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