I saw this quote about God by Socrates (469 ~ 399 BC) and when I researched it I found that he has a lot of quotes about God for someone who died 399 years before Christ was born and as far as I know wasn't Jewish. Has he just been misquoted?

http://www.philosoph...s/socrates.html

The hour of departure has arrived and we go our ways; I to die, and you to live. Which is better? Only God knows.

The end of life is to be like God, and the soul following God will be like Him.

I pray Thee, O God, that I may be beautiful within.

Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us.

This one is more like what I would expect:

The fewer our wants the more we resemble the Gods.

I found that he has a lot of quotes about God for someone who died 399 years before Christ was born and as far as I know wasn't Jewish

?? Is it your understanding that belief in a God started with the birth of Jesus?

It is distinguished from polytheism. The earliest known instance of monotheism dates to the reign of Akhenaton of Egypt in the 14th century bc. Monotheism is characteristic of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, all of which view God as the creator of the world, who oversees and intervenes in human events, and as a beneficent and holy being, the source of the highest good.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/390101/monotheism

I found that he has a lot of quotes about God for someone who died 399 years before Christ was born and as far as I know wasn't Jewish

?? Is it your understanding that belief in a God started with the birth of Jesus?

Did the Jews believe Jesus was God? I didn't know that.

The point isn't about when did monotheism start, the point is that the ancient Greeks weren't monotheistic. My fault for thinking that was obvious. Socrates=ancient Greek. Zeus, Hades, Apollo, etc aren't just movie characters out of Clash of the Titans.

Nevermind, mystery solved...

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http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Socrates.html

Religious Beliefs of Socrates

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.......Socrates believed in a god or gods and in the immortality of the soul. He often referred to "God" in the singular but also spoke of "gods." He argued that an intelligent being was behind the construction of the universe, a teleological argument that influenced many later philosophers. The best prayer, Socrates said, was one in which a person simply asked God to work his will, since he knew best.

Mystery solved....although it would have been quite intriguing if Socrates was a monotheist before his time.

Or perhaps he, in his tendency to refer to a singular god, was a bit like many Hindus who, although believing in a pantheon, have one special deity whom they revere above all others.

Mystery solved....although it would have been quite intriguing if Socrates was a monotheist before his time.

Or perhaps he, in his tendency to refer to a singular god, was a bit like many Hindus who, although believing in a pantheon, have one special deity whom they revere above all others.

So maybe Socrates didn't have a statue of Zeus in his front yard? Have modern era philosophers been followers of any religion? Or would that go against being a philosopher in the first place?

Mystery solved....although it would have been quite intriguing if Socrates was a monotheist before his time.

Or perhaps he, in his tendency to refer to a singular god, was a bit like many Hindus who, although believing in a pantheon, have one special deity whom they revere above all others.

So maybe Socrates didn't have a statue of Zeus in his front yard? Have modern era philosophers been followers of any religion? Or would that go against being a philosopher in the first place?

IMHO, I imagine that modern philosophers would have great difficulty accepting a faith, at least accepting it in the form that is popular with the masses.

I think there is a distinct line between philosophy and faith, in that philosophy attempts to use logic and chain of thought for all the ideas that can't be proved, and maintains that they are only ideas, not facts, whilst religion bases itself around one idea, no chain of logical thought, and maintains that the unprovable idea is fact.

('m assuming that if an idea is proved, it leaves the realms of philosphy and since it is factual it enters the realms of science.)