Plato

The UB treats Plato as one of the most significant pre-Christian thinkers whose philosophy prepared the intellectual groundwork for the gospel. His doctrine of Forms, his concept of the Good, and his emphasis on the soul's immortality are acknowledged as genuine philosophical achievements that paralleled (though imperfectly) revealed truth. The UB notes that Plato's influence on Christianity, through Paul and the Greek Fathers, was profound but sometimes distorting, imposing rigid idealism on Jesus' more dynamic teachings.