Mixing philosophy and religion

Just as philosophy and science intermingled, so did philosophy and religion — as they

still do. What do I mean by religion? It often means much the same as philosophy — a

way of understanding reality. Religion includes publicly shared beliefs, private

convictions, and ways that people express faith. The Greek religion focused on a group

of gods, the pantheon, who behaved much as human beings do, but who existed in a

supernatural realm that interacted with and affected mortal affairs.

Early philosophers apparently weren’t content with taking creation myths and Greek

polytheism (the worship of many gods) at face value. However, that doesn’t mean

they rejected religion, as evidenced by these examples:

One early Greek philosopher, Pythagoras (about 560–480 BC), founded a

religious community and preached about the transmigration of souls. His

followers said he was the son of the god Apollo and that he could appear in two

places at once.

Xenophanes, a philosopher born around 580 BC, opposed anthropomorphic

gods (gods who look and act like people) and polytheism, yet he described a

god that he called “the greatest amongst gods and men.”

Legend says that Empedocles, who thought the universe was made of four

elements (fire, air, water, and earth), claimed to be a god himself. To prove it,

he jumped into a live volcano.