Terminology Tuesday: Platonism
Platonism: The philosophical system of the Greek philosopher Plato, which has immeasurably influenced Western thought. Plato’s philosophy rests primarily on his concept of forms, cosmology and immortality. According to Plato, actual created things are imperfect copies of transcendent, objective and eternal “forms,” the highest of which is the form of the Good. Human knowledge is innate and can be apprehended by rational reflections and Socratic “extraction.” At death the body releases the imprisoned soul, which is then able to contemplate truth in its pure form.1
1. Stanley J. Grenz, David Guretzki & Cherith Fee Nordling, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), p. 91.