Socrates and Matthew Essays

Socrates and Matthew Essays Socrates and Matthew Essay Socrates and Matthew Essay Every ancient culture seemed to have its own heretics. The Greeks and Romans were no exception. In Athens, Greece, the philosopher Socrates was perhaps the most well-known heretic, and in Rome it was Jesus of Nazareth. Both Socrates and Jesus faced political charges. However, Socrates was more of a political man than Jesus was.First, there was evidence suggesting that Socrates may have committed political crimes in Athens. Athens was an ancient Democracy, and freedom of speech was highly prized in the courts and among the common people. However, Socrates was executed despite the existence of this freedom. This implies that he tried to overthrow the democracy and begin a dictatorship. According to I. F. Stone, anti-democrats established short dictatorships in 411 B.C. and 404 B.C. Because Socrates was also a well-known anti-democrat, Athenians were afraid of another dictatorship. For this reason, Socrates was not put on trial until 399 B.C. after he had been teaching for more than 25 years, even though he was already an old man (Stone).On the other hand, Jesus was not accused of trying to overthrow the government. Instead, Judas Iscariot, one of his 12 disciples, brought Jesus to the chief priests to be crucified, in exchange for 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26.14-15 King James Version). As a result, he was crucified, even though no specific political charges were brought against him.No one ever revoked Socratess charges. But Judas did try to revoke his bribe to crucify Jesus. In Matthew 27:4, Judas said: I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. But in the same verse, the people did not want to hear what he had to say; their response was: What is that to us? See thou to that (Matthew 27.4).However, both Socrates and Jesus faced religious charges. For Socrates the charge was corrupting the youth, although no specific definition or explanation of the charge â€Å"Socrates and Matthew† was ever given. According to Stone, however, it may have referred to the possibility that Socrates was undermining young Athenians faith in their democracy (Stone). Jesuss charge was blasphemy, because he claimed to be the king of the Jews (Matthew 27.11). However, the governor did not recognize any evil in him (Matthew 27.23). In the end, Jesus was crucified, because the people demanded it and took responsibility for his crucifixion (Matthew 27.25).Another difference between Socrates and Jesus was the justification of each verdict. In the book of Matthew, there were no references to people feeling justified long after the crucifixion of Jesus. However, more than 50 years after the trial of Socrates, the Greek orator Aeschines said: Men of Athens, you executed Socrates, the sophist, because he was clearly responsible for the education of Critias, one of the thirty anti-democratic leaders (qtd. in Stone). This quote proves that if Socrates had not been executed, yet another dictatorship could have been established in the democratic city o f Athens. It is also interesting to note that Socrates never left Athens during the reign of the 30 tyrants, who were all dictators. It was as if he were overseeing their work, and he was one of very few people who were not banished, put into exile, or murdered for not supporting the 30 tyrants (Stone).As a matter of fact, the only reference to how people felt after the crucifixion of Jesus was one of remorse. Matthew 27:54 reads: Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.In addition, Jesus was not accused of corrupting the youth, as Socrates was. In contrast, Xenophon, a witness at the trial of Socrates, later reported that during the trial, â€Å"Socrates and Matthew†   someone accused Socrates of teaching people to despise the way minor government offices were filled by lot. This unnamed accuser also said that Socrates taught his pupi ls that the government should be run by experts, rather than by popular vote in the assembly (Stone). Although Xenophon was a follower of Socrates, he did not deny these accusations. Furthermore, he later stated that Socrates was accused of corrupting the young by teaching them the things previously mentioned (Stone). Xenophon denied this charge, but it is, nonetheless, a charge and an accusation. This, along with the fact that he did not deny the first two charges, proves that Socrates was an extremely political man.There are other political reasons for the condemnation of Socrates. According to Stone, Athens granted amnesty toward the 30 tyrants, as long as they stopped being dictators. After this, their past actions were not brought up again, and Athenians kept their oath and acted honorably toward the former tyrants (Stone). However, Socrates was prosecuted and condemned, because he continued teaching his anti-democratic philosophy even after the democracy was re-established (St one). Jesus, on the other hand, was not accused of being a dictator, and there was no evidence to suggest that he continued teaching after receiving a warning like Socrates did after the Athenian democracy was rebuilt.In conclusion, Socrates was more of a political man than Jesus of Nazareth. Although there is no record of the entire trial, there is enough evidence, if not to justify the condemnation of Socrates, then certainly to conclude that he was much more political than Jesus was. This evidence includes the fact that Xenophon did not deny the charges that Socrates did not agree with how the Athenian government was run, and that Socrates â€Å"Socrates and Matthew† continued his anti-democratic teachings after the re-establishment of the Greek democracy.