This is a book about Plato's legacy in the Christian tradition. The author takes as his point of departure Plato's pre-Christian vision of reality based largely on the Republic, Laws, and the Timaeus. Markos surveys Plato's legacy in Origen, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory Palamas, Augustine, Boethius, Dante, Erasmus, Descartes, Coleridge, and C.S. Lewis.

Markos maintains that these Christian thinkers succeeded in absorbing the ideas and methods of Plato yet remained firmly within the bounds of orthodoxy. Together, they show us a multitude of ways in which the pre-Christian wisdom of Plato has inspired and guided Christians toward enduring truths.

It is well known that Neoplatonism flourished at the same time that the Church Fathers were elaborating Christian doctrine. Modern scholarship, however, is strongly divided on the question of their interrelationship. Markos approaches the subject with the conviction that Christian theologians essentially transformed Platonic tenets in accordance with classical Christian faith (notwithstanding moments of aberration in authors such as Origen). This was certainly true among Byzantine theologians through Gregory Palamas who essentially baptized a Platonic worldview by giving it a distinctly Christian meaning. To that extent, one could say that the church “Christianized Hellenism” as much as Platonism “Hellenized Christianity”—a relationship much like a hotdog with mustard, or mustard with a hotdog (both being true).

I wonder if, at times, Markos is reading too much Platonism into the Church Fathers. The similarities between Platonism and Christianity in terms of ideas and methods of interpretation does not automatically mean direct influence. Markos certainly shows direct dependence on Plato in the case of Gregory of Nyssa, who contrasts Plato's views with Christianity by saying “Pagan philosophy says . . . but” Christianity is different (166). In other cases, I wonder if there is there a leap of logic when Markos finds “phrases that are reminiscent” of Plato's works in Gregory as evidence that Gregory actual uses of Plato (167). Are “reminiscences” sufficient grounds for concluding that a Christian author is consciously using Platonic ideas?

Overwhelmingly, Markos does a marvelous job at helping us understand the influence of Platonic thought on Christian faith through the centuries. He writes with skill, technical accuracy, and mastery of the subject. This is a clear presentation of a topic that is often daunting for beginning students. I recommend it enthusiastically for classroom use and personal enrichment.