Marsilio Ficino as a Christian Thinker: Theological Aspects of his Platonism

Abstract

This chapter argues in detail against the criticism and rejection of particular Christian Incarnation. Marsilio Ficino's commentary on the Epistle to the Romans exists only as a fragment, the commentary coming to a premature end at Rom. One of the most common prejudices of students of humanism and the Renaissance is to argue that Renaissance philosophers tended to overestimate human powers. For the most part Ficino follows another path. In De Christiana religione , as well as in the commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (especially in the interpretation of Romans 5:12, the locus classicus since Augustine), Ficino follows scholastic theory as found in Thomas Aquinas. This discussion of Ficino's theological views has sought to show how he attempted to realize his programme of Christian Platonism. Dealing with particular issues in the Christian tradition, he used his philosophical tenets to explain and interpret Christian doctrines. Keywords: Christian Platonism; Christian thinker; De Christiana religione ; Marsilio Ficino; scholastic theory; Thomas Aquinas