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Aristotle is a name well

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known by most people,

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but very few people know much

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about him. And that's okay.

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We don't have to be

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Aristotelians to be able to

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appreciate Aristotle and

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his contribution.

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When you think about

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Greek philosophers,

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Plato comes to mind and then

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Aristotle is the next generation

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behind Plato.

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And there are significant

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differences between Plato

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and Aristotle,

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but we don't even need

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to get into all that.

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What is important for the

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context of understanding

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character,

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and especially my interest in

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Aristotle has to do with his

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focus on the importance of

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habituating and training

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and teaching character.

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Aristotle was convinced that you

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can teach character and you can

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help a person become virtuous

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simply by teaching them

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to do virtuous things.

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So they become virtuous.

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They gain virtues and skills and

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virtues through practicing them

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and doing them again and again.

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And they become habituated.

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And then they eventually become

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formed into a character that can

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carry these things on without

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having to be thinking

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about it so much.

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But that's part of the

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nuances of this.

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So the real point of Aristotle

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is the fact that he came to the

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conclusion that humans have a

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purpose. There is a goal,

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there's a thing we're shooting

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for there's a telos.

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That's that powerful Greek word

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which means end result goal.

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So there is a telos

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to humanity.

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Aristotle was convinced of it,

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and he was convinced that tell

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us was to become everything

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a human is supposed to be,

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the very kind of pinnacle

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of human being.

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And we should be training people

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to do that and helping people to

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achieve that full human telos.

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And we do that by training

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and habituating. Now,

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those things are all very

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interesting and I think very

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useful to us. Of course,

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there are some problems.

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One of the problems is Luther

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was very clear that he didn't

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have a whole lot of

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use for Aristotle.

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And Melanchthon had some bad

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things to say about Aristotle.

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And yet both Luther and

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Melanchton had a lot of good

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things to say about Aristotle.

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And it's not that they

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were inconsistent.

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They're actually quite

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consistent.

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The point is that when Aristotle

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starts being pulled into

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theology and starts teaching us

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about how to be right with

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God big problems,

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when Aristotle is using the

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world of ethics and about the

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world of training and teaching

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and forming and shaping

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character,

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he can be very useful.

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Now,

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how can a person be totally

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wrong on one thing and totally

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right on another? Well,

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part of the answer is realizing

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that God has wired truths

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into the world,

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what I would call natural law.

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And don't get too hung

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up on that term.

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What I mean by natural law is

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simply the way that God has

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put things together,

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the structure that is built in

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to the world itself.

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And the 

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reality is that there is a

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structure, there is a reality,

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an isness to the world.

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That's what is this natural law,

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things that are just there.

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And when somebody turns his mind

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to learn about the world

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and to study it,

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he's learning about natural law.

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So truth is truth.

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Whoever finds it or wherever

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it's found or whoever is saying

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it, it's still truth.

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So when Aristotle speaks truth,

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truth and when Aristotle's

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carefully thinking about human

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beings and how they operate and

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what their purposes are,

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he comes across a great deal of

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truth which is consistent and

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coherent with what we

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would also say.

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So that's why even a Christian

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can use Aristotle in the right

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place and why we can endorse

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Aristotelian ideas in

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the right venue.

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You have to be careful to keep

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him in his limits and keep him

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within his parameters.

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When Aristotle starts to creep

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over where he doesn't belong,

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big problems happen.

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That's what happened

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in the Middle Ages,

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that's what happened to a lot of

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medieval theology and things

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got really out of whack.

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But when Aristotle is

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kept in his place,

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he can be a very useful tool.

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And that's exactly how I

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think Luther used him,

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clearly how Melanchthon used him.

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Remember,

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Melanchthon was an Aristotelian

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philosopher.

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He taught Aristotle and he had a

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great deal of respect

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for the philosopher.

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And I think we can as well,

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even when we recognize there are

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clear shortcomings and problems.

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But taken in context,

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he can be very useful.

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So read Aristotle with care and

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don't be afraid to agree with

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him when he's right,

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just because he's Aristotle and

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we know there are some concerns

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with him as well.