When reading Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” and Socrates’ “Apology,” one cannot help but be struck by the remarkable similarities – and differences – in the words, thoughts, actions and especially, the life experiences of the two speakers. Some similarities and differences are readily apparent, others less so. In many ways, Jesus and Socrates are two sides of the same coin leading to different ends: live life true to yourself and your beliefs.
On a quick reading, there are quite a few obvious, simple similarities. Both were written by people other than the speakers, and written after their deaths, although the “Apology” was written shortly (within months) after Socrates’ death, and the “Sermon” was written about 30 years after Jesus’ death. Both of the authors were in conflict with the governments of their time, not so much for what they believed, but because they choose to spread their beliefs causing some conflict and unrest. They equally look down upon the supposedly learned and wise people of their time: Socrates looked down on the sophists, Jesus looked down on the Pharisees and the Scribes. Each believed it was one’s duty to live true to oneself and to the life God had chosen for them. They believed they were following a divine calling, and considered themselves teachers of a sort. Neither one of them accepted money for their knowledge. They each have a strong distaste for people who spend their lives pursuing the accumulation of money and material goods – for those who “worship” money. In fact, both believe that by living a virtuous and righteous life – as defined by them – the “good” things of money and material goods will come to them. Both believed in the concepts of good and evil. And, of course, both were put to death because they choose to act on, live by, and spread their beliefs.
Less obvious is the cultural values that each espoused. Each has a certain amount of idealism – a belief in the way things should be, in particular, how individuals should be. Jesus and Socrates believed that each person is responsible for improving their minds, even their souls, but for different ends. Socrates believed it was essential that one constantly examine and question everything and everyone around themselves in order to improve oneself and one’s life here and now on earth; whereas Jesus believed that improvement of oneself would lead to being admitted to the kingdom of Heaven after death. Socrates’ outlook was humanistic, whereas Jesus’ was mysticism.
Jesus and Socrates both used rationalism to further their aims, although Jesus to a lesser extent. For Socrates, rationalism is the highest good: truly, the end-all and be-all of a person’s life. Rationalism is used by Socrates for everything, he continuously questioned everything and everyone around him, right up to his death. He strongly believed that if one didn’t question everything – even the existence of gods – that one was not leading a good, virtuous life. For Socrates, the use of one’s reasoning abilities was the highest calling one could have. In fact, he believed that “examining myself and others, is the greatest good of man” and that the “unexamined life was not worth living” (Socrates 15).
For Jesus, however, rationalism is a means-to-an-end: he uses rationalism as a way to explain what he believes. He uses several logical analogies and metaphors to help others understand what he is saying and to further what is, to him, the highest good: Service to God in order to achieve the kingdom of Heaven in the afterlife. His most effective analogy is that of good trees and “corrupt” trees in comparison to good people and corrupt people. When he says that “every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire” he is saying that as corrupt trees are hewn down and thrown into the fire, so are corrupt people hewn down and thrown into the fires (assumedly of Hell) by God (Jesus 40).
For Jesus, mysticism – achieving the kingdom of Heaven after death – is the highest good: that everything a person does here on earth, even what a person thinks, is known and judged by God in order to determine if one may enter Heaven when one dies. Jesus’ belief in an afterlife was entirely an act of faith: there was no question at all that it existed. To question the existence of Heaven – or God – was sinful, and perhaps even a reason for God to deny one admittance to Heaven. While Socrates does believe in God – or Gods – it is a belief that is grounded in rationalism. He has reasoned that God (or Gods) exist, primarily because the sons of Gods exist (Socrates 8). Socrates, like Jesus, also believed in living one’s life in service to God, but again, for different ends: Jesus for achieving the kingdom of Heaven, Socrates for improving the individual and the State (Jesus 38, Socrates 10). Where Jesus believed absolutely in an afterlife, Socrates reasoned that whether or not it exists, ultimately death is a good. For Socrates, death will lead to either the end of pain, or to “another world” where good people are not put to death for their beliefs, and can have fun discoursing and questioning those who came before him (Socrates 17). Where Jesus states emphatically that the kingdom of Heaven, the afterlife, exists, Socrates questions and reasons such existence right up to his end. In fact, the very last words of his “Apology” are: “I to die, and you to live. Which is better God only knows” (Socrates 17).
Both Jesus and Socrates display individualism as a cultural value, but again, for different ends. For Jesus, individualism revolved around a personal relationship with God leading to admittance to the kingdom of Heaven. Whereas for Socrates, individualism was to improve one’s own self and those around them, which would lead to not just a better life for the person and those they improved, but also for the State they lived within, here and now on Earth.
Jesus and Socrates also both display a certain amount of authoritarianism as a cultural value. The ultimate authority, the only true government and law that mattered for Jesus was, of course, God and His laws. In fact, he believed that most of the laws of man did not go far enough, especially those that dealt with divorce, adultery, and loving one’s neighbor, amongst others (Jesus 36-39). For Socrates, following the laws of man and the State, and service to the State, was a high virtue; however, he believed that one should not follow such laws blindly. On the contrary, one should always question the current laws and especially, those who were currently in power.
Ultimately, both Jesus and Socrates aimed to improve the life – even the souls – of themselves and the people around them, although for different end results. While Jesus’ concern was with one’s life after death and Socrates’ concern was for one’s life now, they both believed that it was their duty to spread their belief, and both died for their beliefs. In many ways, whether or not an afterlife exists has become a moot point, because both have achieved a certain immortality. Thousands of years after their deaths, their words are still being read, their beliefs are still being spread, and both are still making a difference and improving the lives of people here and now… and maybe even in the afterlife.
Works Cited
Jesus. “The Sermon on the Mount (The Gospel of Matthew)”. Humanities I Study Guide. Ed. Nancy McCollum. Thomson Custom Publishing. 2002. 36-40.
Socrates. The Apology. Plato. Trans. Benjamin Jowett. Project Gutenberg. Sue Asscher. February 1999. 6 October 2003. http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext99/pplgy10.txt
Written for Professor Hartman's Survey of Humanities I class at Pikes Peak Community College, 17th November 2003.
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