I think I see what you're saying, but I don't think it's accurate.
If you read the works of Plato, their filled with references to scripture and scrolls. They had many practices and beliefs regarding what pleased their gods.
Many of their discussions about government focused on the ethical duties, if any, society had with regards to whether or not their theological and religious information should be taught in schools or should influence the government in any way. Read The Republic (400 bc) for extensive examples of this.
Additionally, when St Augustine got his hands on platonic philosophy, he began weaving it into the fabric of Christianity. The parts he felt supported Christianity (dualism for example) he kept and incorporated, the stuff he felt was incompatible or unnecessary, he left out.
If you read The Apology, which was written 400 years before Jesus is thought to have been born, you will see an uncanny likeness between Socrates (as portrayed by Plato) and Jesus of Nazareth. They're practically the same person, but Jesus steps away from the humble awareness of ignorance that Socrates is so famous for, and instead takes a path of what Socrates would call "Pretending to Knowledge). The attributes of selfless devotion to a cause are mutually depicted by both characters. What separates them is the type of cause they were willing to die for. Socrates wanted people to examine their lives and not put worldly things above the desire to know and understand. When the character Jesus came on the scene, he claimed to know and understand that a specific God was what was important, and that God is what we should put above all else.
Socrates would have had a field day examining what Jesus claimed to know, and my guess is that the two would not have gotten along all that well.
Nonetheless, The religious tenets of Christianity are not at all the first on the scene. Far from it. It has evolved over time and is I itself continuing to evolve. I would recommend Daniel Dennett's video on TED.com pertaining to the evolution of religion.
If you read the works of Plato, their filled with references to scripture and scrolls. They had many practices and beliefs regarding what pleased their gods.
Many of their discussions about government focused on the ethical duties, if any, society had with regards to whether or not their theological and religious information should be taught in schools or should influence the government in any way. Read The Republic (400 bc) for extensive examples of this.
Additionally, when St Augustine got his hands on platonic philosophy, he began weaving it into the fabric of Christianity. The parts he felt supported Christianity (dualism for example) he kept and incorporated, the stuff he felt was incompatible or unnecessary, he left out.
If you read The Apology, which was written 400 years before Jesus is thought to have been born, you will see an uncanny likeness between Socrates (as portrayed by Plato) and Jesus of Nazareth. They're practically the same person, but Jesus steps away from the humble awareness of ignorance that Socrates is so famous for, and instead takes a path of what Socrates would call "Pretending to Knowledge). The attributes of selfless devotion to a cause are mutually depicted by both characters. What separates them is the type of cause they were willing to die for. Socrates wanted people to examine their lives and not put worldly things above the desire to know and understand. When the character Jesus came on the scene, he claimed to know and understand that a specific God was what was important, and that God is what we should put above all else.
Socrates would have had a field day examining what Jesus claimed to know, and my guess is that the two would not have gotten along all that well.
Nonetheless, The religious tenets of Christianity are not at all the first on the scene. Far from it. It has evolved over time and is I itself continuing to evolve. I would recommend Daniel Dennett's video on TED.com pertaining to the evolution of religion.
