Father Horacio Medina: Jesus and Socrates – Charting Parallel, Though Different, Courses

Father Horacio Medina is a Roman Catholic priest with the Archdiocese of Newark whose work bridges theology, philosophy, and pastoral care. Based in Bloomfield, New Jersey, Father Horacio Medina serves parish communities while also teaching ancient Greek philosophy and related subjects at Saint Peter’s University. His academic background includes formal study in philosophy and humanities in Costa Rica, graduate work in theology and sacred scripture in El Salvador, journalism studies in Honduras, and advanced moral theology training at the Scuola Alfonsiana in Rome.

In addition to his teaching and preaching, Father Horacio Medina regularly visits hospitals and prisons, offering spiritual guidance and counseling to individuals facing hardship. His scholarly interests often explore the intersection of classical philosophy and Christian thought, including how ancient thinkers shaped moral reasoning and ethical inquiry. This perspective informs a thoughtful comparison of figures such as Jesus and Socrates, whose teachings emerged in different historical contexts yet continue to influence discussions of virtue, truth, and human conduct.

Jesus and Socrates – Charting Parallel, Though Different, Courses

Among the most prominent ancient thinkers of their respective eras, Jesus and Socrates have many similarities and differences, which makes a comparison edifying. A prominent English theologian and philosopher, Joseph Priestley lived from 1733 to 1804, He was also a scientist credited with inventing the first process to artificially carbonate water and discovering oxygen. In the year prior to his death, he published the seminal work Socrates and Jesus Compared.

While Socrates excelled in logical dialectics and Jesus in teachings of a more spiritual nature, both had a profound understanding of the way the mind works, and how humans coalesce and come into conflict with each other in complex societies. Socrates lived centuries before Christ, at a time when the Roman empire had not yet emerged and Athens was moving toward a cosmopolitan, democratic identity as part of a confederation of city states. Jesus lived at a time when Jerusalem was ruled over by a Roman colonizing force that imposed its laws over a populace that had a largely Jewish identity. Despite these profound differences, both societies were rapidly transitioning in terms of governance and lifestyle, and many people felt their lives were in flux.

Both Jesus and Socrates took important stands for what they believed in, which led to their deaths and their subsequent exaltation by followers as martyrs. Socrates was characterized as an enemy by the Athenian establishment for the way he encouraged young Athenians to engage in logical, spirited debate, often criticizing the edifices underpinning traditional society. In a similar way, Jesus, as a self-proclaimed prophet, was opposed by high powers within the synagogue, who felt he challenged and undercut their tradition-bound authority.

Both thinkers willingly accepted a sentence of death as a result, with Socrates drinking hemlock (poison) with no sense of resentment, regret, or desire to escape. Jesus drank from his own cup, refusing to refute the mantle of Son of God that his followers placed on him, before Jewish and Roman authorities, and accepting a punishment of public crucifixion as a result. Both men were motivated by ideals and beliefs in something far greater than themselves, and were willing to sacrifice their lives and, as they saw it, transcend the mortal coil. As Jesus’ acolytes put it, “he died for our sins.”

It’s important to note that, while Socrates is known as the father of philosophy, he was not an atheist. Like others in ancient Greece of his time, he was a polytheist, but his belief was of a specific kind. Though his life predated Judaeo-Christian theological traditions, Socrates fashioned a teleological creation account not unlike that in Genesis. This holds that a higher power designed all living things in harmony with each other.

Socrates also believed in the omniscience of the gods, believing that they knew everything past and present, and this alone was enough to prevent wrong thought and deeds among those who adhered to a philosophical path. One major difference is that, unlike Jesus, Socrates did not speak of an afterlife and concepts such as heaven and hell. Related to this, he never wrestled directly with the concept of evil, but rather pointed toward discourse as a way of moving toward a moral state that involved a fair and impartial understanding of others. These similarities and parallels in thought and life did not go unnoticed by early Church leaders, who characterized Socrates and his students Plato and Aristotle as “virtuous pagans.”

About Father Horacio Medina

Father Horacio Medina is a Roman Catholic priest with the Archdiocese of Newark and a professor of philosophy and Spanish at Saint Peter’s University. His academic training spans philosophy, theology, sacred scripture, and moral theology, including advanced study in Rome. Alongside teaching and preaching, he regularly provides pastoral care in hospitals and prisons, integrating classical philosophical inquiry with Christian ethics and community service.