Early Church fathers went directly to spar with the intellectual elite - the philosophers

One of the coming signs of the coming of the messiah will be that he will make the deaf hear and will open the eyes of the blind. Opponents of religion will often make the claim that religion is the opiate or the drug of the masses. Drugs and opiates try to dull our experience of reality. They make our senses less aware of what is going on around them. A person who is on drugs therefore has lost the sobriety of mind required to know the truth.
              From her founding, the Church has kept her eyes and ears open to the truth wherever it may be found. For this reason, the early Church fathers went directly to spar with the intellectual elite - the philosophers. They wanted to show how the philosophers, especially Plato, in their search for truth were in reality searching for Christ. The purpose of the Christian faith was not to anesthetize the people with fanciful stories in which they could escape from reality - like the latest Avengers or Star Wars movie. The purpose of the Christian life was to awaken people to reality. The reality that life is short. The reality that the idolization of wealth, power, pleasure and fame leaves a person empty. The reality that the poor, the sick, and even sinners are human beings too who need of compassion, love and care.
Jesus Christ helps us to become more aware of reality not less. And the way that we see more deeply into the way things really are is through greater love. For when we love, we see more. We see both the good and imperfections of our world around us without condemning it. We see that even through all the sin, debauchery, and human failings, God is still with us trying to save our broken world.  And our Christian faith, through love, helps us open our eyes and ears to this truth.
 
God Bless,
              Fr. Scott