ABSTRACT
Socrates was not only a teacher of wisdom: he was for many a paragon who helped prepare the way for the Gospel. Yet Socrates enjoyed a laugh. Socrates enjoyed a drink. The example of Socrates justified laughter, banter, friendly drinking and jesting. The parallels between Socrates and Christians go back at least to Justin Martyr, who pointed out that Socrates 'was accused of the very crimes imputed to us' and that - an amazing privilege - he had some independent knowledge of Christ. Socrates and Plato were widely held to have learnt truths about God from Hebrew books left in Egypt by Moses. The extent to which Socrates can be absorbed into Christianity by Erasmus can be seen by the use that he makes of stupidus et bardus. Folly tells how Christ preferred simple, guileless men and simple, guileless beasts.
