Among the philosophers and theologians, the names of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, and Aquinas are intricately connected. While the Christian philosopher-theologian Saint Augustine drew from the philosophical insights of Plato, Saint Thomas Aquinas drew from the philosophical insights of Aristotle. Nevertheless, between chronologically moving forward and historically reflecting backward, there is yet an unnamed philosopher who points directly to Christ.
First, I recommend the book From Plato to Christ: How Platonic Thought Shaped the Christian Faith by Louis Markos. Second, the book From Aristotle to Christ: How Aristotelian Thought Clarified the Christian Faith by Louis Markos is also recommended. And third, The Greatest Philosopher Who Ever Lived by Peter Kreeft is the book which names Mary, the mother of Jesus, as the philosopher who points directly to Christ.
Hodegetria is a Greek word which means “she who shows the way.” The Hodegetria icon in Eastern Orthodoxy is also known as “Mary the Directress” because she points in the direction of the Christ Child as the “The Way” to salvation. The original Hodegetria Icon of the Mother of God is historically the first icon of the Church and is attributed to Saint Luke the Evangelist.
In his introduction to the Gospel of Luke from The New Testament for Everyone, N. T. Wright states, “Some ancient traditions… suppose that Luke was a doctor. Other traditions, not so ancient but still important, claim that he was an artist.” Wright concludes, “Thus through the human story of Jesus the storyteller and healer, Luke offers us both a work of art for our contemplation and the medicine for the deepest human disease.”
~Boethius~