Philosophers and theologians tend to be questioning answers that their predecessors or contemporaries have raised. This goes way back: Plato's dialogues have a

Philosophers and theologians tend to be questioning answers that their predecessors or contemporaries have raised. This goes way back: Plato's dialogues have a lot of references to Heraclitus, Parmenides--well, the pre-Socratics--and Aristotle argues with Plato. To read the the successor without knowing at least something of the predecessor is like listening to somebody on the phone: you might be able to follow the conversation from just the one side, or you might not.