The theological controversies of the age created new problems which called for philosophical solutions. It is easy to suppose that almost all that is vital in seventeenth-century philosophy can be attributed to the scientific revolution, but several of the most interesting developments can be traced to the demands of theology. There had been more than one conception of the relationship between philosophy and theology within the Christian tradition. There is a powerful tendency among some seventeenth-century philosophers to make a sharp distinction between philosophy and theology. However, Nicolas Malebranche and others were very far from seeking to sever the connexions between philosophy and theology. They sought to revive the legacy of Augustine, and to that extent they were engaged in resurrecting Platonism in a Christian form. The history of theological conflicts in the seventeenth century is marked by both continuity and innovation. The classic issues of the Reformation continued to be at the centre of theological controversy.