Christianity and Philosophy

Colossians 2:8 (ESV)
⁸  See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

Philosophy, like most things, can be used for good or for evil.  You can use philosophy to convince people of absolutely foolish ideas.  Moral relativism is the idea that moral (ethical) standards should be set by either the individual or the culture.  It has cost millions of lives over the past century and damaged even more.  In a marketing class years ago we were discussing business ethics, the instructor said, “what is legal is what is ethical.”  I objected and pointed to 1950s America where it was legal to pay women and minorities less for the same labor.  “Was that ethical?” I asked.  Then I asked if Simone De Bouvier and Martin Luther King should have been expunged from our society for going against culture and saying people should be judged by the content of their character and not their skin color or sex.  She was stunned and said she needed to teach what was in the textbook.  Sad, but the class saw my point.

We see this sort of thing deeply embedded in our culture today.  No one can say what’s right or wrong without someone else being offended.  Moral relativism is at the root of many of our problems.  Accompanying moral relativism is epistemological (factual) relativism: “What’s true for you isn’t necessarily true for me!”  Recognize it?  If there is no objective truth, there can be no standards.

Philosophy can be used for good too, of course.  In previous posts, we’ve looked at the philosophical arguments and evidence for the existence of God.  Using logic (a discipline within philosophy) we’ve looked at many arguments against biblical truth and found them wanting. 

So, how do we tell the difference between godly and evilideas?  As Paul says in Col. 2:8, if we listen to the philosophy of the world we will be taken captive, deceived.  Some lies sound perfectly plausible and even attractive, so we need to be watchful.  We need to be so familiar with the truth lies are easily recognized.  The Bible is the standard for truth and morality not man.

If we follow philosophy according to Christ, if we search for actual truth, if we look for the real answers to the world around us, we end up on solid ground.  A Christian philosopher, Rene’ Descartes, told us that truth can be identified by its consistency.  Lies are inconsistent.  While some lies are complex, and the inconsistencies are well buried, they will eventually be found out.

There is a difference between one’s personal philosophy and philosophy as a discipline.  Your personal philosophy is the filter through which you view the world.  If you’re a Christian, you see the universe as a creation of God.  Because of what an atheist believes, he sees something very different.  That doesn’t mean they’re both true.  In fact, it means at least one is false. 

There is a considerable amount of philosophy in the Bible.  Jesus often reasoned with the Pharisees.  The Sermon on the Mount is very philosophical.  At least seven times in the book of Acts, we are told that Paul “reasoned” with the Jews and with the Greeks.  His argument starting in chapter 17:22 was a demonstration of logical reasoning to convince another of a specific truth.  James tells us wisdom (sophia from which we get philo-sophia, the love of wisdom – philosophy) is open to reason.  That’s a good definition of godly philosophy.

James 3:17-18 (ESV)
¹⁷  But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

Christian philosophers over the past century have been making a difference.  They have taken the stance that all truth is God’s truth.  Alvin Plantinga has shown that evil and a loving God can exist at the same time.  William Lane Craig has given mountains of evidence pointing to the resurrection of Jesus as a historical fact.  Francis Beckwith has done amazing work for the pro-life movement, Greg Koukl has been fighting relativism, and the list goes on.

So, next time someone says something derogatory against philosophy, remember, much of what we believe is based in it.  Besides, “Philosophy is foolish,” is a philosophical statement.

Isaiah 1:18a (ESV)
¹⁸  “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: