The Believer and Philosophy

In Colossians 2:8, the Apostle Paul issues the following warning concerning the dangers of philosophy: "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." According to Webster's 1828 Dictionary, the word "beware" carries the following meanings: "to restrain or guard one's self from. Hence, to regard with caution; to restrain one's self from anything that may be dangerous, injurious or improper; to avoid; to take care; followed by or before the thing that is to be avoided." Consequently, there can be little doubt that Paul viewed philosophy as a discipline that possessed the capacity to spoil, or ruin the believer who over indulge in its study. Paul's usage of the military term "spoil," which means to carry off as booty, or to carry one off as a captive or slave, indicates the stern nature of Paul's warning with regard to philosophy.(1)

Many believers have taken this verse as a complete prohibition against engaging in any type of philosophical study. Others have understood the verse to be speaking about the specific philosophy of Gnogoticism that had begun penetrating the thinking of some of the saints in Colosse. Regardless of one's personal position, there is no doubt that philosophy needs to be respected for its potential spoiling capacity. Paul's knowledge of Epicurean and Stoic Philosophy, including his ability to quote their own poets in Acts 17, indicates that it is possible for believers to engage in philosophical pursuits without being spoiled by them.


In their book, Introduction to Philosophy: A Christian Perspective, Norman L. Geisler and Paul D. Feinberg argue that philosophy can contribute to the understanding of one's faith. Geisler and Feinberg assert, "Christianity can stand up to the intellectual challenges mounted against it. The result of such a challenge should not be the loss of faith, but the priceless possession of a well-reasoned and mature faith."(2) When one considers the number of disciplines that are impacted by philosophical inquiry, it becomes apparent that even Mid-Acts Dispensationalists utilize aspects of philosophical argumentation when supporting doctrinal positions. Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy, Asthetics, Logic, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of History, Philosophy of Science, Epistemology, and Metaphysics, are all subjects that are impacted by philosophical study.(3)

Theology, whether it be Dispensational, Systematic, Covenant, or Historical, cannot make any assertions without utilizing the laws of logic. Believers who claim, "logic does not apply to God," defeat their own argument because they use logic in making such as statement. Therefore, logic is unavoidable. Grace Believers cannot argue that Covenant or Charismatic Theology is wrong without utilizing the laws of rational thinking because the basis of all logic is that some statements are true and others are false.(4) At this point, some might raise the following objection, "using logic puts logic before God." Believers need to make a distinction between the order of being, and the order of knowing. "In the order of being. God is first; but in the order of knowing, logic leads us to all knowledge of God. God is the basis of all logic (in the order of being), but logic is the basis of all knowledge of God (in the order of knowing)."(5) Without God, nothing could have existence. Logic comes from God not God from logic.

In the end, believers cannot escape engaging in philosophical thinking; however, we are still warned not be spoiled by it. In Romans One, mankind corrupted the knowledge of God and became fools, by professing themsleves to be wise. In 1 Corinthians 1:22, Paul writes, "For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:" The Greek's attitude toward wisdom is demonstrated in Acts 17:21 where Luke comments that the sole passion of the Athenians was "either to tell, or to hear some new thing." Herein lies the problem with an unchecked affection for philosophy-- it pampers the flesh and entices the mind. Human wisdom seeks to utilize logic to explain the existence of all things without acknowledging the source of the very logic it extolls as the source of all truth and reality. 1 Corinthians 1:21 teaches that God in his wisdom created a situation whereby man by his own ability to reason could never know God.

For believers philosophy is both a necessity and an ever present danger. When one finds oneself elevating human reason and viewpoint above the word of God rightly divided, should run for the nearest mental exit, to escape being ensnared and spoiled by vain deceit!

Footnotes
1) Strong's Concordance
2) Geisler, Norman. and Paul D. Feinberg. Introduction to Philosophy: A Christian Perspective (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1990), 23.
3) Ibid., 23-37.
4) Geisler, Norman. and Ronald M. Brooks. Come Let Us Reason: An Introduction to Logical Thinking. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989), 15-16.
5) Ibid., 17.

2009 Teen Winter Reteat

Over Valentine's Day weekend, I had the privilege of being the speaker at the 2009 Teen Winter Retreat at Fort Faith Camp in Morley, Michigan. The retreat was attended by young people grades 7-12 from three different Grace assemblies. The retreat was organized by Mike Taylor from Shorewood Bible Church in Chicago and was attended by teens from Berean Bible Church in Minerva, Ohio as well as Grace Life Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. All told about 25 youth participated in the weekend's fellowship and Bible study.

The theme of the weekend's Bible study was Grace Based Apologetics. The five studies were focused on answering one essential question. Questions included the following; What is Truth: Does Absolute Truth Exist?, Does God Exist?, What About the Bible: Can We Really Trust It? What About Jesus: Was He Really God and Did He Really Rise from the Dead?, and Jesus Among Other God's: Is There Really Only One Way to God?

There are many reasons why I selected these topics to discuss with the young people. First, as a high school history teacher in a public school, I have first hand knowledge of the impact our postmodern culture has on our young people. Even teens who report to be Christians believe that Christianity is only true because they choose to believe it. Thereby asserting that religious is truth is relative to the individual. Consequently, I was curious to what extent our Grace young people have been effected by the cultural beliefs of their peers. In addition, I wanted to equip our teens in how to answer the absurd assertions that are being made in the name of religious pluralism and tolerance.

Second, in the early half of this decade three of my Grace friends, departed the faith in favor of atheism. In fact, one of them even incorporated his knowledge of Pauline Dispensationlism into his rational for his deconversion, as he termed it. Naturally, this radical change in direction saddened me deeply, however, it caused me to realize how philosophically unprepared I was to answer the challenges of the new militant breed of atheism that is currently being articulated by atheists. Consequently, much of the reading I have done (in addition to normal Bible study) has been devoted to the topic of Christian Apologetics and defense of the faith. Throughout the course of my reading, it became my sincere opinion that many of our Grace Church's have overlooked the topic of Apologetics in the education of our young people. Herein lies the two fold purpose behind my choice of topics for the Teen Retreat. First, I wanted to assess the accuracy of my assumptions, that apologetics has been a grossly overlooked topic within in our Grace churches at large. Furthermore, I also wanted to give the teens a basic equipping that would enable to answer some of the more difficult challenges to Christianity that are being purposed by our postmodern culture.

Due to the small sample size of the young people that were present at the retreat, it is impossible to arrive at any authoritative conclusions with regard to exposure rate of our Grace young people to Apologetic reasoning. At present, a handful of the teens in attendance, mostly older ones (i.e. juniors or seniors) were familiar with a large portion of the martial presented. The rest, I am pleased to report, were extremely excited about the topic and expressed a great desire to know more. In fact, after sessions two, three, and five I spent as much time answering questions as I did teaching. The overwhelming response reinforced my suspicions going into the retreat, that the marital presented would fill a much needed void in our young people's understanding. As I left the retreat Sunday night, many of teens expressed gratitude and a desire to learn more. Moreover, many requested written copies of my notes as well as list of suggested reading so that they could study further on their own.

Finally, it was extremely encouraging to see how grounded our teens are with regard to the clarity of the gospel, final authority of the King James Bible, and the advanced issues of the Grace Life. Training in Apologetic reasoning will not only equip our youth to defend their faith against the onslaught of relativism, atheism, and religious pluralism but it will also prepare them to better argue and defend the distinctive features of the Grace Life amidst the confusion of denominationalsim and tradition that exists within Churchianity.

If any of the teens are reading this, keep standing and contending for the one faith for the current Dispensation of Grace. To view the PowerPoints and notes used during these lessons click on the links listed below. Note: These notes have not been extensively proof read for typos and grammatical errors. Please enjoy.

• Grace Based Apologetics PowerPoint Presentation
• Lesson One--What is Truth?
• Lesson Two--Does God Exist?
• Lesson Three--What About the Bible?
• Lesson Four--What About Jesus? Is He Really God? Did He Really Rise From the Dead
• Lesson Five--Jesus Among Other Gods--Is There Really Only One Way to God
• Bibliogrpahy of Suggested Reading

The Two-Fold Purpose of Apologetics

At the outset of this venture, prudence dictates that the participants in this conversation comprehend the author's viewpoint regarding the purpose of apologetics in the Dispensation of Grace. Practically speaking, Apologetics serves two primary functions. First, it aids and supports the gospel for those who may have logical or philosophical objections to the gospel of grace. Second, the discipline offers believers who have already placed faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ as the only payment for their sins assurance that their faith is rational, and not a blind leap into the dark.

Lest friend or foe misunderstand the author’s position, some explanation is warranted. As the saving mechanism of our faith, the gospel does not require any aid or support. Paul, the apostles of the Gentiles, is very clear that the power of God unto salvation is not found in man’s wisdom but in the preaching of the cross. Please consider the following references:

• Romans 1:16—For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation.
• I Corinthians 1:16--For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

When an individual by faith applies the blood of Christ to their own individual sin account God erases their sin debt based on the merits of Christ's finished work. Logic, philosophy, or apologetics plays no part in this once for all transaction in terms of justifying the sinner. Faith is all that is required to receive the free gift of eternal life. Simply stated, sinners are justified though a once for all transaction the moment they trust in and rely exclusively on Christ's work on their behalf. Human effort, religious regulations, law keeping, or human viewpoint play no part in the eternal salvation of the lost.

So then, how does apologetics aid and support the gospel? In order to answer this question consider the following classic example of man’s problem and God’s remedy. Many are familiar with the following diagram illustrating the hopelessness of man's sinful condition and the futility of human performance to save one from sin's penalty, death, hell, and eternal separation from God.

Apologetics has its first application for the individual who is pictured in the diagram below. This person is still in his/her natural state, separated from the life of God because of sin. The Scriptures teach that anyone who dies in this condition will spend eternity separated from the life of God. While the gospel of grace is simple, sometimes people have logical and philosophical objections that prevent them from exercising saving faith. As believers it is not our job to judge the sincerity of the objections offered by the lost. Rather, it is our obligation to provide an answer to those who find themselves in this position.






Herein lies the first goal of apologetics. A skillful defense of the gospel of grace has the capacity to lead the sinner to the edge of the cliff. From this vantage point, the natural man can see that faith in the work of Christ is the logical next step in solving the problem of human sinfulness. This is what many evangelists have called the point of decision. Even the best logical and philosophical arguments sometimes do not result in the salvation of the lost because the power of God unto salvation is not found in our apologetical arguments. Ultimately, salvation is an act of the will and it cannot be forced upon someone. Consequently, apolgetics plays a vital role in walking the individual to the edge of the cliff where the decision is made whether or not to take the dare of faith.

The second application of apologetics is for the individual pictured in the diagram to the right. This person has already taken the leap of faith and chosen to accept the cross work of Christ as the only payment for his their sin. Despite being a recipient of God's very righteousness through the process of justification, believers sometimes have doubts about the nature of their relationship with God. Satan's attempts to shake the foundations of a believers faith are often unrelenting. This is especially true in our day where the attacks of militant atheism, religious pluralism, relativism, and politically correct tolerance seem to threaten the very fabric of our faith.

For the believer, apologetics offers an opportunity to look back across the gulf and see that faith in Christ really does make logical sense. While reason is not a prerequisite to faith, it does not stand against faith as some Christians have asserted. Faith and reason alike both find their source in God and are intimately tied to one another. As believers we do not have a blind faith: rather our faith rests on a foundation of fact. Therefore, our faith must be guided by reason. For example, I could chose to believe that the earth is flat despite all of the evidence to the contrary. However, holding such a belief is unreasonable no matter how much faith or how sincere my faith might be. Herein we see the opposite side of the coin with regard to the relationship of faith and reason. While our faith must be guided by reason, reason also affirms our faith. In short, "Christianity is not a mystical religion, such as many Eastern religions and their New Age clones. Neither is it a mythical religion with idols and man-made gods. Nor is Christianity a misinformed religion, such as the various cults. Rather, Christianity is an historic religion, and its truth-claims are grounded on objective, historical facts."(1)

Endnotes
1) Dan Story. Defending Your Faith: How to Answer the Tough Questions. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1992), 17.