Recently, a Christian evangelist had written:
·
Don’t bother using philosophy [or even evidence]
in presenting the Gospel. Either they’ll believe the simple message of the
Gospel or they won’t.
He defended his position by citing:
·
For the word of the cross is folly to those who
are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is
written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the
discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe?
Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the
world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through
wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who
believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ
crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who
are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of
God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is
stronger than men. (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)
Yet Paul had fruitfully reasoned with his audience. However,
he would use his argumentation to build a bridge between his audience and his
presentation of the Gospel:
·
And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on
three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and
proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the
dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some
of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the
devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. (Acts 17:2-4)
Sometimes, depending on his audience, Paul used logic to
prepare the pagans to hear the Gospel:
·
So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus,
said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For
as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an
altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship
as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything
in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,
nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself
gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man
every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined
allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should
seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is
actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him we live and move and have
our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his
offspring.’ Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine
being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and
imagination of man.” (Acts 17:22-29)
Paul had reasoned that since we are God’s creation, God must
be greater than a wooden or concrete statue.
Does such logic win souls? Not by itself! The Gospel saves
through the work of the Spirit. However, our Lord might use evidence and reason
to prepare the soil to receive the seed of the Gospel.
C. S. Lewis had argued in favor of philosophical engagement:
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…not to be able to meet the enemies on their own
ground would be to throw down our weapons and to betray our uneducated brethren
who have, under God, no defense but us against the intellectual attacks of the
heathen. Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad
philosophy must be answered.
To not use our mind to defend the Gospel is a betrayal of
our brethren. But hasn’t God rejected the “wisdom of this world?” Yes, but this
doesn’t have anything to do with Godly wisdom! Instead, they are opposed to one
another:
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Who is wise and understanding among you? By his
good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have
bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false
to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is
earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist,
there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is
first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good
fruits, impartial and sincere. (James 3:13-17)
As Lewis had argued, the Church needs good philosophy to
disarm bad philosophy and the “wisdom” of this world:
·
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the
flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and
every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought
captive to obey Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)
How can we effectively take every thought captive unless we first
understand it and can wisely apply the Bible to debunk it! Because the wisdom
of the world seeks to take us captive in every area of our lives, godly
philosophy should set up its outpost in all these areas.
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