Thoughts on Philosophy and its relation to faith?

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oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
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#41
the spirit of discernment and understanding? Learning any subject Well requires that. Yes, philosophy supports discernment and understanding. Philosophy is a tool. What fables are bound to it?
I see one fable already; The idea that Philosophy supports the Holy Spirit's gift of discernment and understanding. Knowledge of the things of God is not just "any subject".
 

Truth7t7

Well-known member
May 19, 2020
7,685
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#42
the spirit of discernment and understanding? Learning any subject Well requires that. Yes, philosophy supports discernment and understanding. Philosophy is a tool. What fables are bound to it?
"BEWARE"!

Colossians 2:8KJV
8 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.
 
Aug 14, 2019
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#43
"BEWARE"!

Colossians 2:8KJV
8 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.
Yup an otherwise good thing can spoil a child.. One can get all caught up in something that tickles the ears and then happily be deceived by vain imaginings that help us cling to a lie that feeds the ego.
Yes these are the trappings of the world rather than a more intimate friendship with Jesus.

Do you think philosophy is what spoils or could it be hidden inner faults that have yet to be put away that distort the more subtle truths revealed in the Christ event? Jesus did talk about a log in the eye. I have yet to read in Scriptures that philosophy is condemned. There are warnings.
 
Feb 1, 2020
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#44
Yup an otherwise good thing can spoil a child.. One can get all caught up in something that tickles the ears and then happily be deceived by vain imaginings that help us cling to a lie that feeds the ego.
Yes these are the trappings of the world rather than a more intimate friendship with Jesus.

Do you think philosophy is what spoils or could it be hidden inner faults that have yet to be put away that distort the more subtle truths revealed in the Christ event? Jesus did talk about a log in the eye. I have yet to read in Scriptures that philosophy is condemned. There are warnings.
An interesting episode, the least of the apostles of Lord Jesus goes to Athens, the heart of Western philosophy.

Acts 17:14-34

14 And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still.

15 And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed.

16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.

17 Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.

18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.

19 And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?

20 For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.

21 (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.

30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.


33 So Paul departed from among them.

34 Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
 
Aug 14, 2019
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#45
An interesting episode, the least of the apostles of Lord Jesus goes to Athens, the heart of Western philosophy.

Acts 17:14-34

14 And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still.

15 And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed.

16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.

17 Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.

18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.

19 And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?

20 For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.

21 (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.

30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.


33 So Paul departed from among them.

34 Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
I love this story.
It shows how Paul knew that whatever measure of truth he might find in their myth could be pointed to Christ. This is the groundwork for converting distant pagan nations. Moses even did to the Egyptian myth. Egyption creation myth is founded on the Orobouros. The snake that swallows it's tail. Moses turns the tail into a human foot that can't be swallowed . Thus ending the loop of repeated history Satan had us trapped in. There is now enmity between that end and beginning.
Moses having received Divine Revelation used the construct and language the Egyptians had developed to express it.
In doing so the Egyptian god's were demolished.

Paul found a smidgen of truth in Greek myth and pointed it towards it's true object. As for the philosophers they are comparable to the JEwish religious leaders. They were much more open though they ask;

May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?

They were accepting until it got to the resurrection of the dead. One Creator God wasn't a stumbling block for them which makes sense since that is the limitation of human reasoning. Their construct and language can't go beyond that.

Sorry for the long post. Philosophy is not condemned here either brother.
 
Aug 14, 2019
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#46
If I may, be so bold, many simple people including Christians don’t understand philosophy. But there are highly intelligent Christians who do understand it. The less endowed tend to put down the whole field rather than admit it is several notices above their mental prowess.
Words of wisdom.

Philosophy is a must to Christians in this age since the world uses it to justify it's corrupt laws ie; abortion marriage and such.
 

Truth7t7

Well-known member
May 19, 2020
7,685
2,492
113
#47
If I may, be so bold, many simple people including Christians don’t understand philosophy. But there are highly intelligent Christians who do understand it. The less endowed tend to put down the whole field rather than admit it is several notices above their mental prowess.
Highly intelligent Christians understand philosophy?

God is clear on the subject, stay away!

"Caution dangerous cliff ahead"

"BEWARE"!

Colossians 2:8KJV
8 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.
 
May 23, 2020
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#48
Highly intelligent Christians understand philosophy?

God is clear on the subject, stay away!

"Caution dangerous cliff ahead"

"BEWARE"!

Colossians 2:8KJV
8 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.
Nonsense. Some of the most influential christians knew philosophy well. Every man has a philosophy and the wise man selects his. The fool insists he has none and so absorbs the philosophy around him without knowing it. But no man has no philosophy.
 

Truth7t7

Well-known member
May 19, 2020
7,685
2,492
113
#49
Nonsense. Some of the most influential christians knew philosophy well. Every man has a philosophy and the wise man selects his. The fool insists he has none and so absorbs the philosophy around him without knowing it. But no man has no philosophy.
No nonsense whatsoever :)

"BEWARE"!

Colossians 2:8KJV
8 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.
 
May 23, 2020
1,558
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#50
No nonsense whatsoever :)

"BEWARE"!

Colossians 2:8KJV
8 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.
Christ also has a philosophy. Only worldly or vain philosophy is suspect. God isn’t opposed to learning.
.
 

Truth7t7

Well-known member
May 19, 2020
7,685
2,492
113
#51
Christ also has a philosophy. Only worldly or vain philosophy is suspect. God isn’t opposed to learning.
.
Philosophy and it's name is tied directly to the ancients, and thosethat follow their teachings.

God is opposed to vain philosophy of worldly men, as Gods words are sufficient for the believer.

Socrates, Plato, Philo, are prime examples :)

"BEWARE"!

Colossians 2:8KJV
8 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.

2 Timothy 3:16-17KJV
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
 
May 23, 2020
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#52
Philosophy and it's name is tied directly to the ancients.

God is opposed to vain philosophy of worldly men

Socrates, Plato, Philo, are prime examples :)

"BEWARE"!

Colossians 2:8KJV
8 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.
And is God opposes to C S Lewis or Francis Schaefer? So we give branches of learning to the enemy along with those who enjoy it. I don’t think so.
 

Truth7t7

Well-known member
May 19, 2020
7,685
2,492
113
#53
And is God opposes to C S Lewis or Francis Schaefer? So we give branches of learning to the enemy along with those who enjoy it. I don’t think so.
C.S. Lewis and his Narnia series was occultic, Lewis had a passion for the occult.

(Trouble In Narnia)

"The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" is the third book in the Narnia series. It directly promotes spells and magic.

Chapter 10 ("The Magician's Book") features a book of spells that is on an island inhabited by invisible creatures called Dufflepuds. Lucy works a spell to make the Dufflepuds visible. She goes through a spell book, and it is beautiful and fascinating. Then she finds the right spell and says the words and follows the instructions. And then the Dufflepuds (and Aslan) become visible. Her spell made Aslan visible, and he is pleased with what she did.

The book of spells is beautiful and fascinating. One spell is illustrated with pictures of bees that look as if they are really flying. In the world of C.S. Lewis’ day, this would not have caused practical problems. However, these days, kids can go to regular bookstores and buy spell books written by modern witches.

Many Christians are treating the Narnia books as being an allegory, with Aslan representing Jesus and the children representing Christians. If you do this with “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” then you portray Jesus as being pleased when Christians do magic and work spells. And you support the idea that that there are “good” spells and “good” magic. That belief is the basis for modern “white” witchcraft. However, the Bible clearly forbids any form of witchcraft:
"There shall not be found among you anyone who... practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD." (Deuteronomy 18:10-12)​
In his autobiography (Surprised by Joy), Lewis tells how at age 13 he abandoned his Anglican faith due to the influence of a school mistress who was involved with “Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, Spiritualism; the whole Anglo-American Occultist tradition.” And Lewis developed a “lust” for the occult that remained with him even after he returned to Anglicanism. He said,
“And that started in me something with which, on and off, I have had plenty of trouble since--the desire for the preternatural, simply as such, the passion for the Occult. Not everyone has this disease; those who have will know what I mean. I once tried to describe it in a novel. It is a spiritual lust; and like the lust of the body it has the fatal power of making everything else in the world seem uninteresting while it lasts.”[2]​
 
May 23, 2020
1,558
313
83
#54
C.S. Lewis and his Narnia series was occultic, Lewis had a passion for the occult.

(Trouble In Narnia)

"The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" is the third book in the Narnia series. It directly promotes spells and magic.

Chapter 10 ("The Magician's Book") features a book of spells that is on an island inhabited by invisible creatures called Dufflepuds. Lucy works a spell to make the Dufflepuds visible. She goes through a spell book, and it is beautiful and fascinating. Then she finds the right spell and says the words and follows the instructions. And then the Dufflepuds (and Aslan) become visible. Her spell made Aslan visible, and he is pleased with what she did.

The book of spells is beautiful and fascinating. One spell is illustrated with pictures of bees that look as if they are really flying. In the world of C.S. Lewis’ day, this would not have caused practical problems. However, these days, kids can go to regular bookstores and buy spell books written by modern witches.

Many Christians are treating the Narnia books as being an allegory, with Aslan representing Jesus and the children representing Christians. If you do this with “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” then you portray Jesus as being pleased when Christians do magic and work spells. And you support the idea that that there are “good” spells and “good” magic. That belief is the basis for modern “white” witchcraft. However, the Bible clearly forbids any form of witchcraft:
"There shall not be found among you anyone who... practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD." (Deuteronomy 18:10-12)​
In his autobiography (Surprised by Joy), Lewis tells how at age 13 he abandoned his Anglican faith due to the influence of a school mistress who was involved with “Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, Spiritualism; the whole Anglo-American Occultist tradition.” And Lewis developed a “lust” for the occult that remained with him even after he returned to Anglicanism. He said,
“And that started in me something with which, on and off, I have had plenty of trouble since--the desire for the preternatural, simply as such, the passion for the Occult. Not everyone has this disease; those who have will know what I mean. I once tried to describe it in a novel. It is a spiritual lust; and like the lust of the body it has the fatal power of making everything else in the world seem uninteresting while it lasts.”[2]​
I think I know enough now about you.
 

Truth7t7

Well-known member
May 19, 2020
7,685
2,492
113
#55
I think I know enough now about you.
Does the truth about C.S. Lewis trouble you :)

Jesus Christ is my Lord, God, and Saviour, who died on Calvary shedding his precious blood for me.

I'm filled with the Holy Spirit of promise, my name is written in the Lambs Book Of Life, Amen!
 
May 23, 2020
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#56
Does the truth about C.S. Lewis trouble you :)

Jesus Christ is my Lord, God, and Saviour, who died on Calvary shedding his precious blood for me.

I'm filled with the Holy Spirit of promise, my name is written in the Lambs Book Of Life, Amen!
Countless numbers of atheists became Christians because of his writings. He gave 1000s a logical foundation for our faith.
 

Truth7t7

Well-known member
May 19, 2020
7,685
2,492
113
#57
Countless numbers of atheists became Christians because of his writings. He gave 1000s a logical foundation for our faith.
C.S. Lewis was involved in the occult, the very warning "Beware" applies to him

"BEWARE"!

Colossians 2:8KJV
8 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.
 

Truth7t7

Well-known member
May 19, 2020
7,685
2,492
113
#59
I suspect he’s reached more for Christ than you.
1 Corinthians 3:13KJV
13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
 
May 23, 2020
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#60
1 Corinthians 3:13KJV
13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
Guess that’s a “yes, it’s true.”