Apologetics to the Glory of God

A Tale of Two Philosophers

Those of you who are actually good at philosophy spend so much time reading and studying it that you forget what it is you started studying it for in the first place. You are more concerned about the accuracy of your abstract analytic philosophical musings than you are about defending the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. You look down upon those who are not gifted the way that you are and immediately dismiss entire realms of Christian thought in the areas of historical and systematic theology (etc.) because of it. You are more concerned about how the philosophical community at large views you than you are about how the Lord Jesus Christ views what you are spending your time doing. You have forgotten that the mind that you have was given to you by God for the sake of His kingdom, not your own.

Those of you who are not particularly good at philosophy spend so much time scoffing at and bashing it that you forget how valuable a tool it can be in the defense of the Gospel. Perhaps the most notable philosopher of our day, Alvin Plantinga, has said that, Philosophy is just thinking hard about something.” Brothers and sisters, if this is true, then I would contend that Christians must strive to be the most excellent of philosophers. If the late Greg Bahnsen (also a philosopher) was correct when he claimed, “Give the unbeliever enough rope and he will hang himself,” then we should be excited about the possibilities of using the tools of philosophy in the service of the One who created them. When using rope we must be careful that no one on the other end takes us captive along with him “by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world.” (Colossians 2.8) Since Christ is Lord of all, and since we as believers should submit to Him as Lord in everything, taking “every thought captive to obey Christ,” we must be wholeheartedly committed to doing all of our thinking – all of our philosophy – according to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10.5) Philosophy in and of itself is not an evil, though the content and manner of that philosophy may very well be.