A Love Of Wisdom

 "Philosophy."

A combination of the Greek words philos (love) and sophia (wisdom), that together mean “the love of wisdom.”

I think philosophy gets a bad rap as this circular, never-ending, cerebral conversation that doesn’t ever really yield results but only ends up creating more questions than it answers. Most people, I think, see philosophy as a waste of time, or—at best—reserved only for the most intellectual of individuals. Normally, when I tell people that I teach philosophy, I am greeted with wide eyes and a simple, “OH” in response. People aren’t quite sure what to make of me, and they usually find a way to move the conversation in a different direction pretty quickly.

But philosophy is just a pursuit of knowledge and understanding. Knowledge on its own is just facts. But understanding those facts and knowing what to do with them, knowing what they mean… now we’re beginning to form wisdom.

Philosophy chases after that by asking questions. Lots and lots of questions. (You can thank Socrates for that.)

One of my favorite aspects of philosophy is that just when you think you’ve got things figured out, someone turns the model a little bit and you end up with a completely new perspective. Everything looks different and you have to start analyzing the information all over again. In other words, there is always a new way to look at life, and no one—and I mean NO ONE—has a 100% correct or complete perspective on anything.

That was a humbling thing for this black-and-white thinker to discover.

But oh, the color it added to my world!

Learning to see things from new perspectives and new angles added so much depth to my understanding of life, of the world, of people. And even of God. When I let go of my need for everything to fit within the constraints of my black-and-white world, God was able to teach me so very much.

And the more I learn, the more I want to learn.

Proverbs 9:10 tells us that the fear (reverence) of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding (which in Hebrew is just another way of saying “wisdom”).

Romans 12:2 instructs Christians to let their whole being (i.e. heart, soul, mind, strength) be transformed by the changing (renewing) of their minds (their way of thinking).

Let’s put some of these pieces together. Philosophical thinking leans hard on deductive reasoning, so let’s see if I can put this together in the form of a deductive argument.

(For reference, P=Premise, C=Conclusion)

P1: Wisdom begins by revering and knowing God.
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P2: A person can be thoroughly changed, made new, by changing the way he or she thinks.
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P3: Philosophy is an intellectual pursuit of knowledge and wisdom.
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C: Philosophical pursuits that begin from a place of Godly fear and reverence can transform a person into one of Godly wisdom.

 

I get that this is extremely simplified, but what I want you to see is that philosophy as a discipline is really a wonderful thing, especially when partnered with theology. Granted, left on its own, philosophy can take some very strange paths that lead away from godly wisdom. As God-fearing people, all thought needs to be submitted to the authority of the Holy Spirit and to scripture (2 Corinthians 10:5), and when it doesn’t align it needs to be refuted or abandoned, but the process of philosophy (the discipline) is absolutely one that Christians should be engaging. Not only will it allow us to live a richer and more abundant life, but it will give us deeper insight into the heart and mind of God and teach us how to interact with and respond to the world more like Christ.

Philosophy is definitely not just for intellects and it’s not something Christians should be afraid of. Philosophy is for everyone, Christians included. Let’s be people who love wisdom, knowing that true wisdom begins with a deep reverence for the God who created all and knows all. Let’s pursue knowledge and wisdom and allow it to transform us into people who look more and more like our Savior every day.