rules are really something human beings show their their human nature their fallen human nature when it comes to laying down rules often enough we wouldn't be interested in doing things or even motivated to break a rule until the rule is enunciated so I I wonder sometimes about the wisdom of giving rules to people for dorms or whatever on the way out today on the airplane I was thinking about that because twice in a very serious tone I was told by the stewardess over the loudspeaker for the whole airplane that the federal government has penalties for
people who dare to Tamper with the smoke alarm in the bathroom in the restroom and I got to thinking about that as I was sitting there you know I don't think I would have even thought about tampering but the smoke alarm but I couldn't get it out of my mind after that it was like there was this demon in me saying what could you do to a smoke alarm that would be one interesting too thrilling I don't know so if things get a little slow tonight as I'm talking about more abstract Notions and smoke alarms
and parents maybe you can start thinking about that question and let me know before I get on the plane going back home what fun I'm missing tampering with the smoke alarm in the restroom on the airplane I don't want to talk about that tonight I want to talk about you're going to college you're confronting life and they're in school and outside of school running into points of view which are quite clearly antagonistic to your commitment as a Christian I want to talk about whether you are competent to deal with that it wouldn't be very difficult
I think to intimidate you tonight if I were to stand before you and explain some of the theories that are being advanced in the liberal arts and in the Natural Sciences theories which are quite clearly hostile to Jesus Christ in the presentation of God's word in the gospel it wouldn't be difficult to intimidate you but that would be the very opposite of what I want to accomplish you probably have enough doubt in your own mind as you come tonight as to whether you can confront these points of view and give an adequate answer respond properly
what will you say when your roommate brings these things up to you how will you answer when the professor calls on you in class and what will you say in your heart of hearts to yourself when you ruminate upon these things and it appears that the whole world is against you that everybody that seems so smart has got a different point of view than yours you begin to wonder is this just what my parents taught me is just this is something that I psychologically imbibed as I was growing up and and now I gotta learn
to think for myself they're going to be doubts and fears that come to you when you confront the hostility of the world whether you find it in college or outside of college now this hostility is expressed in a lot of different ways I um I know of professors who have begun classes wanting to make it very clear that they don't wish to hear from these Fundy students that might be there and so they begin the class the very first day by bringing a Bible quite literally spitting on the Bible and kicking it across the floor
and then saying if that offends you you probably should transfer out of my class because it's not going to get any better so you'll see that kind of hostility whether it's that vividly displayed or not you'll see an open hostility to the Bible ridicule of what the Bible has to say ridicule of those who are so superstitious as to continue to believe these things after they've been educated you'll see points of view which are openly hostile to Christianity not just because there's a personal antagonism or hostility in the professor but the very point of view
will openly say that the Bible cannot be what it is cannot be what it claims to be because no one can know anything for sure you may want to make note of this particular word deconstruction you're going to hear a lot of it you go to college if you go to any college that's up to date on what's happening in literary circles this is the rage in literary criticism and it has um influence in a number of other areas as well the deconstructionist says that every reading of a text is a misreading of a text
because language cannot communicate it is impossible for there to be an objective and set meaning for anything now you're going to look at that and say well then obviously every reading of God's word is a misreading as well even God can't break through that barrier and speak to me or to my professor or my roommate or anybody else it'll be real clear when the professor kicks the Bible across the floor or pronounces a deconstructionist approach to literature that you're up against somebody who doesn't like your faith it'll become clear to you when you learn biology
from an evolutionary point of view our cultural anthropology from an evolutionary point of view to be clear to you when in Psychology class evolution is just taken for granted but they're going to be more subtle presentations of antagonistic viewpoints when you get to College as well things that do not appear on the surface to be openly opposing the Christian faith and yet when you go to the heart of the matter they are just as clearly negative too and hostile to Christianity as the professor kicking the Bible across the floor you're going to hear in this
day continually how homosexuals are an oppressed people that they are a specific minority that has been mistreated and particularly the worst mistreatment has come at the hands of Christians in Western history now you're going to hear that not just out on the campus quad when the homosexual Student Union has its speaker campaigning and polemicizing you're going to hear that said with a very serious tone of voice taken for granted no question about it by your professors Illusions made to this you'll read things that effect and yet that is an open challenge to the Holiness of
God an open challenge to what the Bible has to say about that subject those of you interested in computer science are going to run into what today is called artificial intelligence studies fascinating studies trying to map the way the human mind works and then imitate that in terms of computer technology the way information is received stored and retrieved doesn't seem to be any difficulty there until you realize that many of those who are promoting artificial intelligence are promoting which in in the field is often called strong artificial intelligence over against weak artificial intelligence weak artificial
intelligence says that a computer can imitate the human mind's ability to store information and retrieve it and process it strong artificial intelligence however wants to go beyond that and say that the computer can imitate anything the human mind does including the emotional structure the human person and the volitional structure of the human person in fact this summer if you go to see Arnold Schwarzenegger now we're talking Terminator 2 you will see right there on the screen it was amazing I saw this last week and I thought it's exactly what you know we're worried about the
scenario is that um Skynet has these computers that are going to take over the uh the military hardware the United States and especially our defense systems against attack with an advanced computer which on a particular day becomes self-aware that's the sort of thing you got to learn to listen for a computer that becomes self-aware which is to say a computer that goes beyond being simply a piece of machinery and starts to imitate human nature itself now are you competent to deal with this can you deal with the professor who kicks the Bible across the floor
the deconstructionist and literary criticism the evolutionist in your biology class the behaviorist in your psychology class the person promoting strong artificial intelligence when you study computers can you deal with all of that well I wouldn't have been putting it to you this way I think you know already I wouldn't have been saying it this way if I thought the answer is no you're not so why don't we all go home or go out to the swimming pool or do something more enjoyable then sit here and pretend that we're going to get ready now the Bible
says that you are competent to deal with that that you are confident to deal with any criticism in any hostility in any kind of opposition be it overt or subtle that is raised against your faith as a Christian I know that the Bible takes it for granted that you can do it because the Bible tells you to do it if you have your Bibles this evening turn to the book of Jude at the end of the New Testament look at the third verse of this book Jude says beloved while I was giving all diligence to
right unto you of our common salvation I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the Saints Jude says you are exhorted to contend for the faith that Faith which has historical definition once and for all delivered to the Saints that's your obligation God expects it of you you know in First Peter the third chapter perhaps the best known verse on apologetics in the New Testament best known verse dealing with the defense of the Christian faith Peter says but set apart Christ as
Lord in your hearts being ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you yet with gentleness and reverence Peter lays this down as a command just as clearly as the command that you should not murder or commit adultery just as surely as the command that you should worship God so we find the command here that you should be prepared be ready to answer anybody who asks a reason for the hope that is in you I want to stress the fact that it's at any
point and any man that you are to be prepared to answer prepared to answer you're not supposed to be in a situation where you simply say oh I have to go run and ask somebody else about that or let me check my books I think I remember reading something on that there is something about the defense of the faith it makes it possible for everybody who is a Believer to deal with any believer at any time and if I can in some small measure during this conference get that approach to defending the faith across to
you then we really will have accomplished something because then I will have put a real weapon in your hand for defending the faith even if you haven't read as much as your University Professor or even your roommate on some subject because you will know what it takes to establish any point of view over against that of the Bible and you'll know that the unbeliever cannot do that the key to having an ability to answer anyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you the key to being able to confront any challenge
to your Christian faith is found in second Corinthians the 10th chapter verses four and five second Corinthians 10 verses 4 and 5. in this text the Apostle Paul makes it clear that the weapons that we use are not the weapons of the world are not fleshly or physical weapons obviously we're not going to win a debate with the professor or with the roommate by taking out a gun and shooting them that's not the Christian approach to defending the faith you said something I don't like so wipe you out or as Arnold puts it hasta la
vista baby that's the end for you see some of you have seen the movie I knew that you had done that Paul says for the weapons of our Warfare are not of the Flesh and yet they are Mighty before God for the casting down of strongholds and then in verse 5 he defines more exactly what this casting down of strong holds amounts to he says casting down reasonings that's actually the Greek word reasonings casting down reasonings and every High thing exalted against the knowledge of God everything every form of reasoning that is exalted against the
knowledge of God that lifts itself up in human pride and arrogance to attack the truthfulness of God every reasoning exalted against the knowledge of God you can cast down not with fleshly weapons he says but rather and here's the key he says bringing every thought into captivity to The Obedience of Christ the way in which you will equip yourself to be a defender of the faith even though you haven't been able to do all the research on some subject is that you're going to learn first to bring every one of your own thoughts captive to
The Obedience of Christ you're going to learn to think as a Christian should think and I hope by the time I finish Lord willing on Monday my presentations you'll have a much better idea of what that means to think as a Christian the Christian does not have any area of his or her life that is surrendered to neutrality the Christian doesn't have any area of his reasoning or her reasoning that is not related somehow to the prerogatives and the claims of Jesus Christ God calls on us to glorify him in everything that we do in
fact even our eating and drinking whatever you do Paul says do it to the glory of God Jesus tells us we are to love the Lord Our God with all of our heart soul strength and mind our minds are to be used in obedience to God and as an expression of love to God by the way that's something you should think about this is just an aside but I hope it's a worthwhile one that's something you should think about when a little bit after midterm in the semester you finally get so tired of doing homework
and so bored that you just think you can start cutting a few corners and just get by you remember the Lord Jesus Christ is calling you to love him with your mind now you know that if the Lord Jesus asked you to love him by praying or by evangelizing or leading a holy life or having conduct that is obedient before him that makes perfectly good sense to you you don't always do it but you know you're wrong when you don't but you know it bothers me Christians often don't see how disobedient they are in the
way that they think they are intellectually lazy they are intellectually disloyal to the Lord without even knowing it in many cases Jesus says that we should pay attention to our minds and use our minds to love him and glorify him in all that we do so the ability to pull down all antagonistic reasoning that you find in college or anywhere in the world is going to be gained when you start thinking consistently principally and without any wavering as a Christian thinking God's thoughts after him about everything whether it be the most recent football game or
the most sophisticated theory in physics thinking God's thoughts after him learning to regiment your thinking so that what God has revealed in his word becomes foundational presuppositional for you in all that you do well if you learn to think as a Christian in this way if you bring every thought captive to The Obedience of Christ as Paul clearly tells you to do you probably right now are realizing there are people are going to tell you well the way that's prejudicial you can't do that you can't in a conversation between opposing parties in a debate between
hostile points of view you can't just take for granted that Christianity is right you can't have all of your thoughts brought captive to The Obedience of Christ obviously when it comes to a consideration of conflicting viewpoints at that point you've got to become neutral and you're going to hear I mean you're going to hear that without even hearing it by which I mean without people saying that they're going to constantly be pressing that upon you in college you must be neutral you must not take your Christianity for granted you must examine everything by standards that
are common to all men and more objective than simply your religious commitment and so we need to take a few moments here to talk about neutrality and I have two simple messages about neutrality you'll be able to remember them easily but if you're taking notes they go like this when the university Professor or the unbeliever that you're dealing with wants you to be neutral two things remember one they aren't and two you shouldn't be you remember that they aren't and you shouldn't be the first point is those very people who will tell you that Christians
have no right to take for granted their point of view are not practicing neutrality themselves they are not neutral when they approach their subject matter now what will bother you of course is that they will always tell you that they are they will have this great pretense and put on that they are and therefore they'll want you to do the same but it's a con game it's like the guy who wants to take your money and he pretends that he's putting his money in to this project just like you are only later do you find
out you were the only one coming up with money for this thing and he's gone and you're left with an empty wallet likewise the professor at the university is trying to get you to be neutral just like he is just like she is but the fact of the matter is they are not practicing neutrality at all now you'll see this in a lot of different ways first of all in the form of intellectual bullying if you're going to be successful in college and particularly if you're going to glorify God in confronting antagonistic points of view
you're going to have to learn not to be intellectually bullied by the way the answer the technique to use with an intellectual bully is not to bully back you're going to need to learn genuine humility if you want to win this battle that may seem very strange often enough we think that if we want to win an argument the way to win it is to come on with a kind of emotional ferociousness and an intellectual prowess that matches our opponent and so we would never want to stop the conversation and say I'm not sure what
you're talking about could you explain that to me or I'm not familiar with that vocabulary would you explain to me what you mean by those words but if you do not gain that humility that ability to do that you will continue to be bullied I saw this all through my college days my Seminary days my graduate school days and it offended me every time I saw it I just wish it offended me when I saw it in myself when I practice it as well this is what Sinners do we get into an argument and in
order to get it over with quickly or to close down our opponent we start speaking about things that we know he or she doesn't know about or use a vocabulary that kind of swamps them and then we think we've done something great now you're going to see unbelieving professors do that to students repeatedly and what do you want to do when the professor or the roommate or whoever it is starts doing that you wanted to Simply say you know I think I can keep up with this conversation I'd certainly like to but I'm not familiar
with the words you're using so would you please explain them try thinking about it as though you started talking to a person from Germany when you don't know German if you were talking to somebody from Germany and they began the conversation in English but every once in a while a phrase or a whole sentence or maybe a whole paragraph was given in German would it make any sense for you to say well boy I'll be embarrassed to tell them I don't know German so I'll just pretend I understand what's going on and see if I
can't keep this conversation going now you'd say oh wait a minute friend I I don't know German so could you explain that to me you need to learn to be able to say that to professors and not feel like you are somehow less than them for that reason don't let yourself be intellectually bullied you will also see the failure to be neutral an objective in your professors because of the double standards that are promulgated at the University and in the classroom for that matter and right before I came out for this conference I was reading
um the journal entitled Society for May and June 1991 and I came across such an excellent illustration of that I couldn't help but bring it to read for you Al and Charles Coors who was a full professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the history department has written on harassment policies in the University do you know what we're talking about harassment policies universities across the land have for a decade now been writing into their operating standards for students things which have now generally been called harassment policies that is policies which keep one group of students
from harassing another group of students and this history professor at University of Pennsylvania has written on that and I'd like to just read a couple of paragraphs about what he has said here just so you know it isn't just Dr bonson as a being is bonded about these sorts of things it's a university objective neutral even-handed this professor says absolutely not so I jump into the article on the first page it says in the politicized world of current Academia the perceived or real need to protect individuals from illegal or immoral behaviors that is to say
harassing people that you don't like or whose point of view you disagree with or another they're of another race something like that the need to protect individuals from illegal or immoral behaviors is being used as a pretext for at best privileging one very particular ideological agenda and School of Social thought and at worst for creating a repressive apparatus that seeks to censor directly or indirectly unwelcome interpretations of the world you know what's amazing about this is that you couldn't find a paragraph like this written about the university back in the 1940s 50s certainly early 60s
because the University was still seen then as the model of impartiality the model of even-handedness the model of objectivity and neutrality but here you have in the very practice of university life and the writing of policies to regulate it an open Declaration of an ideological agenda and so this professor comments on that there is no neutrality here because it all depends on what point of view or what group of people you're harassing as to whether the protection will be extended or not and so toward the end of the article let me continue he says in
November 1990 Andres Serrano was invited to Penn to give a prestigious lecture at the School of Fine Arts you know the name of serrano he is the artist who made national headlines when the National Endowment for the Arts turned out to be supporting him and he had done a number of works that were offensive but particularly one called the piss Christ which had a crucifix submerged in a jar of urine as a work of art now this fellow is invited you see to speak at Penn and I continue the board of the Newman club and
the Catholic chaplain were outraged thinking perhaps that the harassment policy might apply to Catholic or indeed Christian sensibilities as well as well as to say black sensibilities or homosexual sensibilities or feminist sensibilities are what have you as they wrote to the dean of The Graduate School of Fine Arts this is a quote we find the subject matter of Mr Serrano's piss Christ extremely offensive to Christian sensitivities and the co-sponsorship of his lecture by the School of Fine Arts and Institute of Contemporary Art very objectionable would you as Dean have approved a lecture equally offensive to
the sensitivities of non-Christian religious groups that's the end of the quote in an interview with the campus newspaper a student member of the lecture committee noted rightly that and here we quote again he was interested in providing a forum for the artist to speak in a place where he would not be restricted by censorship end of quote in short the professor writing the original article says in short all offenses are equal but some offenses are more equal than others simply stated you may say anything you wish at most American universities about whites males heterosexuals Catholics
Jews as Israelis or Jews as white Americans members of the unification Church Evangelical Protestants and offend them as you will as the least protected sensitivity in the land you may not offend militant blacks politicized Hispanics radical feminists or activist gays from the left you may call moderate blacks Oreos or Uncle Toms with impunity that is social criticism not harassment you may equally abuse anti-feminist women as Barbie dolls or Mall chicks or psychological captives with impunity that is analysis not stigmatization that creates an offensive environment you may tell white students who parents died Fighting For Freedom
that their mothers and fathers were depending on the context oppressors racist sexist or baby killers you may exhibit a cross in urine if the issue is the sensibilities of white male heterosexuals however vulnerable their egos universities will talk about the Perils of freedom and indeed correctly so and then he says if the issue is the sensibilities of politically correct minorities evangelicals and Moonies need not apply he says universities will talk about the vulnerability of Egos and the absurdity of an awe historical definition of freedom that's a lot of words I don't like to quote that
much usually but you needed to hear that if you think when going to college that the college or the university is somehow neutral and objective and even-handed you are really living in a fairytale world double standards will be found Galore on the college campus inside and outside the classroom you will find it particularly inside the classroom a failure to be neutral and objective because the professor selectively considers those options which he thinks should be taken seriously selectively considers the evidence that he or she wants to put before you in terms of your required reading assignments
neutrality is not practice at the University and we should have known as much because the Bible tells us quite clearly that the unbeliever has a very hostile mindset the unbeliever is not even-handed and impartial in approaching the evidence about this world and man's place in this world and the nature of man and how we should live our lives in Ephesians the fourth chapter Paul tells us that there are two very different mindsets that we encounter in this world that of the believer and that of the unbeliever in verse 17 of Ephesians 4 Paul says this
I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk in the vanity of their mind how do they walk as open-minded objective people wanting to discover the truth wherever it may be found absolutely not they walk in the vanity of their mind being darkened in their understanding alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them because of the hardening of the heart and then if you go down in your Bibles to verse 20 you notice what Paul says there but this is a
very important but those who are unbelievers Gentiles in their mind are openly hostile to everything that is Holy and good but you didn't so learn Jesus that's not the way you became a Christian that's not the way you live your life he goes on to talk about a completely different mindset in verse 22 he says that you put away as concerning your former manner of Life the old man that waxes corrupt after the lust of Deceit and that you become renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man that after God
has been created in righteousness and true holiness but you haven't learned Jesus that way Paul says you've rather put on the new man you've discarded that old man that walked in the ways of the world and you now think you now feel you now reason you now Choose You Now evaluate things in a completely different way you've been renewed in the spirit of your mind after God your creator you've been renewed in genuine holiness and so there you have it Paul tells us quite clearly there's no neutrality in this world there are two quite clearly
antagonistic conflicting systematically opposed mindsets that you find we can put it very simply you have those who are Covenant Keepers with God and you have those who are Covenant Breakers with God you have those who will not live subject to God's Authority and the way in which he regulates their lives and then you have those who with all their heart want more and more to learn to do that being renewed after the image of God and so the first thing that you were to remember about neutrality is they aren't they aren't neutral they use double
standards selective consideration they have a hostile mindset and the second thing I told you that you should know is that you shouldn't be in John the 17th chapter we read what is called the high Priestly prayer of Jesus before he went to his trial and then finally to the Cross to die for the sins of his people Jesus prays In The Garden of Gethsemane and in that prayer John 17 verse 17 you will see Jesus pray to his father that the followers of Jesus be Sanctified by the truth the word Sanctified here means consecrated or
set apart Jesus wants his followers to be unique to be distinguished from the world he wants them set apart and made holy or consecrated in a particular way and what Jesus said is Father sanctify them by the truth Thy word is truth make them a different people make them a holy people make them a consecrated unique people who do not think in worldly ways and do not act in worldly ways and do not feel in the ways that the world feels but rather are regulated in all that they think and feel and do by Your
Word Of Truth so you shouldn't be neutral unless you think Jesus prayed for nothing at that point you shouldn't be neutral because in Matthew the 6th chapter verse 24 Jesus says quite clearly that it's immoral no man can serve two masters is going to end up hating one of them not giving full Allegiance and loyalty to one of them it's impossible to serve two masters it's impossible for you to have two ultimate authorities in your reasoning two ultimate authorities guiding your life in conduct you cannot serve two masters and so neutrality the idea that you
have multiple commitments out there that are at War and are conflicting with each other but you're going to do justice to all of them Jesus says it's impossible you shouldn't try to do that thirdly you shouldn't try to be neutral because the Bible tells us quite clearly that if you are neutral you'll be robbed of the ability to gain knowledge in Proverbs 1 verse 7 we read very clearly that the beginning the chief point of knowledge the beginning of knowledge is the fear of the Lord I want you to appreciate the fact that Proverbs doesn't
simply say the beginning of knowledge are the propositions found in the Bible although there's a sense in which that's true it talks about an attitude an attitude of fearing the Lord now I don't know many people have I think really misconstrued this notion of fearing God in our day maybe you've run into these points of view maybe you yourself are a little confused on this point I hear people say from time to time oh God doesn't want us to be afraid of him and you read the Bible from cover to cover and you hear people
say that and you say have you read the same book I have God doesn't want people to be afraid of him let me tell you it would be the height the height of irrationality for Sinners not to be afraid of God and when you have a reason to be afraid you should be afraid of God and not listen to these Pollyanna theologies that tell you oh there's nothing to be afraid of God just loves everybody don't worry about it but even those who have gotten rid of Their Fear and Trembling because of the fear of
judgment are told that if they are to know anything they are to fear God they are to stand in a sense of awe and trembling before the awe and the Wonder of who God is and people who will not bow their minds and their hearts and their needs to God will not be able truly to know anything at all in Colossians 2 verses 3 and 8 the Apostle Paul tells us that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are deposited in Christ you need to pay attention when the Apostle Paul uses terms like all because
you see Paul didn't one live in a day which was prone to do this but the Apostle himself did not personally endorse the idea that religion or Christian commitment is just a very narrow part of life so that when he went around saying all of this and all of that he only meant all of those things within the church or all of those things within the narrow orbit of Christian piety no when Paul says all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are deposited in Christ he means all knowledge all the knowledge that you have about
physical education or physics all the knowledge that you have about handwriting or English literature all of the knowledge that men have is deposited first in Christ and then in verse 8 he says you be careful That No One Robs you through his philosophy and vain deceit robs you of what well of course you know because we've just talked about Treasures that that's what Paul is referring to be aware that people don't rob you of the treasures of knowledge and how would they do that he says they would rob you through their philosophies and vain deceit
which are after the tradition of men after the elementary principles of the world and not after Christ this leads to another thing that we need to discuss tonight not only the question of being competent to answer all of the attacks that are brought against the Faith by learning to think as a Christian bringing every thought captive to The Obedience of Christ and secondly we've looked at the issue of neutrality how they aren't and you shouldn't be but thirdly you need to see as this text that we've just read makes clear that when someone disagrees with
your Christian faith they are not simply expressing a disagreement about one isolated particular point over against one isolated particular point or belief that you have the what is really going on here is that you have two warring philosophies this is the way Paul puts it in Colossians 2. he says beware lest someone rob you through his philosophy and how does he describe the philosophy that you should be aware of since I was a philosophy major in college and went on to get my PhD in philosophy I guess I need to say just something in passing
about how I don't think I was violating this verse When Paul says beware of philosophy now I don't know if if you are aware of what I'm referring to but every once in a while I run into people who say well this verse says you shouldn't study philosophy Christians have no business going to the philosophy department at the University because Paul tells you stay away from it so real briefly let me point out here that Paul does not say that he doesn't say avoid philosophy he says beware of it now if I were to tell
you that you should be cautious when you go in the swimming pool this week would you interpret that to mean therefore you shouldn't go on the swimming pool is that what I'm telling you don't swim oh it'd be wrong for you to swim no I say be cautious about it be cautious when you drive your car be cautious when you use fire that doesn't mean don't drive a car and don't use fire don't go swimming likewise Paul says beware be on your guard be cautious he doesn't forbid studying philosophy moreover what Paul tells us here
is that we're supposed to be cautious not of all philosophy but of a particular kind of philosophy that he describes very clearly that philosophy which is vain deceit after the tradition of men and after the elementary principles of the world he says be careful about that kind of philosophy because it'll rob you it'll bring you down it'll be a real bummer for you if you get tied into that way of thinking and then thirdly Paul says something here which completely contradicts the notion that Christians shouldn't study philosophy when he goes on to say that this
philosophy is not after Christ you see by implication if there's a philosophy that is not after Christ that Paul's really upset about then there is a philosophy that is after Christ and that's what we need to master we need to be able to think philosophically as Christians bringing every thought captive to The Obedience of Christ Paul tells us then in Colossians that Christ is the foundation and the ultimate standard for all philosophical thinking there is a philosophy that is after Christ but you better be careful because philosophy which is after the traditions of men is
contrary to it in First Corinthians chapter 1 the Apostle Paul tells us that the world looks upon the preaching of the Gospel as foolishness he tells us quite clearly that Greeks seek after wisdom he's thinking specifically of the Greek schools of philosophy I think not all Greeks were particularly seeking after wisdom but you see the the real capital of ancient philosophy is Athens is in Greece and that typifies the Greek and the Gentile mindset looking after worldly wisdom and in the eyes of the worldly wise the gospel is silly and foolish but Paul says hasn't
God made foolish the wisdom of this world what the world considers to be wise God is made foolish and what God proclaims as his own wisdom the world calls foolish quite clearly you have two different philosophical approaches here and they're at war with each other and they're systematically at war with each other they don't have the same standards or evaluation they do not approach things in the same way they do not have the same methods they do not have the same starting point quite clearly they don't come to the same conclusions in Acts 26 verse
8. Paul speaks before Agrippa about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and Agrippa has his problems and in verse 8 in particular I want you to see Paul says to a group of why should it be thought a thing impossible that God should raise the Dead see Paul realized that a gripa's difficulty was not with the facts not with the eyewitness accounts not with the evidence or indicators in history of the resurrection of Christ agrippa's problem was that he had a philosophy of life and of reality that told him what was possible and what was impossible
and so he doubted that people could rise from the dead but Paul says now stop and think about it Agrippa if God is the creator of Heaven and Earth and Sovereign over everything that happens there why would it be something impossible that he should raise the dead it all depends upon your philosophy your world view it all depends upon the presuppositions you bring to the facts in first Timothy 6 verse 20 the Apostle Paul tells Timothy to beware of that which is knowledge falsely so-called pseudo-knowledge and I think that's a good warning to give to
you before we take a break here in our evening presentation Paul says not everything that comes to you parading itself as knowledge as wisdom as objectivity and Truth should be trusted as such beware of that which is falsely called knowledge and you're going to run into a lot of that falsely called knowledge in the modern University everyone whether they're a Believer or an unbeliever or an unbeliever of whatever kind of whatever stripe whatever flavor or brand everyone takes things for granted everyone has those things which they no longer question but they just assume in their
approach to the world everyone has standards by which they think we can discover more truth about the world everyone has things they take for granted that limit what they think can be real or not you have those you go to the universe excuse me to the market and on your way out at the checkout stand you see the National Enquirer and the star and other newspapers like that you see the headlines others obviously evidence this girl gave birth to her own father it says I remember reading that one day I didn't think I was going
to get out of the store without just busting up somebody put that as a headline this girl gave birth to her own father but then again you see if I'm going to be completely neutral and not biased and so forth I can't say what are the limits of reality I should look into that right I should be open-minded and go examine the facts nobody operates that way everybody's got a philosophy of life that tells them what because they take for granted tells them what the standards for Discovery are what the limits of reality are what
our methods should be to put it very simply everybody's got a world view and we come back after a five minute break I'm going to talk to you a little bit more this evening about having a world view what it is and I'm going to try to give you a map of the various kinds of World Views that you're going to encounter out in the world today let's take a break
