In yesterday’s devotion I shared the following quote by Philip Yancey: “A philosophy may explain difficult things, but has no power to change them. The gospel, the story of Jesus’ life, promises change.”1
According to Wikipedia: “Philosophy is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, value, mind, and language. It is a rational and critical inquiry that reflects on its methods and assumptions.”2 While philosophy tries to give us explanations to some of the deepest questions that man has about life, it has no power to truly change people. Not only that but many philosophies err in understanding the true nature of man – that he is under the bondage of sin and that by himself he is hopelessly doomed to save himself.
Great past philosophers such as Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates have provided some insights about mankind but no real answers to man’s fundamental sin nature. As a result they can offer no help to changing the fundamental nature of mankind and are inadequate and fatally flawed.
Only the gospel message of Jesus can offer real change since it tackles man’s most basic problem – sin! As an example let’s look at the popular group Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). While AA has been able to reform many alcoholics it has no power to really transform them because it never addresses the sin issue. When an alcoholic goes to AA and puts his faith in a higher power, but not Jesus, no real transformation takes place. As a result, he may get delivered from alcohol but sadly many “reformed” alcoholics become chain smokers and thus exchange one bondage for another. I believe the reason AA can help people is not because of the so-called higher power, but because of the group dynamic and having accountability partners. However, when this same alcoholic gives his life over to Christ he becomes transformed into a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17) tells us: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” My friends there is a huge difference between the reformed life that AA offers and the transformed life that Christ supplies.
Philosophy vs Gospel – There is a world of difference between reformation and transformation. Any philosophical system that doesn’t address man’s root problem of sin will never be able to see lasting change in an individual. As a result only the gospel message of Jesus can bring not only lasting change but eternal life. And only the gospel can bring real peace, joy, and meaning in life. All other philosophies can only bring temporary help with absolutely no hope for eternal life because these are human based systems and not Jesus based.
In the end philosophical systems are doomed to fail because they are man-made. And even when they invoke god into their beliefs it is of no real use since all gods except Jesus are false gods and only deceive those who follow after them. In fact, all faith based systems that invoke a false god are deadly dangerous since they deceive their followers into believing that they are spiritually OK and on the right track to some type of utopian existence. But in the end no such thing takes place as they try to earn acceptance from these false deities. Only the gospel message of salvation through Jesus can fulfill the God-shaped vacuum that exists in every human heart.
In the end we can either believe in the various philosophies and their potential for reform or Jesus and His certainty of transformation. And, I for one, am eternally grateful that one day Jesus opened my blind eyes and helped me to see that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and transformed me from a sinner into a saint!
1 Philip Yancey quote: A philosophy may explain difficult things, but has no power…
Curt, keep up the good work…keep up the good news! Bob