Philosophy and Vain Deceit I. Base Text: Colossians 2:8 II. Context and Interpretation A. Paul’s letter to the Colossians written ca. 59-60 CE from prison in Caesarea (Colossians 1:1-2) 1. Colossae is a city in the Roman province of Asia 2. Paul did not actually preach in Colossae; work of evangelism done by Epaphras (cf. Colossians 1:6, 2:1, 4:12-13) 3. City destroyed by a massive earthquake in 61 CE B. Context of Colossians 2:6-10 1. Paul commends Colossians and their hope in prayer, prays for them to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, walking worthily of the Lord, bearing fruit, thanking God in Christ (Colossians 1:3-12) 2. Paul maintains an extensive discourse on how God has worked in Jesus and Jesus’ standing, authority, and nature (Colossians 1:13-20) 3. Paul then speaks of their salvation if they remain in the Gospel they heard; he speaks of his work in ministry (Colossians 1:21-29) 4. Paul continues by setting forth his striving/wrestling/anxiety (Greek agona) for the Christians in Colossae and Laodicea so they may know the mystery of God in Christ, the true treasure of wisdom, and not deceived by flattering speech (Colossians 2:1-5) C. In Colossians 2:6-10 he addresses his dual concern for the Colossians 1. Paul desires for the Colossians to walk in Christ as they received Him, rooted and built up in Him, established in faith, abounding in thanksgiving, for in Jesus the fullness of divinity (theotetos) dwells in bodily form, head of the arches (principalities, rule) and exousias (power, authority), and the Colossians are made full in Him (Colossians 2:6-7, 9-10) 2. Paul also warns the Colossians to watch lest anyone attempt to come in and “make spoil” (sulagogon) of them by means of philosophy and kenes apates, “vain” or “empty” deceit, according to human tradition, the stoicheia, “elements” or “rudiments” of the universe, and not after Christ (Colossians 2:8) D. Paul will go on to speak of how the Colossians were redeemed in Christ, and seems to warn them regarding both “Judaizing” and proto-Gnostic teachings (Colossians 2:11-23) E. Colossians 2:1-10, and particularly Colossians 2:8, indicates Paul’s concern that the Christians in Colossae might fall prey to teachers who promoted a different message than the Gospel, one not rooted in Christ but in philosophy and sophistical deceit founded on human tradition and claims about the basic elements of the universe 1. What exactly is going on is less than clear 2. It would seem that Paul is concerned about Gnostic teachers, but even the earliest forms of Gnosticism begin toward the end of the first century 3. Nevertheless, the building blocks of Gnosticism were already present, since the Greco-Roman world was infatuated with philosophy and sophistry! 4. Thus, even if those in Colossae were not directly associated with Gnosticism, the danger of being seduced by human philosophy and accepting things as truth not rooted in Christ but in human traditions remained present F. We do well to explore the dangers of philosophy and vain deceit more fully III. Greeks and Philosophy A. For better or worse, the Western world has been profoundly shaped by Greek civilization 1. 2500 years later, in many respects, we’re still looking back to Athens for direction 2. We still have Olympics; our various political systems are modeled on Greek antecedents 3. And, above all things, Western thought has been dominated by the Greek philosophical pursuits and exploration B. Philosophy: love of wisdom 1. In modern parlance philosophy is limited to the study of knowledge, reality, and existence in general and the study of the beliefs and assumptions and theoretical underpinnings of any given specific field a. Philosophy is seen primarily in terms of epistemology, how we know what we know, what we know about reality, or at least what we think we know, and thus ultimately about ethics and how we should live b. We do well to remember that a PhD is really a doctor of philosophy in a given field; the idea is that someone who gets a PhD is one who has deeply explored the study not only of that field but how that field can know what it knows 2. Yet, in ancient Greece, philosophy was far broader, encompassing the whole range of what can be known: the study of everything a. Thus Socrates could focus on the good and the just and to attempt to understand what these ideals and characteristics meant while Aristotle attempted to make sense of the natural world and draw out its implications b. At the time the range of knowledge regarding the universe was far less than today; thus a person could be acquainted with astronomy, biology, ethics, morality, sociology, history, mathematics, physics, etc., and sought to draw conclusions based on what was known regarding those matters c. The Greeks also had a more holistic and interconnected understanding of the various disciplines; physics and metaphysics were part of one universe d. It was only as individual fields expanded in knowledge that they became specific disciplines C. And so it is that above all things those in Western civilizations have continued to pattern their approach to the world according to the Greek views of philosophy 1. Greek philosophy was not one coherent school but a host of different ideologies; it is not as if all people have simultaneously affirmed all such positions 2. Instead, we speak of the general approach of philosophy: since 500 BCE, people in the Western world have taken it for granted that we should approach the universe and the quest for knowledge according to the presuppositions of philosophical inquiry, that we can study and come to know things 3. “We” may have honed the system thanks to the scientific method, and then blew it all up thanks to the epistemological questions of Kant, but modern rationalism and even postmodernism function on the same philosophical basis as ancient philosophies D. Greek Philosophical Schools 1. The Presocratics established what would become philosophy, interested primarily in natural explanations for things; their schools would not carry into the late Classical world, but their ideas would influence all who came after them (6th and 5th centuries BCE) a. Thales and Anaximenes, sought to ascertain which of the four primeval elements (air, earth, fire, water) was primary, or how differentiated things came to be (Anaximander’s pursuit); such is the Milesian school b. Pythagoras, of mathematical fame, attempted to demonstrate the universe as perfectly harmonious based on numbers and math c. Heraclitus believed all things were in flux (he is the origin of the idea that you never step in the same river twice); he called the pattern or structure maintaining this flux the Logos d. Parmenides believed in one unchanging existence, rooted in the idea of God as ultimate unity from Xenophanes of Colon; such is the Eleatic school e. Empedocles believed in unity of substance, kind of like the Eleatics, but believed them to be manifest in the four primeval elements f. Leucippus and Democritus came up with the theory of atoms, small indivisible bodies of different shape but similar in form, colliding and forming various things, and the basis of everything g. The Sophists were not a school per se but professional educators in rhetoric, believing that thought was based on individual impression and need not have any deep relationship with reality; such is the origin of relativism and deeply chastised by “Socrates” in Platonic dialogues h. Socrates himself must go here, even though he is easily the best known Greek philosopher, for all we know about him comes from Plato and Xenophon, and it is hard to know where “Socrates” ends and “Plato” begins; heavily interested in ethics and the core moral concepts of the good and justice 2. Platonism: the school of Plato, primarily focused on the concept of “Platonic realism” within the Theory of Forms (4th century BCE) a. Forms: the ideal of any given abstract or concrete concept, thus as archetypes b. All things in reality, therefore, are imperfect replications of their ideal Form c. Highly pessimistic about value of physicality; yearning for spiritual release d. Exemplar view: the Allegory of the Cave, in which most people are content to accept the shadows of truth, and the few prove willing to walk out into the blinding light of reality to embrace the reality which had caused the shadow e. Platonism developed throughout the classical age and led to Neoplatonism in late antiquity, focused on the One, the Prime Mover, and how all reality derives from Him, particularly its first emanation, the Demiurge; such was easily appropriated to refer to the Father and the Son, and Neoplatonism undergirds much Christian philosophy 3. The Peripatetic school derives from Aristotle, Plato’s pupil, who repudiated the theory of the Forms and focused instead on what could be learned through scientific inquiry (4th century BCE) a. Aristotle systematically wrote out expositions on logic, which remain the basis of the study and recognition of logic to this day b. Aristotle sought to establish all things through induction, conclusions based on the accumulation of facts c. Aristotle maintained the Unmoved Mover, which compelled all other things to move and change; all things made of matter d. Soul is essentially life force; the soul gets conceptions, reasons regarding them, and from them obtains knowledge of what is true e. The ultimate goal is not unity with the good and the ideal, as in Plato, but in happiness derived virtue; virtue not rooted in knowledge, as in Plato, but in balancing natural impulses f. Aristotle rightly seen as father of physical sciences; given credence in ancient world even though Peripatetics not prominent; rediscovery of Aristotle in the 11th and 12th centuries would lead to Scholasticism, the challenge of nominalism, and the beginning of modernism 4. Cynicism, originally from Antisthenes (a pupil of Socrates) but more famously from Diogenes, seeking to lead a simple life by living in accord with nature according to human reason (4th century BCE) a. Such living is eudaimonia; it is dependent on self-sufficiency, virtue, clear speaking, a love of humanity, and indifference to the happenstance of life b. One can only achieve eudaimonia by practicing asceticism and recognizing how wealth, fame, power, etc., corrupt and are not really necessary c. The “clear speaking” leads to complete indifference to societal norms through practice of shamelessness d. Thus virtue is all that is necessary for happiness, and Cynics went about as people without property, homeless, begging from others 5. Skepticism, primarily from Pyrrho of Elis, establishing that nothing can be known as absolutely certain (4th-3rd centuries BCE) a. Pyrrho had visited India and interacted with any number of Hindu “gymnosophists” (naked wise men -> yogis) b. The philosophy was later explicated by Sextus Empiricus, bringing in features of empiricism, attempting to establish confidence in knowledge outside the self c. A recognition that the senses of humanity are easily deceived, and reason tilted toward what we want: thus the individual can never have absolute confidence in his or her belief system and what they hold to be true 6. Epicureanism, from Epicurus, working out the consequences of atomic materialism first suggested by Leucippus and Democritus (3rd century BCE) a. To Epicurus, the gods existed, but were uninvolved in human affairs; they lived in a state of tranquility without worry to which humans should strive b. In Epicureanism, pleasure was the ultimate goal; the pleasures of the soul as superior to that of the body, and the latter is really the attempt to give them up and live without pain: seek freedom from fear (tranquility) and freedom from pain c. The ethic was to strive for happiness according to justice: do as you will but harm no one; “Don't fear god, don't worry about death; what is good is easy to get, and what is terrible is easy to endure” d. All things as atoms crashing into each other e. Knowledge rooted in sense, preconceived notion, and feelings; preconceptions as worldviews or universal ideas 6. Stoicism, from Zeno of Citium, suggesting ethics as the primary emphasis of knowledge and the development of self-control and courage to overcome destructive emotion (2nd century BCE) a. Highly favored by the Romans and a good number of Christians through the ages b. Belief in ability to come to objective understanding of universal reason, the Logos c. This Logos also as Fate, the universe as material, reasoning substance; all things subject to its laws; highly deterministic d. Ethic as intrinsic to the soul, must be developed into virtue e. Virtue as will in accordance with nature, accepting one’s lot in life, pursuing excellence in it; four virtues as wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance f. Leads to “Classical Pantheism” in early modern era 7. Such are the major schools of thought; of them, Platonism and Aristotelianism would support the rest, and Epicureanism, Skepticism, and Stoicism were the primary schools in Roman times E. The Greek philosophical system has always been in tension with the Hebraic confidence in revelation from God 1. Tertullian’s question has rung out since 334 BCE: what hath Athens to do with Jerusalem (The Prescription Against Heretics 7)? 2. Hellenism, the synthesis of Greek theology, philosophy, and lifestyle, was dogmatically promoted throughout the ancient Near East in the days of the Greeks and Romans in a heretofore unparalleled way a. The ancient Near Eastern synthesis, albeit shaken by the growth of empires, had remained for millennia: each nation had its own gods, and all respected the gods of others; cultures maintained their distinctiveness b. Assyrian and Babylonian practice of exile shook up this synthesis to some degree, but it is worth noting how the Persians returned to the previous status quo c. Thus, despite some changes of note, the cultures Alexander conquered remained fundamentally the same since at least the beginning of the Iron Age d. And yet, within a few hundred years, all such cultures had syncretized, associating their native divinities with their Greek counterparts, and had absorbed many Greek (or Parthian/Sassanian) practices, save the Jews e. Thus all other cultures had accommodated and assimilated into Hellenism; the Jews withstood that assimilation to a strong degree 3. Such is why the Jews experienced the existential crisis of the wrath of Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 167 BCE; he wanted his empire to all affirm a Hellenistic culture, and the Jews refused to do so (1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees)! 4. Even then, many Jews found philosophy seductive; Philo of Alexandria adhered to Platonism and gave a Platonic spin to the Old Testament 5. Meanwhile, some Jewish people continued to hold out against full assimilation into Hellenistic culture and philosophy, and Paul does not leave us guessing as to where Jesus and the Apostles stood 6. Paul was not ignorant of Greek philosophy (Acts 17:17-31); nevertheless, he holds it at arm’s length in Colossians 2:8, expecting Christians to be rooted and grounded in Christ and not in the philosophy and vain deceit based on human tradition and the elements of the universe 7. And yet Tertullian was compelled to ask the question he did because not long after many influential Christians were seduced by Greek philosophy a. Justin Martyr had been a Platonist; he considered Christianity to be the “true philosophy” b. Clement of Alexandria not only was a Platonist but went so far as to say that God gave philosophy to the Greeks just as He had given the Law to Moses (Stromata 6, 8, 67, 1)! c. Augustine spent part of his life as a Neoplatonist, and one of the only ways in which his view of God’s sovereignty can be understood is through a more Neoplatonist than Biblical understanding of God’s nature 8. In The Theological Origins of Modernity, Michael Allen Gillespie argues that early Christians developed a somewhat coherent understanding of the created order based on an uneasy synthesis between Biblical revelation and Greek philosophy, particularly Platonism, only to have the modern world grapple with its collapse on account of the rise of nominalism 9. It has been argued that Judaism and Christianity “needed” the philosophical scaffolding afforded by the Greeks, particularly in Platonism; it is likely that our faith and perspective has been so thoroughly saturated in Greek philosophy that it would not be easy to begin disassociating the two 10. Nevertheless, on many critical issues of the faith, starting with faith as life vocation versus a set of ideas, the nature and value of the creation and the body vs. the spirit, the nature of the soul, “the apostle” vs. “the expert,” God’s sovereignty and man’s freedom, etc., the “leavening agent” of error and distortion of the Gospel has been Greek philosophy F. Thus we must enter into any investigation of philosophy with open eyes, recognizing that in Christ philosophy is not inherently good, and we are easily seduced and deceived into believing things which seem true but are not rooted in Christ but in human tradition and the elements of the world 1. Note how many of the elements of aspects of the schools of philosophy are aligned with the truth of God in Christ, or would be amenable to it... 2. ...and yet not one of those philosophical schools fully embodies the truth of God in Christ, and they prove deficient in many ways IV. Philosophy and Worldview in the 21st Century A. Paul’s message in Colossians 2:8 reverberates because his concerns then are no less valid today B. We live in a world saturated with philosophy and vain deceit according to human tradition and the elements of the universe! C. Realization: everyone has some sort of philosophy 1. We all have certain ideas about what we know and how we know it 2. It may not be well thought out or deliberated upon; we may not be aware of the influences which have led to that understanding; but it is there 3. The web of fundamental assumptions and beliefs we maintain regarding the world, how it works, and what we know about it can be called our worldview; every worldview thus has its own philosophy D. Colossians 2:1-10 makes it quite clear that Christ is to be our philosophy 1. We are to be rooted in Jesus, established in our faith in Him 2. He is the truth, the way, and the life (John 14:6); what is true accords with Him 3. Thus, we are to look to Jesus to understand what we can know and how we can know it, and to pattern our thoughts, feelings, and actions, and even how we think, according to Him E. And yet we all either come out from the world or are easily seduced by the world and its prevailing philosophies 1. We speak of “modern rationalism” and “postmodernism,” and could speak of “scientism,” and yet all such things are really derivatives of various elements of Greek philosophy! 2. Skepticism is in full flower in our age, although inconsistently applied; few doubt their doubts, and do not express as much skepticism about what they want to be true versus what they want to be untrue 3. So many are infatuated with what can be ascertained through the scientific process to the point of believing science has supplanted philosophy; they remain willfully ignorant that their scientific processes are undergirded by a philosophical system, primarily Epicurean in origin, with a bit of Aristotle as well 4. The self-help community and the mythology of America elevate a form of Stoicism in which virtue can be mastered if you only work hard enough to do so 5. The simultaneous obsession with and hatred of the body, the fear of death, and the desire for the ideal all hearken back to Plato and the Forms 6. Deconstructionism? Rooted in skepticism 7. Existentialism? Anticipated 3000 years earlier in Ecclesiastes and by the Cynics 8. Truly the Preacher is right (Ecclesiastes 1:9)! 9. Everywhere we turn we find some philosophy that is really rooted in the ancient questions and systems of the Greeks, and they all do exactly what Paul warned about: they seek to deceive based in human traditions of thinking and make reference to the basic elements of the world F. We must therefore recognize the sources of influence and, as Paul advised, take heed lest we fall for these philosophical systems 1. However valuable Greek philosophy might have been to “round out” a more holistic understanding of the universe, it was not good for early Christians to so wholeheartedly embrace Greek philosophies 2. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and the rest may have come upon some elements of truth because God made them in His image and has made a creation which manifests truth and can be understood (Genesis 1:26-27) 3. But they are not Christians, and their philosophies cannot be fully baptized! 4. All philosophy since has depended on them, and thus all philosophies suffer from the same categorical difficulty: whatever is true about them is true because it is true in Christ, but none live up to Christ fully 5. Time would fail us if we pointed out all the failings of Christians and churches because they accepted philosophical dogmas not rooted in Christ; in fact, almost all error and false teachings have come about either because of a misguided attempt to embrace old covenant elements not ratified in the new, or on account of the introduction of various thoughts and ideas from Greek philosophy and its children G. Thus we are to accept no substitutes: we must be rooted in Christ and established in faith in Him! V. Conclusion A. Paul perceived the dangers Christians would face from philosophy and vain deceit rooted in human tradition and the elements of the world B. The Greek philosophies of his day were mighty, and only he and his fellow Jews and Christians stood against it C. Greek philosophy would ultimately shape and define much regarding Christianity, some perhaps for good, but much for ill D. To this day far too many reject the Lord or fall away from Him because they have looked instead to human ways of doing things and human understanding of the basic principles of the world and turn away from the truth of God as revealed in Christ E. May we be wary of the philosophies of the world and remain rooted in Christ! F. Invitation Scripture, Meditation, and Application 1: And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods; and he shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished; for that which is determined shall be done (Daniel 11:36). Daniel foresaw a king who would become overly arrogant. That king was most likely Antiochus IV Epiphanes. He attempted to ban the Jewish way of life so they would live like Greeks. The Jews successfully resisted him under the Maccabees. May we stand firm for God! 2: And certain also of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered [Paul]. And some said, “What would this babbler say?” Others, “He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods:” because he preached Jesus and the resurrection (Acts 17:18). The Apostle Paul was acquainted, to some degree, with the philosophies of the Greeks. He reasoned with Epicurean and Stoic philosophers in Athens’ marketplace. Yet he did not commend such philosophies; he was wary of them. Paul suggested that the wisdom of the world was foolish, and what God had exalted in Christ seemed foolish to the world. We do well to stand with Jesus! 3: As therefore ye received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and builded up in him, and established in your faith, even as ye were taught, abounding in thanksgiving (Colossians 2:6-7). Paul was concerned about the spiritual welfare of the Colossian Christians. He exhorted them to walk and be built up in Jesus and to be established in their faith in Him. They were to root their thoughts, feelings, and actions in Jesus. May we root our life in Jesus and be established in faith! 4: Take heed lest there shall be any one that maketh spoil of you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ (Colossians 2:8). Paul did not mince words: the philosophies of the world and the truth of God in Christ are opposed to each other. We are in continual danger of being seduced by worldly philosophies. They tempt us because people accept them and their basis in what is believed to be reality. But Jesus is the truth, the way, and the life; if we want to live and know the truth, we must follow Jesus, and not philosophy. May we find truth and eternal life in God in Christ and turn away from the ways of the world!