meaning in life by satisfying his desires. It was originally developed by Aristippus, a student of Socra tes. Aristippus taught that man should seek pleasure. He ought to arrange thing's so that life provided great personal gratification. Later, Epicurus added to this particular school of thought and, though modified, it is still a major force today. I think to a fair extent, all of us are headonistic. That is, we want to satisfy ourselves. But can man be brought together with Cod by satisfying himself? Has the phi losophy of a life of pleasure met the need of mankind? It may cover it up. It may make life more palat able. But we still do not have the joy or the peace that really satis fies. Those in another school of phi losophy were known as stoics. They came out of a stream of his tory that began with another stu dent of Socrates—Antisthenes. He was a cynic and developed the idea that you should not simply satisfy your senses or live for pleas ure. He thought you ought to live a life controlled by reason rather than by a desire for material goods. Later a man named Zeno branched off from that particular school and developed the school known as the stoic school of phi losophy. The stoics believed that man through reason could master his own fate. In essence, it was mind above matter. But can this philosophy bring man closer to God? Can it settle the sin question that alienates us from God? "Where is the wise man?" asked Paul. He has not presented a mes sage that is comparable to Christ. Verse 20 also asks "Where is the scribe?" Can he bring us closer to God? No. The scribe was a student
of Jewish law, the Jewish scrip- tures.Theoretically, he was the one who was going to help. Notice verse 22: "For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom." Unlike the Greek mind that was philosophically ori ented, the Jewish mind was trying to add up long lists of data so he could draw a line and come to a reasonable conclusion. The gos pels show us how they attempted to use the form of thought known as induction. In Matthew 12:38-39 we read, "Then certain of the scribes and the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he (Christ) answered and said unto them, An evil and adult erous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah." The passage then tells about Jonah and the great fish. The interesting thing is that these people were looking for signs. "If you will give us some thing," they said, "that we can string together with the other things that we know, maybe we can come to the proper conclusion that you are the Christ, or that what you say is true." Another passage of scripture, Luke 16:30-31 deals with the well- known story of the rich man and Lazarus. "And he said, Nay, father Abraham; but if one went unto them from the dead, they will re pent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither w ill they be persuaded though one rose from the dead." See the point? "Where is the scribe?" You have all kinds of evi dence but man still did not add it up and find Cod. So, I Corinthians 1:20 says, "Where is the wise? Page 31
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