CHAPTER V. MODERN PHILOSOPHY.
BY PHILIP MAURO, COUNSELLOR-AT-LAW, NEW YORK CITY. “Beware lest any man spoil' you through philosophy and vain de ceit after (according to) the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the ful ness of the Godhead bodily; and ye are complete in Him, who is the Head of all principality and power.” Col. 2,:8-10. In the foregoing passage occurs the only mention which the Scriptures make of philosophy. Nothing is more highly esteemed among men tharf philosophy. It is on all hands re garded as the supreme exercise and occupation of the ,human mind, and is indeed an occupation for which but very few men have the requisite intellectual equipment. As far back as the tradition of men goes, philosophy has held this high place in human estimation; and it is, therefore, a fact of much sig nificance that, in all the Bible, philosophy is but once named. Even in our day the deference paid to philosophy is such that there are not many teachers of the Bible who would ven ture to warn their fellow-men of its dangers; for philosophers have managed to maintain in Christendom the same eminence which they occupied in heathendom. Indeed, a course in phi losophy is now, and for some generations has been, considered an essential part of the education of a man who is preparing for the Christian ministry; and this is not the only one of the “rudiments of the world” which has found its way into our theological seminaries. It is, therefore, not surprising that, in the teaching imparted by these seminary graduates, philoso phy holds a very different place from that assigned to it by the Bible. 85
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