212
April 1927
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
The Christian Philosopher B y t h e E ditor - in -C h ie f
f AUL warns us against “the philosophy which is moulded on human tradition and the puerilities of externalism aild not after. Christ.” (See Col. 2 :8, Dr. Way’s translation). This means that there is a philosophy which is after Christ, and there fore is true and Chris tian. It is only necessary to stop and consider the mean ing of the world to see that this must necessarily he so. This word is a Greek word and is made up of two words which mean “love” and “wisdom,” ,; so that it literally means a love of wisdom. Very early this word came to be used as the explanation of things. Every child asks simple, natural questions and grad ually builds up an answer to them. These questions are carried through life and either consciously or uncon sciously we are building up a system of thinking as a result of their use. What is it ? How did it come ? Why is it as it is? These are the questions that we ask concerning almost everything that we come in contact with. Everyone has Some kind of an answer for these questions and this answer is his philosophy. The nature of the philosophy is determined by the way in which the questions are answered. It may be right .or wrong, rich 'or barren, but whatever it's nature it is his philosophy. That’s why the word has come to be used as the name given to the science that undertakes to construct a system of thought explain ing the ultimate meaning of our world. N ot F or S cholars . O nly On account of the use of a technical vocabulary which includes big words and the use of a certain kind of term inology this thing has come to be looked upon as the inter est of profound scholars or mere speculation. As a matter of fact these words and terms represent very simple things and things in which every person is more or less inter ested. For example, the great subjects of Philosophy are: the question of Being, which inquires as to the nature and meaning of personality; but this line of inquiry is usually spoken of as Ontology, and the very word discourages the ordinary man from pursuing the Subject; the question of the World,—What is it? How did it come to be? Why is it as it is?—things in which everybody is more or less interested, but here again this simple line of inquiry is called Cosmology and the name gives it the air of profund ity beyond the interest of everyday life; the question of Man, in which we follow the same line of inquiry and call it Anthropology; then when we come to details and ask specific questions regarding different phases of man’s life such as, for example, regarding the mind and its activities, we call this Psychology. While the word is becoming popular, it has more or less of an academic air and most people do not appreciate how simple are the questions that it is endeav oring to answer. Everyone has a sense of right and wrong, and what is ordinarily called a conscience because of which we feel that some things are right and other things are wrong, some things are good and other things are bad. The discussion, of this sense and what it means and demands is known as Ethics.
I n E veryday P ractical L if e However little people may know about this subject technically considered, everybody has a definite idea of it in the practical everyday life. This is true of every phase of this, great subject. There are few people who have not some kind of an answer for the questions raised and therefore some kind of a philosophy that they hold con cerning life as a whole. In the light of this fact we can easily see that Christianity must involve a philosophy or explanation of things, and the Christian philosopher or thinker’s duty is to find out what this explanation is. Let us note that there is a difference between Philoso phy and Science or at least what we call pure Science. What is known as pure Science is the study and descrip tion of things and activities as they appear to the senses. It is usually a description of processes as they are revealed by the most searching examination that it is possible to bring to bear upon them. It is not usually considered the province of Science to give an explanation or the philoso phy of these things but rather to tell just exactly how they act and the results of these activities. When Science applies that material it is the work of Philosophy to ex plain the reason for these processes and how these results came to be. In other words philosophy fits the facts made available by Science into a scheme of things that gives a reasonable explanation of them and their activities. The difficulty with a great deal of so-called popularized Science today is that it is more Philosophy than Science and the most of our trouble with Science is not with the fact of Science but with men’s explanation of these facts. I ts R elation to T heology Then again the difference between Philosophy and Theology, or Doctrine, is that Theology or Doctrine is the systematic arrangement of the facts of revelation. Chris tian Theology tells us what the Bible says about different things and builds the different declarations into a system atic statement. Philosophy takes these and fits them into a world scheme and shows why they are as they are and why they offer the best explanation of our world available to us. In other words, and very simply, Chris tian Philosophy is the gathering together of information from every realm of human experience and thinking and bringing them into the light of the Divine revelation and giving them the explanation made possible through the great Christian fact which is consummated in Jesus Christ as the final revelation of our world, its meanings, possibil ities and issues. This means that it seeks to know what has been revealed and, bringing this to the test of the most searching thinking that can be brought to bear upon it, tries to show that it is the most satisfactory answer that we have to all the great questions that are raised concern ing man, his world and his destiny. With this simple explanation in mind we shall take up in our next article a study of the Book of Hebrews as one of the first phil osophical statements given of the Christian fact.
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