What Is Truth?

As Christians, God has called us to be champions of righteousness–harmless as doves, and crafty as serpents.  What this is telling us is that we are to be balanced in all that we do.  If there ever was an area where we ought to put this into practice, it is philosophy.

Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were some of the greatest philosophers in history, and are well worth examining.  Socrates was the oldest of these three and the instructor of Plato.  He was famous for arguing by asking questions to help fellow philosophers see things clearly.  He also openly questioned the modern practices of his fellow Athenians which became his downfall.

After him, Plato taught Aristotle.  Plato is known for his dialogues such as the Republic.  One of the main philosophies of Plato was that this world and the things therein are futile and mere shadows of the real reality in the world of forms.  He taught that a tree is a tree not because of external properties, but because it bears within it an echo of the real or essential ‘treeness’.  He also believed that the physical body is an evil to which we are all sentenced, and that we are freed from it upon death.

Aristotle went on to write several works of his own including the Nicomachean Ethics and founded the Lyceum, one of the world’s first great universities.  Aristotle was rather more grounded in the visible world around him than his tutor and predecessor Plato was.  His works and philosophies became very influential throughout the middle-ages.

These thinkers have had some of the greatest influence on philosophical thought for over two thousand years and have therefore had a great effect on the history of the world and on Christianity.  Christians can learn a great deal from the lessons and thoughts of these three greats of philosophy.  The concept of our current life on earth being only a shadow of the true reality and things to come is a point which all followers of Christ need to understand.  Plato's allegory of The Cave illustrates what it is like for those who have lived their lives in slavery to sin suddenly seeing the blinding light of Truth/God and how the light of His presence shows the folly of sin.  In his book on ethics, Aristotle takes a good look at the nature of good and how it relates to man which is an excellent read for all.  However, in studying philosophy, the Christian man or woman must be careful he or she does not lose track of God, and there are a few things they must keep in mind while on the road to “knowledge”.

God must always take precedence over everything else.  A student must always keep themselves in an environment where Christian thought, influence, and help is available outside himself, be it in the form of church, a bible-study, or some other form of communication between believers.  In many philosophical classes and circles, it is popular to sort of flex the muscle of ‘philosophical and intellectual thought’ as a disproof of anything spiritual.  Remember that Nietzsche and Kant are not the only great intellects in the philosophy department; St. Augustine, St. Athanasius, and Milton, just to name a few, are great Christian provokers of thought who can match modern atheistic thinkers any day.

Remember to also be a good philosophy student.  Again, Christians are to be harmless as doves and simultaneously as crafty as serpents.  Our goal is to bring people to Christ.  But so often we forget that is only part of it; once we’ve got someone in the Church and accepting Christ as their personal saviour, we must help them grow in their faith, and one of the best ways to do so is to teach them to think (note the difference between ‘to think’ instead of ‘what to think’).  While we should not idly sit by while those who profess to be wise mock Christianity, we should strive to really be wise ourselves so that when we defend our faith, we can do so with clear, solid thought and in love.  Jesus called us to be salt in the world, but that does not mean we are to be like salt in a wound!  Bring out the flavour and truth of Christianity instead of rubbing the truth into the falsehood of shallow thought; that’s the way to interest people in Christ.

Philosophy can be a tremendously useful tool in the hands of godly men and women.  But ultimate truth lies in God and not all philosophy is good; for instance we would do ourselves harm if we embraced the Platonic idea that the body is evil and should be loathed, because the body is in fact the temple of God and is created in His image!  We cannot let ourselves become too focused on the things of this world either.  It could be said that of these ancient philosophers, Socrates was closest to the right thing: simply seeking Truth, no matter where it leads.  In our search for more and more truth, let us never forget the ultimate Truth of God lying beneath our very noses.