Colossians 2

Colossians 2:8-9

THE FOE OF Colossians 2:8-9 for sermonizing are quite often born out of comparisons between some speeches one has heard and what he knows the sacred Scriptures to say. Such is the one we now propose to discuss! In connection with the matters now at issue between fundamentalists on the one side and modernists on the other, it cannot be forgotten that philosophy, and particularly philosophers, have played a prominent roll in the whole speculation of evolution. In fact, the early and Greek philosophers were largely advocates of a kindred hypothesis, and the meanest opponents of the Christian faith among modernists have been the teachers of philosophy. Hence our subject!The necessity of discussing it exists in the circumstance that philosophy does not grow more friendly to Christianity, but rather more antagonistic to the same. Paul’s language, therefore, is in no whit out of date, and the warning that he sent to the Colossian Church is needed, not only by my auditors and readers, but by the Christians of the land.“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the worlds and not after Christ. “For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:8-9). I invite your attention to the treatment of this subject under three heads: Philosophy Defined, Philosophy Tested, and Philosophy Transcended. DEFINED The word, philosophy, predicates the love of wisdom. That is its Greek-root meaning “philos” —lover, or friend, and “sophos”—wisdom. The thought suggested is altogether a worthy one, and were the study pursued in the right spirit, the results should be both desirable and profitable. Solomon writes to his children after this manner:“Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. “For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. “For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. “He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. “Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. “Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. “Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. “She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. “Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many” (Proverbs 4:1-10). Truly, wisdom is the principal thing. Beyond debate, she does “promote those who embrace her”; to the heads of such she gives her “ornament of grace”; upon their “brows” she places “a crown of glory”.We are not here, then, tonight to speak against wisdom or the search therefor; but ere we finish it may appear that there is a wide stretch between what men call philosophy and that which is suggested by the root meanings of the word.It is a great thing to get wisdom. The world is infatuated with the thought of securing knowledge, but wisdom is preferable even to knowledge. There are many things one can know that yield no profit. Wisdom deals only with profitable knowledge and is itself such knowledge applied. He that seeketh wisdom seeketh a good thing!It appeals, however, to intellectual pride.

Paul, writing to the Corinthians, who were themselves Greeks, quotes from Isaiah 29:14, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise”. Of course, it was not true wisdom, for such would not be God’s attitude toward the same.

Reference is evidently to an intellectual conceit. There is much of the same abroad in the land at this moment. It is an interesting psychological study to have Prof. M______ , a man who has made some scientific discoveries, the worth of which to his fellows is not yet determined, speak of Mr. Bryan, one of the most brilliant intellects of the centuries—a man whose fruitful life blessed millions—as “not intellectual * * but merely an emotionalist”. Such is the conceit of men who follow specific branches of learning.

And it was against such that Paul hurled his Biblical and yet stinging questions in the Corinthian Letter, “Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world”? Goethe is probably speaking both from experience and from observation when, in Faust, he makes his hero a student longing for the pleasures of knowledge, but who, while thus engaged, changes his course from the speculative to the sensual and sells out his soul to his adversary, Mephistopheles.The very conception of wisdom entertained by the ancients is a proof positive of the egoism that was ever inherent in the same.

You remember that Minerva was the favorite goddess of philosophy, and that she was supposed to have had no mother, but to have sprung full-formed from the head of Jupiter; in other words, to be a perfect child of brain-intellectuality. To be sure, there are exceptions to all rules. Lord Bacon was the child of a believing mother and on that account he approached philosophy from another standpoint, saying, “The road to true philosophy is precisely the same with that which leads to true religion; and from both one and the other, unless we would enter in as little children, we must expect to be totally excluded;” while Seeker tells us that “nature teaches us that those trees bend the most freely which bear the most fully”. It is a parable of Paul’s contention: “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are”.Philosophy has been guilty of too often proposing the impossible. The man who attempts a rational explanation of practically everything in the universe and, while about it, disregards the God who made it, is not likely to flood the world with light.David said, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God”, and any philosophy of the universe, or philosophy of human life that takes not God into account, can never profit the world. Its musings will but muddle men; its philosophisings will result in confusion for readers; its professed light will be but darkness.

The one reason that the science of the Bible stands the test of time, and will; that the Bible’s psychology has proven true to man’s experiences, and will ever so abide; that Bible history is increasingly shown to be absolutely dependable; that Bible sociology will forever remain sound, and that the Bible’s philosophy of life has never yet failed a man who truly tested it, is due to the circumstance that the revelation of the Bible is properly based—“In the beginning God”. Given God, we have an explanation of the Universe.

Given God, we have a starting point for scientific research. Given “God”, we have from Him the fixed principles of human behavior. Given “God”, we are confident that a sound philosophy of life exists. Given “God”, we have an explanation of Israel and the Church. Given “God”, we have a ground of government and occasion of good-will among men; and a prophecy of a finally perfected world. Away with your philosophies that deny, forget, or even neglect God!

They are vain deceit. They are after the traditions of men; and “after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ”, What profit has come to the world from Aristotle, Plato, and DesCarte; what from Bacon and his school; Hobbes Locke, Hume, Hartley, Mill, and Condillac?Of the opponents of the Christian faith, what names exceed Kant, the writer of “The Critique of Pure Reason,” Hegel in his “Absolute Idealism”, Spencer, the advocate of mechanism; Nietzsche, with his brutal survival, and Haeckel with his unsolved Riddle of the Universe?

These are men who impoverish the world as they pass. TESTED Philosophy is no new science, if, in fact, the term “science” may be at all properly employed in speaking of it. It is one of the most ancient branches of learning. The millenniums have known its exponents. In fact, the present-day teachers constantly appeal to the philosophers of two and even three thousand years ago.The brief spurt of Greek supremacy produced a whole school of philosophers, and contrary to the Darwin theory, their kind have not improved with the centuries, and while there are many varieties among them, the species as a whole has rather declined.Philosophy itself is far less in vogue to-day than it was two hundred years before Christ. The reasons for this are not far to seek. I shall mention three of them.

It has often proved a vain deceit; it has failed to extricate itself from the traditions of men, and it has been weighted with the rudiments of the world.It has often proved a vain deceit!Tillotson said, “Philosophers have given us several plausible rules for peace and tranquility of mind, but they fall very much short of bringing men to it.”John Foster tells us that “in the academy the philosophers made a great many excellent discourses and asked Panthroidas how he liked them. He answered, “Indeed I think them very good but of no profit at all, since you yourselves do not use them.”Beyond all question, Socrates was among the first of the Greeks.

His innovations of thought resulted in his condemnation to death, and in prison he drank the hemlock that sent his spirit into eternity, but even that Greek made a better contribution to freedom of intellect than to the sum of knowledge.It might be well to remind our readers in passing that the Church didn’t administer it, since at that time the Christian Church had no existence. It is now the uniform custom of every anti-Christian spokesman, and, even of every professed Christian advocate of Darwinism, to charge every known persecution to the Church, without ever a hint even that by “the church” they mean apostate Rome. If there ever was a case of overworked falsehood, “the church versus Galileo” is an instance. Whenever those advocates of evolution who find no scientific defense for their doctrine meet the slightest opposition to their speculation, they seek to cloud the whole question by saying that it is another case of the church against Galileo. Read Professor More’s “Dogma of Evolution” and be forever silenced on that subject. It was the offended scientists who sent the lone Galileo to judgment and scaffold, and who, in their reaction from that mistake, swing now to the opposite extreme and give open arms to speculative Darwin.But with Socrates it was Meletus, the poet, and Annytus, the tanner, and Lycon, the orator—all of them members of the patriotic party, who said, “Socrates is guilty first, of denying the gods recognized by the state, and introducing new divinities, and second, of corrupting the young.” But as death faced him he found only this crumb of comfort—either it would mean a dreamless sleep or a new life among the departed fellows where he might test out his philosophical principles, and he cared not which.

In Wisconsin University sometime ago a student of philosophy committed suicide in order to find out about immortality.Plato is still a prime favorite with the professor in this branch of learning, but it is extremely doubtful whether his dream of “the republic” has made any substantial contribution to the actual states of history, or whether his doctrine of “good as the absolute ground of all being and identical with Deity” has advantaged the world. In fact, Dr.

Bates charges against all heathen philosophies that they professed themselves to be wise in their speculations but became fools in practice, many of them ending their lives in suicide, so insufficient are the best precepts of mere reason to relieve us in distress.The religion of Israel produced the greatest people known to the early centuries of history, and the religion of Christ has given to the world modern civilization. But if philosophy has ever made a state great, or a generation happy, history has failed to make a record of it.It has failed to extricate itself from the traditions of men.That is the meaning of the Apostle’s words.“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men” (Colossians 2:8). Ward Beecher said, “What we call wisdom is the result, not the residuum of all the wisdom of past ages. Our best institutions are like young trees growing upon the roots of the old trunks that have crumbled away.”That is the very principle that certain philosophers have sought to disprove, and their endeavors have been all in vain. Plato imagined himself original and, when he failed to find in creation the clear evidences of a creator, supposed he was blazing for his fellows a brand new path, but the truth is that that was the weakness of his whole philosophy. Having disdained the roots of wisdom both revealed and illustrated, he failed to provide a new shoot that could take root for itself and fill the world with fruitful branches.Aristotle attempted to state the relation of the godhead to the world without adopting either the expression or conception of his predecessors. Like other sensationalists, he simply succeeded in demonstrating the language of Scripture, “There is no new thing under the sun”.The trouble about philosophy is that it attempts to sweep all millenniums with a small field-glass and to sound the ocean depths of life with a six-foot plummet, and the result is often ridiculous. You can’t judge society by a village section; much less can you understand millenniums by the study of a minute, or the nations by the appearance of a man.Albert Edgar Bruce recently contributed the following poem to a liberal paper.“” I judge all the Dagoes by Tony Cattini; I judge all the Japs by the one that I know; I judge all the Slovaks by Moritz Koppini; I judge all the Chinks by my wash-man, Wing Po. I judge all the Spaniards by Pedro Garcia; I judge all the French by Alphonse de Bernard; I judge the Egyptians by Ibin Ben Kia; I judge all the Hindus by Boma Singh Kard. I ain’t traveled far from the place I was born in, But I’ve seen the world, for it’s all come to me; Some odd foreign face I meet up with each mornin’ From countries way off, beyond the deep sea. You can’t tell me much about these strange races, For ain’t I seen all of ‘em, right in this town? I know their queer dress and their funny shaped faces— White, black, red and yeller and lots of ‘em brown. They’re diff’rent from us, and I’m blamed if I like ‘em; They talk in a lingo you can’t understand; They make me so mad that I most want to strike ‘em. Why didn’t they stay in their own foreign land? Of course they may have me in close observation, To find out what kind of a man I may be; But how can they know of our glorious nation? I wonder, if they judge my country by me? We advise the students of philosophy to commit to memory this poem.It has always been weighted with the rudiments of the world.“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world” (Colossians 2:8). “The world by wisdom knew not God” and students by philosophy have never yet found Him. Charles F. Banning, writing recently of philosophic atheism, said: “I can explain it best by an illustration. While in the army I was stationed for four months at Camp Meade, Maryland, drilling negro troops from the South. We had noticed that they had no enthusiasm or ambition and little endurance. Most of the men who came into camp seemed like new men within a few days under the regularity of the army food and discipline.

These men, however, did not improve as the other men. After a careful examination it was discovered that these men had hookworm and did not know it. The hookworm was sapping their vitality and ambition. Practical atheism affects one much the same way. Before one knows it, he has shut God out of his life.A little while ago there was a convention of teachers in philosophy held in one of our Western cities. A speaker stood before them and said, “Of all the outstanding men in our department, so far as I know there are but four who do not hold to a materialistic, mechanistic theory of the universe.” If that be true, how perfectly that illustrates the Apostle’s words—“For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. “Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; “But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; “And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: “That no flesh should glory in His presence. “But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: “That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:18-31). This text leads us to our last point: “In Him (Christ) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the Head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:9-10). Let three things be understood then:First, The true wisdom is with God.How easy it is for the most learned of men to depart from the true source of wisdom when once any taint of skepticism has come upon them. A widely-known Professor, recently declared that if he had to choose between atheism and fundamentalism he would choose fundamentalism, because, as he added, “The teachings of atheism are contrary to the teachings of science”; and yet, the same man turns about and says, “However, fundamentalism is at fault in that it attempts to transgress into the known when its province as a religion is with the unknown.” We ask, Since when?The Christian faith, in both its Old Testament form and its New Testament expression; deals with both the known and the unknown, time and eternity, with both the mortal and the immortal, with both the world that now is and that which is to come. We would commend to all such the statement of John, who rested his faith upon that which he “had heard with his ears”, had seen “with his eyes”, had “handled with his hands” of the Word of Life (1 John 1); and who on that account, added, “Hereby we do know that we know Him” (1 John 2:3); and again, “We know that, when He shall Appear, we shall be like Him” (1 John 3:2). We know also that “we have passed from death unto life” (1 John 3:14). We know that “every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God” (1 John 4:2). We know “that we dwell in Him” (1 John 4:13). “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His Commandments” (1 John 5:2). “We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ.

This is the True God, and Eternal Life” (1 John 5:20). Our science is not a mere hypothesis; our philosophy is not a series of speculations.

With us “observation” and experience combine to make knowledge sure.That wisdom is manifested in Christ. The Apostle Paul had occasion to say, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him”. Charles Spurgeon, famed alike for his clear thinking and his incisive and convincing speech, said, “Wisdom had had its time, and time enough; it had done its all, and that was little enough; it had made the world worse than it was before it stepped upon it; and now God says, “Foolishness shall overcome wisdom; now ignorance, as ye call it, shall sweep away science; now (saith God) humble, childlike faith shall crumble to the dust all the colossal systems your hands have piled.’ He calls his warriors. Christ puts his trumpet to his mouth, and up come the warriors, clad in fishermen’s garb, with the brogue of the lake of Galilee—poor humble mariners. Here are the warriors, O Wisdom, that are to confound thee; these are the heroes who shall overcome thy proud philosophers; these men are to plant their standard upon thy ruined walls, and bid them fall forever; these men and their successors are to exalt a Gospel in the world which ye may laugh at as absurd, which ye may sneer at as folly, but which shall be exalted above the hills, and shall be glorious even to the highest heavens.”He is our explanation of all things.“Without Him was not any thing made that was made. “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name. “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. “And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. “For the Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him” (John 1:3-5; John 1:9-14; John 1:16-18). John Huss, the Christian martyr, once dreamed that the pictures of the Christ which adorned his walls had been obliterated by the Pope. Waking he was greatly grieved. The next day he dreamed again that the painters were restoring the pictures in far more glorious form than they had previously held. He then interpreted his dream to mean the veritable truth that, though the image of Christ might be temporarily obscured, it would return again and again and be always the hope of the nations. And he saw his dream fulfilled in the work of Luther, who with consummate ability brought to the people a fresh revelation of the Christ.We affirm it our faith that though philosophy may obscure the Christ, and science, “so-called”, may seek to efface Him from the thought of the world, He will return in even more glorious form, the express image of the Father, and in the light of His countenance darkness shall flee away and men shall come to know “even as they are known”.