Jacob Ninan
When it comes to religion, many people have their own views, and many seem to be convinced that their view is right because 1) this is what their parents have believed, or 2) it appears to make sense to them. Is there any guarantee that if something makes sense to us it must be right? Once we factor in the limitations in our knowledge and our ability to interpret things rightly, it will be obvious that, just because we think something is true it need not necessarily be true. There are so many factors to consider and so many aspects we may have overlooked that we cannot be so certain we are right. If we can be wrong, certainly our parents could also have been.
For example, thinking by themselves, some people in the ancient days came to imagine that certain animals or natural phenomena were gods. Some people claim themselves to be gods (or godmen) or some people revere certain men as gods. Some others think god is in everything and everything is god. Some think of God as a person and some others think god is an impersonal force. Many who have tried to understand God have resorted to philosophical explanations over the centuries and come to varied ideas that are many times self-contradictory and never comprehensive. This can be seen when they try to explain the different aspects of life in terms of their theory, or when they cannot explain everything we know and experience. Isn't it necessary that, if we are truly describing anything, all the parts of our explanations must fit together cohesively and form the big picture?
We notice that when philosophers try to 'model' God by their theories, they tend to use abstract language that gives an impression of 'insight' and 'secret knowledge' that ordinary people cannot be expected to understand straight away. Ordinary people who listen to such theories are awestruck because they realise they cannot understand them; but they imagine that these 'masters' must be having some superior knowledge! In one context, Paul describes things that have 'the appearance of wisdom' (Col.2:23).
If someone says we are like drops of water which flow towards the ocean with the ultimate goal of merging with the ocean, it sounds impressive. This is the ultimate goal for some people, to lose themselves in the knowledge that they are actually part of the ocean! But what do they actually gain in practical terms by knowing that? Isn't it rather an intellectual escape route by which they can give an appearance of wisdom without providing any practical help? Think of this. They lose their own unique personality and identity and effectively become nameless, meaningless and purposeless. Is this what we really want to gain at the end of our lives? Each of us is who we are by a unique combination of personality, character, history, abilities, weaknesses, achievements, etc.; then, is our end going to be one where all these do not matter? Is the annihilation of our individual existence something we look forward to and even strive for through various means?
Rene Descartes has made this famous statement, "I think, therefore I am." What it means is that the ultimate proof that we exist and we are not some delusion (which is one of the issues discussed by philosophers) is known by the fact that we are able to think. How we think depends on who we are and what we have become as a result of all our experiences. We have 'grown' from birth, becoming more and more of what we are now, and what a tragedy it is if, at the end of it all, we just disappear into oblivion! Is that something that can motivate us?
Yet, people accept ideas such as this because they have an appearance of wisdom. When someone makes a presentation of such ideas and if we were to question them about the different issues connected with them, usually the answer will be abstract and more elusive! These people move around in an artificial world of ideas, concepts and postulations, and they find their delight in being able to look at things from what they consider to be an exalted frame of understanding and 'enlightenment' – without actually making any connection with the realities of the situations faced on this earth!
Paul hit the nail on the head when he pointed out that such concepts had "no value against fleshly indulgence" (Col.2:23). That is the criterion against which we should evaluate philosophical and religious concepts. The question is how well these concepts actually help a person to live a better life, stop sinning, become more loving and kind towards others, etc. There is also the question of how these concepts prepare us for eternity.
This is where the Christian worldview comes in and brings relief to sincere seekers of the truth, bringing a cohesive understanding of all the different aspects of life here and in eternity – addressing how things started, what went wrong, the plan God made for man's restoration, what He has done and what we need to do, how things are going to be and how what we do now will affect that, etc. We can find tangible correlations between this worldview and our practical life. We can recognise the presence and effects of sin in our lives and on the earth, learn about the remedy God has prepared for us right now and for eternity, and understand what we can do about it.
Even though the Bible was written by more than 40 different authors through a period of about 1500 years and though most of them had not met the others, the surprising fact is that all the 66 books of the Bible hold together and bring out a single, common thread of history of God's dealings with man and their interpretations, and tell us what is going to happen in the future. We find, in the Bible, a cohesive explanation of the past, the present and the future, and an answer to all those who want to know. This points to the fact that this is God's supernatural revelation of Himself to man, and not a collection of human philosophies. It also becomes obvious that if God is the infinite Being who created everything, the only way any of us finite beings can get to know Him is through His revelations and not by our imaginations.
Philosophers, scientists and the common man – who are all looking to know the truth and find explanations – can find the answers here. But only those who have 'ears to hear' will hear – this is what Jesus said. If we really want to know the truth, we have to be willing to face the truth. And if the truth is different from what we have been believing till now, we have to be willing to follow the truth and give up our older ways of thinking and understanding. Also, if we claim we have seen the truth, it is by following it up with the way we live daily that we demonstrate we have understood it. A. W. Tozer said that there was no one who was as blind as the one who would not see! True knowledge is about the actual nitty-gritty of the daily life, and not some artificial, intellectual castles we build in the air!
But here is the good news. For all who will come to the truth and follow it, they can actually experience a transformation right now in this life that can be observed in a practical sense. Crooks become saints, self-centredness turns to love, kindness and mercy towards the others, confusion of heart and mind disappears and peace and joy come in. It is not in vain that the Psalmist says, "O taste and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!" (Psa.34:8). When this happens, we do not have to hold on to abstract theories which have very little impact on practical life, and which no one can prove whether they are right or wrong. The Gospel that Jesus brought really works!
"See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ" (Col.2:8). Don't get into abstractions and lofty sounding discussions. If what we hear is the truth, it will set us free, here and now (Jn.8:32).
-- Editorial in the Light of Life magazine, February 2020
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