Why We Shouldn't Hate Philosophy
Airing on
Probe Radio
Oct.
11-15 |
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Michael Gleghorn — For many people in our culture today, Edie Brickell and the
New Bohemians got it right: "Philosophy is a walk on the slippery rocks." But
for some in the Christian community, they didn't go far enough. Philosophy,
they say, is far more dangerous than a walk on slippery rocks. It's an enemy of
orthodoxy and a friend of heresy. It's typically a product of wild, rash, and
uncontrolled human speculation. Its doctrines are empty and deceptive. Worse
still, they may even come from demons!
Such attitudes are hardly new. The early church father
Tertullian famously wrote:
"What has Jerusalem to do with
Athens, the Church with the Academy, the Christian with the heretic? . . . I
have no use for a Stoic or a Platonic . . . Christianity. After Jesus Christ we
have no need of speculation, after the Gospel no need of research."
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| MEET THE AUTHOR |
 MICHAEL GLEGHORN
"I wanted to write this program because philosophy sometimes receives an unnecessarily bad rap in our churches today. Although we certainly want to avoid being taken captive by empty and deceptive philosophy (Col. 2:8), we also need to recognize the tremendous resources which philosophy has to offer in helping us to clarify and defend the Christian faith (Tit. 1:9; 1 Pet. 3:15)."
Michael is a research associate with Probe Ministries. After earning a B.A. in psychology from Baylor University and a Th.M. in systematic theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he is back at DTS pursuing more suffering a Ph.D. in theology. The joy of Michael's life is his wife Hannah, their daughter and their brand new baby boy.
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Related Articles:
 Confident Belief
Rick Wade addresses the demands and limitations placed on Christian beliefs by modernism and postmodernism. We can know truth, but we don't need mathematical certainty.
 The Clash of Two Worldviews
Sue Bohlin, who claims that philosophy and logic make her brain ache, still wrote this brief post-9/11 commentary on the philosophical worldview differences between the U.S. and Islam that explains so much of the war on terrorism.
Faith and Reason
Are faith and reason friends or foes? Does faith in Christ require checking your brain at the door? Former staff member Tim Garrett presents three positions on faith and reason, from Tertullian, Augustine and Thomas Aquinas.
Probe Answers Your Questions:
"What's the Difference Between Moral Relativism and Pluralism?"
"Why Is There So Much Acceptance of the Idea That Truth is Relative?"
"What is the Purpose of God?"
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