October 4, 2024
J. Vernon McGee summarized philosophy well. He said, “All systems of philosophy lead up a blind alley.” I agree. You can spend your time and money studying this subject and find sooner or later that it is a mere waste of time. Many students in our universities have made the mistake of majoring in philosophy; and some have even gotten degrees, only to find it almost impossible to then get a job. I have heard there are taxi cab drivers in New York who hold PhD degrees in philosophy. But the worst part is that so many university professors are atheists and try to negatively influence their students to become such.
Young people are particularly prone to adopting beliefs held by people they respect. And complicating the problem today is the lack of Christian instruction in the home. Also the fact of single-parent rearing of children today is another tragedy for our society. The home has always been the foundation of a healthy society. Today, however, we have a very sick society, and the reason is so apparent if you look at statistics involving homes and parenting.
It was God’s original intention for a man to take a wife and for both to bring up children in a home that placed God first. Man was created to give God glory. That is not happening today in most homes. And it is a great tragedy. God tells us in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
How much better it is to spend all that time and effort studying God’s Word, the Holy Bible instead of the foolishness called philosophy. The Apostle Paul advised his protégé, Timothy, “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Studying philosophy, which is only men’s opinions, is not the way to grow wise. Real wisdom is knowing Jesus Christ as personal Savior. Philosophy is simply foolishness.
There are so many different philosophies that one has to wonder how anyone could be sure of any particular position. The doctrine all Christians hold to is old and changeless. I will concede that some modern translations are very flawed. It almost looks as though Satan has influenced some translators to skew the truth into lies. Important passages have even been omitted in some translations. I am not one who swears by only the King James Version. I know of several modern translations that are very accurate and totally in agreement with the KJV. Many people are so hung up on the KJV that they think all other translations are heretical. This is not true.
There are great people in the Bible to serve as examples for us. God used these people to get His purposes accomplished and to show us how to live. Jesus of Nazareth of course is the best example of all. He was not just the only sinless man who ever lived, He was God, as part of the Trinity. But He lay aside some of His Godly attributes to relate directly to man while on earth. He suffered the same trials and tribulations that we all suffer; but He suffered infinitely more by dying on Calvary’s cross to save believers in Him from hell.
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Ralph Fudge is the pastor of Big Ochlocknee Baptist Church in Coolidge, Ga., and has a Master’s degree in theology from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
