CONCLUSION

Philosophy is the love of wisdom and the search for wisdom.
But what is wisdom?
There are two kinds of wisdom: the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God.
The Apostle Paul writes in his First letter to the Corinthians,

"20b Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21 For since, in the wisdom of God,
the world did not know God through wisdom,
it pleased God through the folly of what we preach
to save those who believe.
22 For Jews demand signs and the Greeks seek wisdom,
23 but we preach Christ crucified,
a stumbling-block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks,
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men,
and weakness of God is stronger than men."
(I Cor. 1:20b-25).

The Greek philosophers sought wisdom, but they did not know God through wisdom, that is, through the wisdom of the world. By reason, through the wisdom of man, they sought to know God. By reasoning from the things of the world they attempted to know God. Aristotle found the unmoved mover and first cause as God and the Neoplatonists found the One Being, beyond the many and the change of the world of sense. But these gods are only abstract and universal things, non-persons, super Its. These gods are not the true God; they are the creation of man's reason. The Greeks philosophers did not know the true God by reason, by the wisdom of the world. Starting with man's reason, the laws of logic, they reasoned to one god, but that god is not the true God. It is not a person (or persons) with unlimited freedom of choice. The true God is the creator of all things, who by His unlimited freedom created the heavens and earth, all things visible and invisible. And the true God can be known only if He reveals Himself. And He has revealed and made Himself known.

"1 In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets;
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us in a Son,
whom he appointed the heir of all things,
through whom also he created the world."
(Heb. 1:1-2 ERS).
In the Son of God, who became the man, Jesus Christ,
God has made Himself known. Jesus said to Thomas,
"6 I am the way, the truth, and the life;
no one comes to the Father, but by me.
7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also;
henceforth you know him and have seen him."
(John 14:6-7).
Jesus answered Philip,
"9b He who has seen me has seen the Father;
how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?
The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority;
but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me;
or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves."
(John 14:9b-11).
And the greatest of these works is the resurrection of the dead which God the Father did in raising Jesus, His Son, from the dead.

If Jesus is the Son of God, why did Jesus have to die?
The Biblical answer is: to save mankind from death, from sin and from wrath.

"21 For by a man came death,
by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die,
so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But each in his own order; Christ the first fruits,
then at his coming those who belong to Christ."
(I Cor. 15:21-23).
In Christ God has solved man's greatest problem, the problem of death. And God not only saved man from physical death, the separation of man's spirit from his body, but also from spiritual death, the separation of man's spirit from God. Spiritual death is not to know personally the true God; it is the opposite of spiritual and eternal life. Jesus said in his prayer,
"And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3).
This spiritual and eternal life is a gift to be received by faith.
Jesus said,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word
and believes him who sent me has eternal life;
he does not come into judgment,
but has passed from death to life." (John 5:24).
And Jesus here is not just talking about physical death, but also spiritual death. Jesus continued,
"25 Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is,
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God,
and those who hear will live.
26 For as the Father has life in himself,
so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself,
27 and has given him authority to execute judgment,
because he is the Son of man."
(John 5:25-27)
Those who are now spiritually dead, when they hear the voice of Son of God and believe, they are raised from spiritual death and are made spiritually alive, born again and reconciled to God. This spiritual life is fellowship with God, a personal relation to God; it is to know God personally, not just to know about God. This spiritual life is sustained by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, who is given to each believer.
The Apostle Paul writes to the Roman Christians,
"9 But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,
he does not belong to Him....
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God,
these are the sons of God.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery again to fear,
but you have received the Spirit of sonship by whom we cry, 'Abba, Father'.
16 The Spirit Himself bear witness with our spirit
that we are children of God."
(Rom. 8:9, 14-16 ERS).
After His resurrection Jesus returned to His Father and the Father sent the Holy Spirit, as Jesus promised His disciples.
"16 And I will the pray the Father,
and he will give you another Counselor,
to be with you for ever,
17 even the Spirit of truth,
whom the world cannot receive,
because it neither sees him nor know him;
you will know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you."
(John 14:16-17).

"25 These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you.
26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit,
whom the the Father will send in my name,
he will teach you all things,
and bring to remembrance all that I have said to you."
(John 14:25-26).

"12 I have yet many things to say to you,
but you cannot bear them now.
13 When that one, the Spirit of truth, comes,
he will guide you into all the truth;
for he will not speak from himself,
but whatever he hears he will speak,
and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
14 He will glorify me,
for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
15 All that the Father has is mine;
therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."
(John 16:12-15 ERS).

What the Holy Spirit declares is the wisdom of God. The Apostle Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians,
"6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom,
although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age,
who are doomed to pass away.
7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God,
which he decreed before the ages for our glorification.
8 None of the rulers of this age understood this;
for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.
9 But, as it is written,
'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him,'
10 God has revealed to us through the Spirit. ...
12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world,
but the Spirit which is from God,
that we might the understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.
13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom
but taught by the Spirit,
interpreting spiritual truths in spiritual language."
(I Cor. 2:6-7, 12-13; using marginal readings).
And these words have been written down and recorded in the writings of the New Testament. It is in particular in the writings of the Apostle John that expression is given to the Biblical Christian philosophy. The Gospel of John begins with the words,
"1 In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God;
3 all things were made through him,
and without him was not anything made that was made.
4 In him was life,
and the life was the light of men.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it."
(John 1:1-5).

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
full of grace and truth;
we have beheld his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father."
(John 1:14)

By using the Greek word logos, translated "Word" here, the Apostle John makes contact with Greek philosophy and shows his intention to address its concerns. The concept of the divine Logos or Nous dominated Greek philosophy. It is that which permeates the world and forms it into a Cosmos. It appears in the various systems of Greek philosophy: in Plato, Aristotle, and the Neoplatonists as the Nous, and in the philosophy of the Stoics as the Logos, in different setting, according as they placed the emphasis more on the secular, the cultural, scientific, artistic or philosophical aspects, or on the ethical and religious aspects of human life. They all have in common this reference to the divine Logos or Nous, as that which gives meaning and rationality to the man. The Logos is divine reason, immanent in our reason and in our rational thinking and doing, upon which the meaning of life is grounded.

But the Logos or Word here in the Prologue of the Apostle John's Gospel is not the Logos of Greek philosophy. There are three radical differences between them. [1]

  1. First, the Biblical Logos is not an abstract principle, an "it", as it is always in Greek philosophy, but a person; "He was in the beginning with God, all things were made through Him,.... In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." (John 1:2-4 NAS).
  2. Second, the Biblical Logos is not an immanent element of the human mind or soul, but is given to man from without from God in the historical revelation of the Logos-person becoming a human being; "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,... full of grace and truth." (John 1:14 NAS).
  3. Third, and finally, the Biblical Logos is not a timeless, fixed truth, but a dynamic person who comes into history as the perfect historical revelation of God, "and we have beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father." (John 1:14 NAS).
The contrast between the Biblical Logos and the Logos of Greek philosophy could not be more stark. Some have even denied that the Apostle John even had this contrast in mind and that his background is entirely the Old Testament; "the Word of the Lord came to me" (Jer. 1:2; etc.). The English translation of the Greek word logos as "word" rather than "reason" seem to reflect this view. But that background does not mean that the Apostle John did not intend the contrast with the Logos of Greek philosophy. But the question of whether the Apostle John intended the contrast or not is beside the point. The difference between the Biblical Logos and the Logos of Greek philosophy is there.

Are these two related? The early second century Christian teachers and Apologist did think that they are related. But they related them in such a way that the distinctive Biblical and personal element is obscured if not lost completely. See in particular Origen. They depersonalize the logos to thoughts (reason) in God's mind and obscured His existence distinct from the existence of the Father. Reason has usually been understood in Western philosophy either as an impersonal, universal and necessary principle operative in the natural and moral universe or as a human intellectual capacity of ratiocination by which man could arrive at the truth independently of faith. The former is the Greek (and particularly the Stoic) view and the latter is the modern view of the Enlightenment. Appeal to reason in either of these senses involves an appeal to a false god. Understood in this sense, the objection of Christian thinkers like Tertullian and Karl Barth is well taken. The Scriptures says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:2) And this includes reason also. The danger of idolatry even among Christians cannot be emphasized enough.

Faith and reason can be combined by making faith the presupposition of reason. The operation of reason depends upon faith. Unless reason presupposes an ultimate commitment to the person Jesus Christ it will not function properly. For Reason, like all human activities, involves a commitment to something that has ultimate significance and supreme importance. This object of ultimate commitment is that person's god. It may be self-interest, money, society, power, experience, nature, reason, science, family, state or some supernatural being. The term "god" need not refer to the personal God of the Christian religion. As Martin Luther put it in his Larger Catechism, "Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God." [2] Now, whatever is a person's god will determine the quality of his whole life by furnishing him with an entire set of values which in turn will govern his specific moral and intellectual decisions. Therefore, the operation of reason will be governed consciously or unconsciously by one's ultimate commitment. However, reason cannot properly operate unless this prior commitment is made to the true God. For the true God is the only proper ultimate criterion for the operation of reason. Since Jesus Christ is Reason Himself (ho logos) by whom all things were created, [3] He as the true God is thus the only proper ultimate criterion for human reason. Therefore, reason is a form of faith in a twofold sense: formally reason involves faith and materially the proper operation of reason presupposes faith in Jesus Christ.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Emil Brunner points out that

"there are three radical differences between the two. The first is that it is not an abstract principle, an 'it,' as it always is in Greek philosophy, but a person -- 'in Him, all things were made by Him and in Him was life.' The second is to be seen in the fact that this Logos is not an immanent element of the human mind or spirit, but given to man by historical revelation as the secret of God's essence and will. Finally, it is not a timeless, fixed truth, but the moving dynamism of history, the definite manifestation of that which in the end of time brings with it the victory of the divine will over the powers that threaten the meaning of life, thus completing the meaning of historical, earthly existence."
Emil Brunner, Christianity and Civilization, Vol. I, 64
(New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1948).

[2] Martin Luther, "Large Catechism," in
Luther's Primary Works, 34
(London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1896).

[3] God created man in his own image Gen. (1:26, 27). What is this image? Scripture seems to suggest that the image of God lies in man's freedom of choice. "Let us make men in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, etc." (Gen. 1:26 RSV) Man's lordship like God's presupposes freedom of choice. The difference between them is that God's freedom is unlimited and man's is limited. An analysis of freedom of choice shows that the ability to choose entails a reference beyond the self to a criterion of decision. The ultimate criterion of all criteria for that person is his god. Man's sin is that he has chosen false gods rather than the true God. This results in a decrease of freedom, a bondage to the idol. For the false god, being without freedom of choice, that is, impersonal, is a strait jacket on his freedom. The true God, on the other hand, since he is free, personal, fulfills man's freedom and makes him truly free. Since Reason is a function of the person, it also presupposes freedom of choice.