Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Therefore once more I will astound these people
    with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
    the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”

• Isaiah 29:14

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

• Matthew 7:7-8

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
    the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

• 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

“John’s intentions were orthodox. He has been accused of rationalism, but unfairly. While he was a Neo-Platonist through and through, his aim was not to produce a rational Neo-Platonist system independent of Christianity, but rather to expound Christian revelation within a Neo-Platonist framework. He has been accused, with greater plausibility, of pantheism. In the thirteenth century his writings were used to support pantheism and were condemned by the church. John’s Neo-Platonism drags him in the direction of pantheism. But he does not go without a struggle, and his loyalty to Christian revelation preserves him from total absorption into pantheism.
“ ‘And what, O Lord, is that coming of yours but an ascent through the infinite steps of your contemplation? — for you always come to the intellects of those who seek and find you. You are sought by them always, and are found always, and are not found always. You are found indeed in your appearances, in which in many ways you encounter the minds of those who understand you in the way in which you allow yourself to be understood — not what you are, but what you are not, and that you are. But you are not found in your super-essence by which you surpass and excel all intellect.’ (Division of Nature, Conclusion)”

• Tony Lane, A Concise History of Christian Thought

John Scotus Eriugena, or Johannes Scotus Erigena, or John the Scot or John the Irish-born (815-877) was one of the most influential thinkers of the ninth century, and possibly the most influential Irishman of the early monastic period.  Although Pseudo-Dionysius was an early Eastern Orthodox thinker, John translated his works.  Some thoughts on Pseudo-Dionysius can be found HERE.

He did as many other early Christian thinkers, John Scotus Eriugena blended philosophy with his Christian beliefs, and in doing so he recognized the barrier.

I have heard many modern evangelists argue that we cannot live by blind faith anymore.  We need to, as Paul said, work out our faith.  The average person on the street these days is not receptive to a conversation about Jesus Christ, as they might have been 50-60 years ago.  But if the Holy Spirit is working within them, they could be.  Some street evangelists pray that God will lead them to the person that He has prepared, and it works for them.  They do not need to have much of a conversation before they find the right person, but there are many who will get angry, get nervous, get defensive.

But John in the quote above is trying to draw a line between what is known and what is not known.  Yet, he also recognizes that we have two different types of people as Paul describes to the Corinthians above.  We have those of this world that consider any belief in an unseen God to be foolishness.  Yet, their beliefs in evolution and other pseudo-science which attempts to explain a world without God are foolish, especially when already proven wrong.  For one thing, Darwin imagined a simple single cell organism could just evolve over time, but there is no such thing as a simple single cell organism.  We now know how complex these small living things are, with many complex parts that are all required to have life.

And then we have those who God has enlightened.  Once we accept Jesus, a door is opened into a new way of thinking, and God reveals more of Himself.  There is far too much of God to be fully understood, thus John speaks of knowing and not knowing.

So, we have unbelievers who think Christians to be foolish, and we have Christians who know only in part who God is.  As Christians, we certainly know that God exists, even when we cannot see Him.

Only God can build within a caterpillar the instinct to make a cocoon to become a butterfly.  For within that cocoon, each cell in the caterpillar’s body must die, and dissolve into what will be reformed as a butterfly.  And we are much like that butterfly, when we pass away, and a new creation is formed.

We may learn more and more about our earth, but there are things outside time and space that we can only imagine.  Yet, we know that God is good, and He loves us.

If you like these Tuesday morning essays about philosophy and other “heavy topics,” but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Tuesday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.