Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

• John 17:14-16

I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

• Philippians 4:10-12

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.

• Judges 17:6
• Judges 21:25

“The first of these to appear were the cynics. They were what we would now call dropouts. Their progenitor was Antisthenes, a disciple of Socrates and near-contemporary of Plato.  Until he was middle-aged he lived a conventional life in the that aristocratic circle of philosophers. But with the death of Socrates and the fall of Athens Antisthenes’ world came to an end. Where upon he decided to opt out and embrace a basic, simple life. He started dressing like a laborer, and living among the poor, and he proclaimed that he wanted no government, no private property, no marriage, and no established religion.”

• Bryan Magee, The Story of Philosophy

“Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered.”

• C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

“Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky

Imagine all the people
Livin’ for today
Ah

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too

Imagine all the people
Livin’ life in peace
You

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one”

• John Lennon, Imagine

Antisthenes (445-365BC) was the earliest of the cynics.  People might call him a hippie these days.  But maybe a newer name for the dropouts of society.  There were the Nature Boys, then the Beatniks, then the Hippies, etc.  Diogenes, a follower of Antisthenes, became more famous.

And I must interrupt to share an autocorrect mistake.  I misspelled Antisthenes and autocorrect changed it to “And ‘tis the knees.”  Sorry, it was too good of a mistake to pass up.

Some people go off the deep end when trauma hits them.  Antisthenes was a follower of Socrates and was probably there when Socrates was forced to drink a concoction that included hemlock.  They were going to kill Socrates for asking too many questions, and the “gentleman’s” alternative of his day was to drink poison.  Other gentlemen solutions have been more modern poisons or a pistol with a single bullet in the chamber.  The thought is that a gentleman would want to save the government to cost of a nasty trial.

But to a student who loved his teacher, this had a profound impact of Antisthenes.  He rejected possessions, other than the clothes on his back.  He argued the troubles regarding government.  Hid follower, Diogenes, had a philosophical argument with Alexander the Great over his increasing of his empire.  More possessions just created more trouble.  Regardless of who “won” the debate, Alexander continued his conquering of the known world.

But if you look at the things that Antisthenes felt we should do away with, it reminded me of the John Lennon song, Imagine.  When the Lennon song was featured in the opening ceremonies for the Olympics not long ago, I heard Rev. Robertson, the Wee Flea, on his podcast argue of how stupid the song is if you look at the words.  Israel did not do well with their theocracy.  They got their king, but very few of the kings were that good at keeping the people from doing what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.  Most kings encouraged the people to turn from God, all the kings of the northern tribes.  But if we rid ourselves of the governmental borders, the Olympic Games become moot.  Why have the competitions at all?  To get a prize?  But that is a possession, so that wouldn’t work.

In fact, the song mirrors the philosophy of Antisthenes perfectly except for the part about no marriage.  Yoko Ono would not allow that to enter the lyrics of the song.

And as for the idea of no religion, I have heard people shout at me, saying that every war in history was over religion.  Someone not long ago went through history and realized that very few of the wars in this world had anything to do with religion.  It goes back to what Hitler said.  If you tell a lie often enough, with confidence, people will believe you.  So few people check the facts.  But they have no problem in retelling the lie.

But the true answer to all these imagined “solutions” is found in Jesus Christ, and not fully in this life.  John Lennon famously scoffed that the Beatles were more well-known than Jesus.  Then, the Beatles broke up and Lennon was killed.  Lennon had shut the door on the only true answer to his questions about peace, government, and what to do with all this stuff.  Funny that Lennon’s song spoke of no possessions, but did he give his possessions to the poor?  Maybe some, when people were watching, but he lived in luxury.

At least from the standpoint of possessions, Antisthenes was not a hypocrite.

But for the true answer, we need to turn to Jesus.  Once you accept Jesus, the Holy Spirit gives you understanding, at least in part.  In part, because we will have the rest revealed when we leave this fallen world.

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.