Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.

• Exodus 25:8

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

• John 1:14

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

• Ephesians 3:16-19

“One thing that made it possible for Augustine to fuse the Platonic tradition in philosophy with Christianity is the fact that Christianity is not, in itself, a philosophy. Its fundamental beliefs are of a historical rather than a philosophical nature: for instance that a God made our world, and then came to live in the world of his creation as one of the people in it, and appeared on earth as a man called Jesus, in a particular part of Palestine, at a particular time, and lived a life that took a certain course, of which we possess historical records. Being a Christian involves, among other things, believing such things as this, and trying to live in the way the God who created us told us, partly through the mouth of this Jesus, that we should.  Jesus did indeed provide us with a good deal of moral instruction, but he was not much given to discussing philosophical questions.”

• 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

This is a poor representation of the philosophy of St. Augustine of Hippo, but I copied this paragraph to illustrate how people outside the church view Christianity.

Is Christianity historical?

Yes, the basic statements that the author makes are true, although in making the statements, he is stating that this is what Christians believe.  In a way, the author is mocking without overtly mocking.  Otherwise, the word might get out and Christians may avoid his book.

It is also sad and amusing at the same time that a lot of the Bible is historical, but if you presented the text as historical to a historian, they would laugh and discredit it.  To the theologian, they would bristle at the idea that the Bible is historical or scientific.

So, the philosophers call the Bible historical, but historians deny the validity.  Odd, since there is more proof that the original text is carefully preserved.  Much better preserved than the historical and epic poems and even philosophical texts of the first century.  Yet, those are quoted as being accurate, but the Bible is just the Bible.  Strange how that works.

But, God did create the world.  He dwelt among us in spiritual form, at least dwelt in the sanctuary that the Israelites built.  Then God came in human form.  Jesus dwelt among us.  Jesus was crucified and He rose from the grave.

I like what Lee Strobel said about the records of Jesus’ resurrection.  Lee Strobel said that the apostles all died a martyr’s death (some question about John who was imprisoned on Patmos for some time).  Any one of those apostles could have avoided death by recanting that Jesus had risen from the dead, but none did.  In Paul’s writings, he speaks of hundreds of witnesses and many who are still alive (at the time of him writing the letter).  In other words, “Go ask them.”

These things are historical, but they do not define a Christian nor Christianity.

Is Christianity a philosophy?

We have discussed the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, and I do not know if I will return to it.  But Thomas Aquinas argued that some theology deals with the present world and can be argued and discussed as philosophy, but much of Christianity (Theology also) is of the spiritual world where philosophical arguments do not lend themselves to proof.  Thus, faith is the important factor.

The author lamented that Jesus provides great moral lessons, but not much philosophical concept on which to argue.  OF COURSE NOT!  Jesus and the Father are One.  When He says it, there is no room for argue nor discussion.

My time in the military was interesting.  I was an officer, and I could order the men to do this or that, and they might do it.  But if the sergeant said jump, your only point of discussion was “How high?”

Sorry, old military joke there, but it was true.  I led a military policeman and his drug dog through the barracks one day.  The dog alerted on a rubber tree plant.  The private argued that the dog was confused.  I leaned down and noticed seedlings emerging from the large earthen pot.  The private broke from standing at attention and slugged me.  The sergeant stepped in to get between us and the private punched the sergeant.  The seedlings were tested, and they proved to be cannabis, in the family of plants where we get hashish.  The plant was disposed of.  The private was court martialed for striking the sergeant.  I asked why not hitting me?  Oh, no, striking a sergeant was much worse in the eyes of the court martial.  I think they allowed him to leave the military in a less-than-honorable means rather than convene a court martial.  He was not one of my men.  The military police liked me as their escort since I knew how to stay out of the way of the dog and his job.  So, I was there only as a means to control the chain of evidence.

But to piggyback on an old television commercial about a financial advisor.  When Jesus said something, you listened.  Forget arguing about it.  Just see how Jesus deflected arguments from the Pharisees and religious leaders.

Is Christianity something beyond both Historical and Philosophical?

Notice the three Scriptures.  God dwelt among His people in a sanctuary.  His presence was made aware to the people by a pillar of fire or a cloud of smoke.  Then Jesus came in the flesh.  He ate, drank, walked around, and touched people.  But then in Ephesians, Paul prays that the people will experience Jesus within themselves.

It is not sufficient to believe in the historical Jesus.  The demons do not believe in Jesus.  They know Jesus lived then and still lives today.  And they quake in their boots.  So, Christianity is beyond history.  Again, Lee Strobel wrote in another of his books that the Greek word for “believe” was to believe and trust.  That trust is not in a Jesus who has not done anything for the past 2000 years.  What good is that?  Jesus is alive and working in our lives, through our lives, and in the world to guide us and protect us.  That is what “believe” really means.

Does Christianity transcend history? Yes. Does Christianity transcend philosophy? Yes. And when it comes to the Spiritual, Jesus said it Himself.  He is the Truth, the Way, and the Life.  No one comes to the Father except through Him.  This is historical in that He said those words.  It means life itself, because He lives those words even today, living within those who truly call Him Lord and Savior.

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.