Christian Philosophy: An Introduction

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I want to start a series of Christian philosophy posts here on my blog. For each post, I want to articulate Christian philosophical perspectives on as many subjects as I can. While these posts won’t be as exhaustive as scholarly papers, I do intend to be deeper on these posts than I’ve usually been in my previous posts. And, as an introduction to this series, I want to dive into what a Christian philosophy itself would be. To do that, we must know the definitions of two words: “Christian” and “philosophy.” Then, we need to combine the terms and see what the end product is. With this introductory paragraph in this introductory post now aside, let’s get to work!

First, there is the term “Christian.” In Acts 11:26, we learn that the disciples were first called “Christians” in Antioch. Notice who are called “Christians”! The disciples, or learners.[1] But that raises the question: disciples of whom? Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, obviously, because a teacher’s disciples bear the name of their teacher. So, a Christian is a disciple of Christ, as the Holy Spirit reveals Him in the Bible.[2] Another, fuller, definition for Christian is a follower of Christ.[3] So, to sum up this paragraph, I’ll repeat that a Christian is a follower of Christ.

Second, there is the term “philosophy.” In Colossians 2:8, Paul the apostle, guided by the Holy Spirit, warns Christians not to let anyone spoil them (i.e. carry them off like spoil[4]) through philosophy that doesn’t accord with Christ. The word translated “philosophy” here means “the love or pursuit of wisdom.”[5] So, philosophy is the love or pursuit of wisdom. Now, one might object that going to the meaning of the original Greek word translated as philosophy is a fallacious attempt at defining philosophy in our modern context. Yet, does not this definition encompass all the activity under the umbrella of “philosophy” in today’s world?

Third, given that we now know the meanings of both “Christian” and “philosophy,” what do we get when we merge them together and get “Christian philosophy”? When we covered the definition of Christian, we looked at it as a noun (i.e. a follower of Christ). So, what do we get when we turn this noun-definition into an adjective-definition? We get “according to Christ,” per the antithesis of the philosophy Paul warns us against in Colossians 2:8. When we then combine “Christian” with “philosophy,” and get “Christian philosophy” consequently, we have the love or pursuit of wisdom according to Christ. That is, loving and pursuing wisdom with Christ as our Teacher. And how does Christ teach us? Through His Word, the Bible, given the aforementioned fact that God the Holy Spirit reveals Him through the Bible.

That does leave at least one more question though: what is wisdom itself? I think a good answer to that question is “the right use of knowledge.”[6] The example of Solomon in 1 Kings 3:16-28 fleshes this definition out.[7] So, in this series, I desire to do more than merely communicate knowledge; I want to teach you, believing readers, how to apply Biblical knowledge in these subjects.

May God use this series to glorify Himself and edify His people!

[1]https://biblehub.com/greek/3101.htm [2] 2 Timothy 3:15-17 and 2 Peter 1:16-21. Also, the Bible is the Word of God in written form, which form consists of nothing more and nothing less than the 66 Books of the Old and New Testaments. For a good treatment on the subject of the Biblical canon, I refer you to this link: https://assets.answersingenesis.org/doc/articles/aid/v3/look-at-canon.pdf [3] https://biblehub.com/greek/5546.htm [4] https://biblehub.com/greek/4812.htm [5] https://biblehub.com/greek/5385.htm [6] https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Spurgeon#Quotes. I found this link on Wikipedia’s “Wisdom” article (accessed April 19, 2022). [7] I’ll give credit to a pastor named Joe Morecraft for pointing me to this Biblical example as an illustration of what wisdom is. The sermon where he does this I’ll link here: https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=921210676