Is Philosophy Our Enemy?
I was helping someone in my church pick some courses to take. She told me that she was avoiding philosophy because it was against Christianity.
This reminded me of my university years. I had an atheist friend who told me that if I took one philosophy course, I would stop believing in God.
Is philosophy the enemy of Christianity? I do not think so. Sure there are some very zealous atheist philosophers, who will argue passionately against the existence of God. But there are many theist and even Christian philosophers as well. Philosophy is like any other subject, it can be used for numerous agendas.
Philosophy by definition is a love for wisdom, it is a quest for truth. As a result, philosophy is not our enemy. There are some philosophical systems that are not compatible with Christianity, but it is highly valuable to be able to ask and wrestle with the big questions that philosophy deals with.
Stephen, I’ve been a pastor for 12 years. I went to seminary. And I can saw the most ifluential factor and the most useful course I took for my path as a pastor was Introduction to Philosophy 101, freshmen year at a secular university. We spend one half of the course on logic/fallacies, and the other half on proofs for and against the existence of God. That course led me down the path of going into full time ministry.
Thanks,
Pastor Adam Barton
Akron, Ohio
Thanks for sharing Adam. Glad you had a great experience with philosophy.