Philosophy

I went to a small liberal arts college. That means, among other things, that I had to take a variety of classes outside of my major in order to graduate. One of those classes that I took (to meet a requirement) was Existentialism. 

I will get to the class in a minute but I want to tell you about the professor. He was a tall, dorky looking guy with horn rimmed glasses and slicked hair. He looked like he was stuck in some 1950s era. He was a nice guy but had this perpetual smile on his face that, at times, you just wanted to slap off. He was a very accomplished professor in that one of his books on Existentialism was used as a text book on the west coast (which even then was considered a liberal and somewhat crazy place).

I found out that he was a devout Mormon. Because of my upbringing, I was taught that Mormonism was a cult and I was weary. One of the things I found out about the Mormon faith, and admire to this day, is that children raised in the Mormon faith save money with the intent of supporting themselves while they go out and proselytize for a couple of years. That faith, commitment and dedication is something I admire.

Anyway, I am getting off my intended direction. In this class, we read and were tested on stories by famous philosophers such as Nietzsche, Machiavelli, Sartre, Camus and Tolstoy. Each week, we would have a quiz on the details of the story and an essay that asked how the story demonstrated their existentialism (or something close, it was over 40 years ago). I’m a geek and type A personality so I wanted to get an “A” in every class. I didn’t have any trouble recalling the story details but was, at first, perplexed at how to answer the essay question (in my mind, philosophy is a very squishy science).

After struggling (and not getting an “A”) on the first quiz or two, I finally figured out a form answer, some may call it a boiler point answer, that the professor liked and gave me the “A” I wanted. I used the same form on every remaining quiz.

While I did get the “A” I wanted, I didn’t take away the learning for which the class was intended (although I did a quick search for the meaning of existentialism today and maybe I was better off). In other words, I found a way to cheat the system. Even as I write this, I don’t like the phrase “cheat the system” because that seems like I did something immoral which it wasn’t. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say I found a loophole to avoid serious effort. Regardless, I really cheated myself because I did not take advantage of the opportunity to be exposed to something that I could agree or not and understand why.

I have been a part of several deep dives recently regarding subjects such as Predestination, the meaning of Sovereignty, and confronting people regarding their sin. These are difficult subjects because they challenge each of us at a core level sometimes uncomfortably.

Just like my philosophy class, we can gloss over these difficult subjects or we can dive deep into them and evaluate our own preconceptions against what the Bible says. Which do you think would help make you a better person?

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” - 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.” - Proverbs 3:5-8

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” - Colossians 3:12-17