It was the church father Tertullian who asked, “What hath Athens to do with Jerusalem?” His pithy question suggests that the study of philosophy and the study of theology are utterly disconnected, that the former is bad, useless, destructive while the other is good, helpful and instructive. While I am a theologian and the son of the theologian, I did major in philosophy in college, as did my father. I have taught philosophy at both the college and seminary level, as did my father. And soon I will begin again, teaching it at a local community college. Chances are then, of course, that I will not only take issue with Tertullian, but will respond to his rhetorical question with a hearty, “Everything!!!!” Yeah, don’t bet the farm on it.
Tertullian is quite correct, that philosophy isn’t a co-laborer with theology in the pursuit of truth. It isn’t a repository of truth for issues untouched by the Bible. And it is often directly and unapologetically hostile to the Christian faith. Athens has virtually nothing to do with Jerusalem. But there is great value in studying it.
C.S. Lewis, mimicking the principle of the right to bear arms said, “Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered.” We don’t study philosophy in the hope of discovering truth among phiosophers. We study philosophy to better discover falsehood in ourselves. Any pursuit of truth that does not embark from the solid rock of God’s existence and head toward the blinding brilliance of His glory is doomed to failure. We study philosophy not because philosophers are our friends but because they are our enemies, because they take our eyes off the heavenly Jerusalem.
You will, if you make a study of philosophy, run across a few of the nuts found by the blind squirrels through the ages. If, however, you study the Word of God you find the impossibly laden nut tree. Philosophy then isn’t a guide to finding nuts, but a way to help us not be unconsciously, unintentionally misled on our way to the tree. Whether or not we can name it, or its progenitor, we will have an epistemology, an ethic, a metaphysic, a teleology. The study of philosophy helps us feel the wetness of the water we fish swim in. The Word of God tells us how to get dry.
I am not ashamed to be a professor of philosophy. Neither, however, am I proud to be one. It is just one more way that I seek to pursue the character of Christ, and to help others to do the same, one more way I seek to remove my cultural blinders, that I might better see His face. I study philosophy because I don’t want to be misled by bad philosophy, not to gain a better lens through which to study the Bible, but to remove the lenses that blur my vision. The Bible is true, and every man, from Thales to Dewey to Sproul Jr. is a liar.