Towards a Philosophy that is Christ-shaped

 

 

 

“If philosophy is the love and pursuit of wisdom,

Christian philosophy is the love and pursuit of wisdom

under the authority of Christ, which calls for an ongoing

union with Christ, including one’s belonging to God in Christ”.

 

Paul K. Moser

 

 

 

 

Paul K. Moser introduces his article, “Toward Christ-Shaped Philosophy”, with this:

“A Christian philosophy should incorporate and be guided by the subversive Christian message that the outcast Galilean “Jesus is Lord” (I Cor. 12:3; see Acts 2:36)”.

 

And he continues: https://www.academia.edu/19711250/Toward_Christ-Shaped_Philosophy

 

In its talk of “Lord” (kurios), this message assigns authority to Jesus Christ, even the authority proper to God (see, for instance, Phil. 2:9-11). The claim that Jesus is Lord figures not only in who counts as a Christian (namely, the one who receives Jesus as Lord), but also in which philosophy counts as Christian (namely, the one that acknowledges Jesus as Lord). A philosophy can be theistic or deistic without being Christian, because it can acknowledge that “God” exists without affirming that Jesus is Lord. In this essay I want to clarify the nature of “Christ-shaped” philosophy, distinguishing two senses of “doing Christian philosophy” and identifying the importance of one’s knowing God without reliance on an argument.

 

A Philosopher for Christ

 

Following Jesus, the apostle Paul is the most profound advocate of a Christ-shaped philosophy. Christian philosophy, in his approach, depends on God’s Spirit, and the Spirit in question is Christ-shaped, being the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Christ always points to the volitional struggle of Gethsemane, particularly to the struggling Jesus in Gethsemane, where Calvary was challenged but sealed. In doing so, this Spirit promises to lead us, non-coercively, from death to resurrection life as lasting, reverent companionship with God. This story is Good News, but it rarely gets a serious hearing from philosophers. A key lesson will be that Christ-shaped (or Christian) philosophy should be joined with Christ-formed philosophers.

Paul’s letter to the Colossians offers a striking portrait of Christ-shaped philosophy, but gives a warning: “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy . . . and not according to Christ” (Col. 2:8). Paul here contrasts philosophy and Christ. Philosophy outside the authority of Christ, according to Paul, is dangerous to human freedom and life. The alternative is philosophy under Christ, and this involves a distinctive kind of wisdom. If philosophy is the love and pursuit of wisdom, Christian philosophy is the love and pursuit of wisdom under the authority of Christ, which calls for an ongoing union with Christ, including one’s belonging to God in Christ.

Paul illuminates wisdom under Christ. He prays that the Christians at Colossae be filled with “spiritual wisdom [sophia pneumatikē] and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:9-10). “Spiritual wisdom,” in Paul’s approach, is wisdom intentionally guided and empowered by the Spirit of Christ. It therefore yields “lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him.” No merely theoretical or intellectual wisdom has the power to guide such lives intentionally, and thus Paul refers to spiritual wisdom, which amounts to Spirit-empowered and Spirit-guided wisdom. The redemption of humans calls for an intentional guide or agent who leads and empowers receptive humans inwardly, in accordance with God’s character, even when rules and arguments fall short. Paul reports that he has been commissioned by God to make God’s word fully known, and he identifies God’s word with “the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages . . . but has now been revealed” (Col. 1:26). Paul speaks of “the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you [plural], the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27, my italics). This mystery prompts him to “teach everyone in all wisdom,” in order to “present everyone mature [teleios] in Christ,” being “rooted and built up in him” (Col. 1:28; 2:7). God’s main mystery, according to Paul, “is Christ himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom” (Col. 2:2-3).

This inward Christ is alive and interactive with God’s wisdom and power, seeking to renew humans at their deepest place.

Paul offers a cosmic picture: God created all things for (eis) Christ (Col. 1:16), so that Christ might be pre-eminent in everything (Col. 1:18). If Christ is to be pre-eminent in everything, then he should be pre-eminent in philosophy and in every other academic discipline, too. In Paul’s grand portrait, God wants “everyone [to be] mature [or complete] in Christ.” Accordingly, God wants everyone, even every philosopher, to cooperate reverently with the authority of Christ, and this is not a merely external or juridical authority. Instead, the authority seeking maturity in Christ aims for a mysterious inward union (or communion) between the exalted Christ and the people yielding and belonging to him as Lord. This inward union stems from God’s aim that all people become Christ-like in moral and spiritual character, anchored in reverent companionship with God as Father. It demands that one be an intentional agent who freely appropriates the life-giving power of Christ as Lord. ….