Overwritten by Spiritual Truth

The path to a brake from relativism.

Early on when I first started to surrender to God’s calling I took a look into the world of philosophy. Concepts like truth, reality, freedom, along with the creationist world view all give me basic principles that at first didn’t always fit. However I was also able to realize an identity actualized by new aspirations revealing a value shift toward what is good and right. Proverbs 1:7 tells us that above men the knowledge of God prevails. That being said: an active life governed by reason (as Aristotle explains in his term eudaimonia) essentially originates with the authority of God’s word.

In philosophy “happiness is doing well and living well” (eudaimonia), it is a pleasant state of consciousness. However this means different things to different people and is entirely based on how things are going for that person. Another philosopher named Epicurus considered “living well” or the concept of pleasure as leading to more pain in life. To seek instant gratification without thinking ‘in the long run” does not count as eudaimonia. No, it means as the bible tells us, we should be spiritually minded and consider Gods way (Prov 3:5, 6). This is done through our devotions, prayer, and meditation on scripture. God has His way of polishing our Christian personality but action toward His Spirit leading is still part of how we exercise faith. Remember moral virtue comes from God and is unconditional given that we may see a reflection of His justice. It is possible to be happy in the Lord and flourish in the spirit even in bad times. (James 1:1-8).

Paul writes “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy...“ (Colossians 2:8) We would be taking this verse out of context if we were to say that it is proof-text saying we should be anti-philosophical. Notice how Paul further states “which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” Rather, this is a plain warning against chasing a rabbit down a bottomless rabbit hole where you will find no Jesus. The bible dose however provide numerous examples as well as council telling that reflection, contemplation, sound reason and spiritual deferment are all part of who we are as disciples of Christ (Isaiah 1:18; 1 Peter 3:15).

As Christians we can’t just assume that all assumptions made by others are rational or even reflect biblical revelation. On the other hand if our belief systems are sound we will be able to passionately defend it using a logical perspective of our faith. As a new Christian we should us our powers of discernment to make critical judgments on truths that are consistent with what the bible teaches. What is happiness? It’s when you are able to grasp meaning and purpose in harmony with a consistent, levelheaded, honest system of belief in the sight of God.

There are echoes of the Lords divine presence. They are made known in our passion and worship of Him. How else can we find refreshment from within? The philosophers of old were deep thinkers, but as our relationship grows and doubts are overwritten by spiritual truths we find Christ in the mind and Gods love in the heart. That’s a way of life, a good way of life, a way where happiness and well being are the effect of the virtue of Christ work.