You are not Independent
The vulcans of the world who see reason as the ultimate tool for wisdom and understanding fail to recognize the power that external influences have upon the inner person. The view that the mind is independent and reliable is not only untrue but also one that disproves itself.
Take for example the history of philosophy. Thales and the early Greek metaphysicians were trumped by the skeptical Sophists. A new wave of thinkers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle rose up to overcome the epistemological skepticism of Protagoras and the Sophists and usher in a new age of belief in one's ability to know ultimate reality. This age lasted for some time that is until David Hume and Immanuel Kant plunged the world back into Metaphysical Agnosticism.¹
Thus in philosophy we see a cycle. Belief in Metaphysics - disbelief in Metaphysics - belief in Metaphysics - disbelief in Metaphysics. And the cycle seems to have continued since the inception of philosophy thousands of years ago.
The avid student of the history of philosophy would be able to state even more cycles than I have listed above as many have occurred in smaller time frames but to really appreciate the never-ending circle that society follows one must be willing to repent of his chronological snobbery and admit that we are no different than our forefathers.
Yes it is true that we have automobiles, airplanes, air conditioning, the atomic bomb and the internet. Advances in medicine have made for greater health and larger lifespan. But as great as our technology is we are still the same people on the inside as those that comprised the civilizations of antiquity. We remain - like they - prisoners of the external influences on our hearts.
Scripture goes into this reality in a very profound way calling us "lost"² and "blind" (Luke 6:39). Being "lost" is spoken of from God's Perspective - where we have abandoned our Creator who longs with affection for our return. Being "blind" is spoken from our perspective in that our internal atmospheres have been heavily influenced by forces that are by-in-large unbeknownst to us. Since we cannot discern these influences we are therefore unable to see the source of our own thoughts. We have eyes but we cannot see.
This predicament is all the result of the Fall. In what is often overlooked in the world as just a story about a snake and an apple - the Fall resulted in the separation of God and mankind³. The effect of being separated from the Presence of God to the human heart may be compared to the effect of a plant being kept away from sunlight or the effect of a large corporation losing an irreplaceable leader.
I put it this way because now that we have been separated from God we seek for something within us to use as a reliable guide for how we will see the world. Depending on the person we will either default to our reason or our emotions. Our reason and emotions - while being a part of how God made us - make great servants but horrible masters. And like a plant that has never seen the sun and therefore hasn't grown enough to have branches and leaves so we lack a place to rightly apply our logic and feelings. They are meant to be branches on our metaphoric tree - providing unique expression and experience to the individual who is rooted in the life and peace that flows from His Spirit. But lacking that root system we have turned inward - turning the branches into roots and as such our entire approach is dysfunctional.
Thus we are left to our own devices. Unable to recognize the power of these external influences on our hearts. Blind in the truest sense to what we really need.
Take for example the history of philosophy. Thales and the early Greek metaphysicians were trumped by the skeptical Sophists. A new wave of thinkers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle rose up to overcome the epistemological skepticism of Protagoras and the Sophists and usher in a new age of belief in one's ability to know ultimate reality. This age lasted for some time that is until David Hume and Immanuel Kant plunged the world back into Metaphysical Agnosticism.¹
Thus in philosophy we see a cycle. Belief in Metaphysics - disbelief in Metaphysics - belief in Metaphysics - disbelief in Metaphysics. And the cycle seems to have continued since the inception of philosophy thousands of years ago.
The avid student of the history of philosophy would be able to state even more cycles than I have listed above as many have occurred in smaller time frames but to really appreciate the never-ending circle that society follows one must be willing to repent of his chronological snobbery and admit that we are no different than our forefathers.
Yes it is true that we have automobiles, airplanes, air conditioning, the atomic bomb and the internet. Advances in medicine have made for greater health and larger lifespan. But as great as our technology is we are still the same people on the inside as those that comprised the civilizations of antiquity. We remain - like they - prisoners of the external influences on our hearts.
Scripture goes into this reality in a very profound way calling us "lost"² and "blind" (Luke 6:39). Being "lost" is spoken of from God's Perspective - where we have abandoned our Creator who longs with affection for our return. Being "blind" is spoken from our perspective in that our internal atmospheres have been heavily influenced by forces that are by-in-large unbeknownst to us. Since we cannot discern these influences we are therefore unable to see the source of our own thoughts. We have eyes but we cannot see.
This predicament is all the result of the Fall. In what is often overlooked in the world as just a story about a snake and an apple - the Fall resulted in the separation of God and mankind³. The effect of being separated from the Presence of God to the human heart may be compared to the effect of a plant being kept away from sunlight or the effect of a large corporation losing an irreplaceable leader.
I put it this way because now that we have been separated from God we seek for something within us to use as a reliable guide for how we will see the world. Depending on the person we will either default to our reason or our emotions. Our reason and emotions - while being a part of how God made us - make great servants but horrible masters. And like a plant that has never seen the sun and therefore hasn't grown enough to have branches and leaves so we lack a place to rightly apply our logic and feelings. They are meant to be branches on our metaphoric tree - providing unique expression and experience to the individual who is rooted in the life and peace that flows from His Spirit. But lacking that root system we have turned inward - turning the branches into roots and as such our entire approach is dysfunctional.
Thus we are left to our own devices. Unable to recognize the power of these external influences on our hearts. Blind in the truest sense to what we really need.
¹I use the word "Agnosticism" here in its literal sense - which is the belief that knowledge of any essential kind is impossible - a definition that is found in its name "a" for against and "gnostic" for knowledge.
²See the entire chapter of Luke 15 - which has 3 parables about being lost
³I would say also that the most underlooked thing about the Fall is that Adam was a man very different from us in nature. It was not in his nature to disobey God because sin had not been infused into his nature like it was for all mankind after Adam. Rather when he chose to disobey God he went against what was easy and natural for him and by sheer force of his will chose disobedience and distrust. Adam eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was so much more than a person on a diet eating a piece of chocolate cake or even someone trying to be pure but then looking at porn. What Adam did defied his very internal makeup.
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