{"collection":"chr","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/chr/ecf/002/0020304.htm","path":"chr/ecf/002/0020304.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/002/0020304.htm","text":"This, then, \u201cthe wisdom of the world is foolishness with God,\u201d and of those who are \u201cthe wise the Lord knoweth their thoughts that they are vain.\u201d 1915 Let no man therefore glory on account of pre-eminence in human thought. For it is written well in Jeremiah, \u201cLet not the wise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the mighty man glory in his might, and let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth that I am the Lord, that executeth mercy and judgment and righteousness upon the earth: for in these things is my delight, saith the Lord.\u201d 1916 \u201cThat we should trust not in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead,\u201d says the apostle, \u201cwho delivered us from so great a death, that our faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.\u201d \u201cFor the spiritual man judgeth all things, but he himself is judged of no man.\u201d 1917 I hear also those words of his, \u201cAnd these things I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words, or one should enter in to spoil you.\u201d 1918 And again, \u201cBeware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ;\u201d 1919 branding not all philosophy, but the Epicurean, which Paul mentions in the Acts of the Apostles, 1920 which abolishes providence and deifies pleasure, and whatever other philosophy honours the elements, but places not over them the efficient cause, nor apprehends the Creator. 1921\nThe Stoics also, whom he mentions too, say not well that the Deity, being a body, pervades the vilest matter. He calls the jugglery of logic \u201cthe tradition of men.\u201d Wherefore also he adds, \u201cAvoid juvenile 1922 questions. For such contentions are puerile.\u201d \u201cBut virtue is no lover of boys,\u201d says the philosopher Plato. And our struggle, according to Gorgias Leontinus, requires two virtues\u2014boldness and wisdom,\u2014boldness to undergo danger, and wisdom to understand the enigma. For the Word, like the Olympian p. 312 proclamation, calls him who is willing, and crowns him who is able to continue unmoved as far as the truth is concerned. And, in truth, the Word does not wish him who has believed to be idle. For He says, \u201cSeek, and ye shall find.\u201d 1923 But seeking ends in finding, driving out the empty trifling, and approving of the contemplation which confirms our faith. \u201cAnd this I say, lest any man beguile you with enticing words,\u201d 1924 says the apostle, evidently as having learned to distinguish what was said by him, and as being taught to meet objections. \u201cAs ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith.\u201d 1925 Now persuasion is [the means of] being established in the faith. \u201cBeware lest any man spoil you of faith in Christ by philosophy and vain deceit,\u201d which does away with providence, \u201cafter the tradition of men;\u201d for the philosophy which is in accordance with divine tradition establishes and confirms providence, which, being done away with, the economy of the Saviour appears a myth, while we are influenced \u201cafter the elements of the world, and not after Christ.\u201d 1926 For the teaching which is agreeable to Christ deifies the Creator, and traces providence in particular events, 1927 and knows the nature of the elements to be capable of change and production, and teaches that we ought to aim at rising up to the power which assimilates to God, and to prefer the dispensation 1928 as holding the first rank and superior to all training.\nThe elements are worshipped,\u2014the air by Diogenes, the water by Thales, the fire by Hippasus; and by those who suppose atoms to be the first principles of things, arrogating the name of philosophers, being wretched creatures devoted to pleasure. 1929 \u201cWherefore I pray,\u201d says the apostle, \u201cthat your love may abound yet more and more, in knowledge and in all judgment, that ye may approve things that are excellent.\u201d 1930 \u201cSince, when we were children,\u201d says the same apostle, \u201cwe were kept in bondage under the rudiments of the world. And the child, though heir, differeth nothing from a servant, till the time appointed of the father.\u201d 1931 Philosophers, then, are children, unless they have been made men by Christ. \u201cFor if the son of the bond woman shall not be heir with the son of the free,\u201d 1932 at least he is the seed of Abraham, though not of promise, receiving what belongs to him by free gift. \u201cBut strong meat belongeth to those that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.\u201d 1933 \u201cFor every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness; for he is a babe,\u201d 1934 and not yet acquainted with the word, according to which he has believed and works, and not able to give a reason in himself. \u201cProve all things,\u201d the apostle says, \u201cand hold fast that which is good,\u201d 1935 speaking to spiritual men, who judge what is said according to truth, whether it seems or truly holds by the truth. \u201cHe who is not corrected by discipline errs, and stripes and reproofs give the discipline of wisdom,\u201d the reproofs manifestly that are with love. \u201cFor the right heart seeketh knowledge.\u201d 1936 \u201cFor he that seeketh the Lord shall find knowledge with righteousness; and they who have sought it rightly have found peace.\u201d 1937 \u201cAnd I will know,\u201d it is said, \u201cnot the speech of those which are puffed up, but the power.\u201d In rebuke of those who are wise in appearance, and think themselves wise, but are not in reality wise, he writes: \u201cFor the kingdom of God is not in word.\u201d 1938 It is not in that which is not true, but which is only probable according to opinion; but he said \u201cin power,\u201d for the truth alone is powerful. And again: \u201cIf any man thinketh that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.\u201d For truth is never mere opinion. But the \u201csupposition of knowledge inflates,\u201d and fills with pride; \u201cbut charity edifieth,\u201d which deals not in supposition, but in truth. Whence it is said, \u201cIf any man loves, he is known.\u201d 1939\n2 Cor. 1:9, 10; 1 Cor. 2:5, 15.\n311:1918 311:1919 311:1920 311:1921\n[Revived by some \u201cscientists\u201d of our days.]\n311:1922\nThe apostle says \u201cfoolish,\u201d 2 Tim. ii. 23.\n312:1923 312:1924 312:1925 312:1926 312:1927\n[A special Providence notably recognised as a Christian truth.]\n312:1928 312:1929\n[The Epicureans whom he censures just before.]\n312:1930 312:1931 312:1932 312:1933 312:1934 312:1935 312:1936 312:1937\nThe substance of these remarks is found in Prov. ii.\n312:1938 312:1939\n1 Cor. 8:1, 2, 3.","title":"Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol II: CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: Chapter XI.\u2014What is the Philosophy Which the Apostle Bids Us Shun?","type":"page"}