A Christian Philosophy of Life – Part 1

Sex, Love, Desire, and the Just Measure – Discovering the Purpose of Life and a Life in Balance

Introduction: The Love of Wisdom

In ancient Greece, the first schools of philosophy flourished. They were called academies, or colleges, and their goal was to prepare young people to lead the State by giving them instruction in morals and ethics, mathematics, dialectics [or logical reasoning], and the natural sciences. The crucial aspect of this education was not simply to gain knowledge but to build wisdom and character. A greedy, corrupt, and selfish person could not be a good leader of the State. Citizenship and virtue were requirements for a true education.

The schools  established by Socrates and Plato  were not started simply because they had a desire to know facts. Facts by themselves do not reveal ultimate meaning, nor do they reveal the purpose of life. Socrates, Plato’s teacher, was interested in discovering truth. The very meaning of the word philosophy is the “love of wisdom.” This pursuit of truth is not a dispassionate and disinterested inquiry into the nature of things. Philosophy is a journey of ultimate importance, a journey whose purpose is to discover the meaning of life – the ultimate meaning of all things – the reason “why.” No one can enter such a pursuit dispassionately and still be a genuine philosopher. You cannot treat casually that which matters most. To pursue wisdom is to consider the value of the most important things in all life.

It is a tragedy that most colleges today have no interest in truth, but a great investment in knowledge. Matters of ultimate importance are discarded as either fanciful opinions or unobtainable and unproven, or, worse, as irrelevant. The headlong rush to learn facts for the sake of career, jobs, and money makes a mockery of the original purpose of the academy. This method of education teaches the technology of how, but not the reason why. For you see, the only way you can come to a true knowledge of your subject matter is to know its purpose, its meaning, and its ultimate end. Why is a job important? Why are ethics important? Why should not one cheat his way to success? If death comes to all, what difference does it make how one lives? Will money satisfy all things in life, or is there an inner need in all for something more?,,,,

via A Christian Philosophy of Life – Part 1 | The Scholars Corner.