The Philosopher and the Dogmatician

 The Philosopher and the Dogmatician


There was once a very strange man who believed that he alone understood the secrets of the Universe—that the mysteries of everything were understood solely by him.  A much more reasonable young man was living out his life, doing the best he could for himself and others.  Let us call this man P (Philosopher).  The man who claimed absolute and exclusive knowledge, we will call D (Dogmatician).  P believed reality in a nutshell was—“Follow Christ and the doors of heaven will open unto you.”  D, on the other hand, dealt in the realm of hair-splitting specifics.  He believed that P's general understanding of reality was based off of wrong assumptions.  D was concerned for P, thinking that he was embracing a heresy which would ultimately damn him.  So he did all he could to persuade him of his unique view of life.  P believed in the simplicity of Christ’s teachings, whereas D believed in an extreme version of the teachings of Paul.  D believed that only the teachings of Paul were relevant for the Christian church and that these teachings contained the essential nutrients for salvation.  The rest of the Bible could more or less be discarded.  He believed that the Holy Spirit had revealed this so-called “truth” to him.  P thought that all of this was utter nonsense and he told it straight to D's face.  D, needless to say, was offended and said to P: “You are free to believe in whatever you'd like.  We live in America, a free country.  Come to me when you are ready for the truth.”  D walked away angry, fully convinced that P was not a true Christian.  “How could he be a Christian?” D thought.  “The Holy Spirit would have revealed the truth to him if he had even a trace of the Holy Spirit in him.  But he's believing a lie!  So he must not have the Holy Spirit and he must not be saved!”  D also believed that all the denominations in the world were formed based off of wrong interpretations of the Scripture—and that he alone had the correct interpretation.

P went home laughing at D's futile attempt to convert him.  P thought for a while, though:  “Perhaps D doesn't believe everything exactly as it is, but maybe it is important that one does believe exactly the right things.  After all, I do believe that truth matters.  Christ himself said that the way is very narrow.  What if I am wrong to more or less embrace all denominations?  Am I calling God a liar in saying that his narrow way is actually very broad?  Perhaps I should re-examine my beliefs to see if I truly am a Christian.”

So P spent all of his free time for the next couple of weeks doing a scrupulous investigation of the Scriptures.  He utilized his understanding of hermeneutics (the study of properly interpreting the Bible) to find out if D's assertions were correct.  The laws of logic, which P. knew inside and out, allowed him to see through all of the illogical inferences people make about the Scriptures, including D's.  He saw how D's and all other theological structures that claim exclusivity fall piteously to the ground.

But sadly, P. had no theological framework of his own to replace all of the false ones with.  His love of philosophy left him with only one option—to embrace Utter Uncertainty.  He ended up a broken and disillusioned man, driven mad by thinking.  So much for having a good heart and being open-minded!  D, on the other hand, ended up happy, smug, self-assured and yes—deceived.  The moral of this story is that there are numerous contradictory dogmas and that the open-minded ones lose in the end.  All of the dogmaticians “win” but their prize is the open-minded man's last laugh—even though he is laughing in despair...



… Oh, but for sweet Resurrection!  The glorious Light that shone on that brightest of Sunday mornings is the same light that never died within the heart of P.  This Light completely understood all of P's confusion.  P was resurrected in this Light in a transcendent sense.  He started understanding everything, not in the way that dogmaticians understand things, but in a much more true way… as his spiritual eyes were opened.


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