"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after God." (Colossians 2:8)This is what Saint Paul tells us through his letter to the Colossians. As much as I have loved philosophy through the years, this has been an odd and challenging text. Philosophy can provide a joy in ordering the world to principles that seem to be above the fray. That in way is the problem, though, isn't it? It's not that our desire to find order in God's creation is bad (this applies to Science and Mathematics as well), it's simply that our limits as humans are quite severe - relative to God. That doesn't mean we should limit our endeavors; it's quite good to be human in that respect -and find joy in our intellectual pursuits. We are created in God's image, after all. That does not really limit us in any way. The scope of what we can discover philosophically is quite vast - for all intents and purposes limitless. We cannot replace God's divine Order with our human constructs, however. (God's limitlessness is moreso than our limitlessness.) We simply cannot do it. Attempting to do so or forgetting this very basic idea through vanity, for example, leads to real trouble as Paul reminds us so sternly.
Note: Marker1662 has been out for a few days due to travel and illness.
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