Today's excerpt from The History of Christian Thought is a timely reminder of the simple truth taught by Proverbs 23:7 which states that "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he." Man is much more than the sum of his parts, he is a spiritual being with a physical body and a soul that will never die (WCF 4:2). God has ordained that man works from the inside out, that is, man's outward actions are merely a reflection of his inward state. Jesus condemned the Pharisees and scribes for being hypocritical in their outward demeanor, comparing them to dirty cups and whitewashed tombs. "You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also...outwardly [you] appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness" (Matthew 23:25-28). Jesus warned them (and us) that external appearances are not always what they seem. Human beings—in their sinfulness—have a high talent for not only deceiving others, but deceiving themselves as well.
This talent for deception is seldom more visible than in the academic field of philosophy. Most individuals have little time or stomach for the seemingly vacuous discussions that take place in philosophical journals, books, and classrooms. This is understandable, especially when most philosophy is exactly that—vacuous and irrelevant to daily life. But we must never make the mistake of completely writing off the discipline as a bunch of whacked-out intellectuals with too much time on their hands, because what is being taught in philosophy classrooms today will begin to filter out onto the streets tomorrow. "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." Or, put another way: Ideas have consequences. Thoughts and beliefs—whether reverent or irreverent—will always become actions. They begin as spiritual concepts—in the heart—and eventually become physical actions. In this sense, ideas and beliefs are "incarnational." Just as the Word became flesh (John 1:14), so words and thoughts in our minds also become "flesh" when they become actions...
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http://christianreader.typepad.com/christian_reader/2009/09/fools-and-their-foolishness.html
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