The Sum of true Wisdom!
This last month I have been reading through John Calvin’s book "Institutes of the Christian Religion". What a profound thinker and writer, Oh I wish we had more thinkers’ like him today.
In his first book of the Institutes, Chapter 1, He looks at the sum of true wisdom.
The sum of true wisdom- the knowledge of God and of ourselves!
John Calvin says,
"Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom consists almost entirely of two parts; the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other. For, in the first place, no man can survey himself without forthwith turning his thoughts towards the God in whom he lives and moves; because it is perfectly obvious, that the endowments which we posses cannot possible be from ourselves…Thus, our feelings of ignorance, vanity, want, weakness, in short, depravity and corruption, reminds us that in the Lord and none but He, dwell the true light of wisdom, solid virtue, exuberant goodness. For what man is not disposed to rest in himself? Who, in fact, does not thus rest, so long as he is unknown to himself."
John Calvin makes the point that man can not survey himself and explain himself unless he see himself in the light of God’s wisdom and interpretation of personhood. It is in God’s wisdom and light that we find who we are and what is our function in this world. When man reflects on himself and his endowments, he is lead to the knowledge of God, who gives his understanding meaning.
Without God we find ourselves in a world with no foundations, rules or instructions on how we should function. It is a world of Chaos.
Ravi Zacharias in his book "Can Man Live without God" gives a good creed of what life is like without a reference point of order and design in creation. There are no boundaries, All is relative!!
"We believe in marxfreudanddarwin . We believe everything is Ok as long as you don’t hurt anyone, to the best of your definition of hurt, and to the best of your knowledge. We believe in sex before, during, and after marriage. We believe in the therapy of sin. We believe that adultery is fun. We believe that sodomy’s Ok. We believe that taboos are taboo. We believe in Masters and Johnson. What’s selected is average. What’s average is normal. What’s normal is good. We believe that man is essentially good. It’s only his behavior that lets him down. This is the fault of society. Society is the fault of conditions. Conditions are the fault of society. We believe that each man must find the truth that is right for him. Reality will adapt according. The universe will readjust. History will alter. We believe that there is no absolute truth excepting the truth that is no absolute truth."
This is the story of a large part of the people who live today, a story of chaos and irrationalism because they reject the knowledge of God.
In his first book of the Institutes, Chapter 1, He looks at the sum of true wisdom.
The sum of true wisdom- the knowledge of God and of ourselves!
John Calvin says,
"Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom consists almost entirely of two parts; the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other. For, in the first place, no man can survey himself without forthwith turning his thoughts towards the God in whom he lives and moves; because it is perfectly obvious, that the endowments which we posses cannot possible be from ourselves…Thus, our feelings of ignorance, vanity, want, weakness, in short, depravity and corruption, reminds us that in the Lord and none but He, dwell the true light of wisdom, solid virtue, exuberant goodness. For what man is not disposed to rest in himself? Who, in fact, does not thus rest, so long as he is unknown to himself."
John Calvin makes the point that man can not survey himself and explain himself unless he see himself in the light of God’s wisdom and interpretation of personhood. It is in God’s wisdom and light that we find who we are and what is our function in this world. When man reflects on himself and his endowments, he is lead to the knowledge of God, who gives his understanding meaning.
Without God we find ourselves in a world with no foundations, rules or instructions on how we should function. It is a world of Chaos.
Ravi Zacharias in his book "Can Man Live without God" gives a good creed of what life is like without a reference point of order and design in creation. There are no boundaries, All is relative!!
"We believe in marxfreudanddarwin . We believe everything is Ok as long as you don’t hurt anyone, to the best of your definition of hurt, and to the best of your knowledge. We believe in sex before, during, and after marriage. We believe in the therapy of sin. We believe that adultery is fun. We believe that sodomy’s Ok. We believe that taboos are taboo. We believe in Masters and Johnson. What’s selected is average. What’s average is normal. What’s normal is good. We believe that man is essentially good. It’s only his behavior that lets him down. This is the fault of society. Society is the fault of conditions. Conditions are the fault of society. We believe that each man must find the truth that is right for him. Reality will adapt according. The universe will readjust. History will alter. We believe that there is no absolute truth excepting the truth that is no absolute truth."
This is the story of a large part of the people who live today, a story of chaos and irrationalism because they reject the knowledge of God.
posted by Rich7 at 2:25 PM
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