What counsel should I give my sons and daughters if they are ever required to study “humanistic” philosophies, or a false religion?
ANSWER: Do you know the danger of studying false philosophies? They appeal to the mind with deceptive logic, and even if their error is detected and rejected, they remain in the mind to distract from discovering the rich, deep truths of God’s Word. It is for this reason that Scripture commands us to discern error with our (God’s) Spirit and reject it, rather than trying to study error with our minds and attempt to come to an “intellectual conclusion.” Based on this danger, reject any course or book which majors on the details of humanistic philosophies or false religions. Also, do not take any courses on religion from a teacher who rejects the inspiration of Scripture.
“We are twins attending a Christian college, majoring in math. This past summer we had to attend another college in order to graduate. The psychology teacher made it clear to us that she thought there was no God. She proceeded to talk about sex whenever she could. To her there is no right or wrong, no absolutes. She exhibited a real disdain for the law and contempt for parents. Her idols are B.F. Skinner and Aldous Huxley. She showed us a movie interview with Huxley. He was gaunt, extremely nervous, hollow-eyed and unable to answer questions in a lucid manner. He was pathetic, a wretched man with no peace or meaning to his life. The next movie she showed was filthy. We left the room. A third movie depicted a plural marriage. It would be impossible to express how utterly ugly it was. We both felt such a deep hurt and grief, and again, we left the room…
“Through all of this, Dad and Mom were really praying for us. It was so good to be under Dad’s umbrella of protection…we concluded that God did not intend young folks to go to courses like this. Parents would be shocked to know what is being taught in classrooms today.
The next class was philosophy. From the outset, the professor made it emphatically clear that ALL truth comes from reason- from man’s own mind. He began with Socrates, explaining what he thought was his tremendous wisdom. But we discovered on or own that Socrates admitted that he talked to a demon from time to time. He also consulted the Oracle of Delphi, informing him that he was the wisest man on earth. He also had a homosexual relationship with Plato, his young protégé. So we wrote our essay that infuriated the professor. We ended the essay with, ‘So it is easy to see that a man’s morality dictates his philosophy’…
“Nietzsche had syphilis at age 22. He gave up his professorship at 35 because of syphilis- related health problems and was totally insane at age 46. His writings were the result of a diseased mind as was his statement that God is dead. What a price to pay for impurity.
“Marx had an immoral relationship at an extremely early age, became estranged from his parents, was influenced and befriended by an older man- a philosopher, left home to go to school, reinforced his earlier decision regarding moral impurity, became an atheist and developed his own philosophy. He and his wife and children lived in abject poverty because he would not work. He coveted material and power. He and Engels planned to be co- dictators and rule the world together. He was filled with hate for all, especially this proletariat. He had illegitimate children. Two of his daughters committed suicide.
We proved beyond any measure of doubt, that these philosophers all violated certain principles, and therefore, suffered specific results in their lives. We would never have thought to question the professor’s opinions, nor would we have thought to research each philosopher’s life if we had not learned at the [Bill Gothard] seminar that a man’s morality dictates his philosophy.”
Ref. Men’s Manual- Inst. In Basic Life Principles- Box 1 Oak Brook, Ill.60522 Used by permission.