Religious Philosophy Is Just a Waste of Time - Change My View

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I wonder if religious philosophy is not just a waste of time and driven purely by the false self’s need to be right.

Aren’t some things meant to be a mystery which requires trust? Where does Jesus teach that we should spend our time and energy developing abstract thoughts about God rather than loving our neighbour?
My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

Psalm 131
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Nowhere n the spiritual or corporal works of mercy does it say anything about spending time thinking abstract thoughts about God.

And why all this speculation about God when he has fully revealed himself in the person of Jesus Christ?

Change my view.
 
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“…Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you.”
1 Peter 3:15

“Come now, let us reason together says the LORD.”
Isaiah 1:18

Pope St.John Paul II said reason and faith are the two wings to heaven.

Logic and Philosophy are important because it is through these we can defend our faith to unbelievers and reinforce those who may be led astray. Also, it is an effort to understand God and to know him. That’s why some of the greatest scientists were Catholic Priests who thought that studying the world and the universe was a form of worship.
 
I think someone has to do it as a profession.

If I work - so to speak - doing blood tests, it is normal for me to do it 8 hours a day.

But if I were a retired who with his family, with his friends, constantly talks about methods for examining blood, I would have a big problem.

So I think that St. Augustine, St. Thomas, and nowadays the professional theologians, do their job, their duty.

But if among friends, albeit Christian friends, there is continual talk of abstract things, very refined biblical exegesis but light years away from everyday Christian life, little things of moral theology or liturgy, that’s not good. The way I see it, it’s not good.

At least I wish there was more balance between abstractness and concreteness, like 1: 1. Instead we are at 500: 1, so roughly.
 
I consider philosophy to be an aid/assistance to my admittedly-weak faith. It helps me avoid errors.
 
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IanAG said:
I wonder if religious philosophy is not just a waste of time and driven purely by the false self’s need to be right.
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What is “religious philosophy” Do you mean theology?
What is the “false self”?
Who says that this “false self” needs to be right?
 
Hi Mike,

Religious Philosophy

Religious philosophy is philosophical thinking that is inspired and directed by a particular religion . It can be done objectively, but may also be done as a persuasion tool by believers in that faith. It is particularly interested in the nature and existence of God, or gods, or the divine.

False Self

The false self is an artificial persona that people create very early in life to protect themselves from re-experiencing developmental trauma, shock, and stress in close relationships. Meaning , our delusionary self -creation process starts early in our childhood

Why does the false self need to be right

The false self is generally associated with black and white thinking, right or wrong thinking. It is comforted by certainty and less open to adaptation.

Hope that helps.
 
IanAG said:
Nowhere n the spiritual or corporal works of mercy does it say anything about spending time thinking abstract thoughts about God.
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That, basically, is what Edwin Hatch says in the opening paragraph of his last book, The Influence of Greek Ideas and Usages Upon the Christian Church.

It is impossible for anyone, whether he be a student of history or no, to fail to notice a difference of both form and content between the Sermon on the Mount and the Nicene Creed. The Sermon on the Mount is the promulgation of a new law of conduct; it assumes beliefs rather than formulates them; the theological conceptions which underlie it belong to the ethical rather than the speculative side of theology; metaphysics are wholly absent. The Nicene Creed is a statement partly of historical facts and partly of dogmatic inferences; the metaphysical terms which it contains would probably have been unintelligible to the first disciples; ethics have no place in it. The one belongs to a world of Syrian peasants, the other to a world of Greek philosophers.

https://archive.org/details/influenceofgreek00hatc/page/n27
 
Ian, I think you’re conflating philosophy, theology and psychology.
Certainly there are mysteries, such as the Trinity.
The works of mercy are how we implement God’s commandments, but they are not the end of being a Christian. We are called upon to pray, and prayer includes contemplation. Psalm 63 is a good reference for this (bold mine):
1 A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

2 O God, you are my God—
it is you I seek!
For you my body yearns;
for you my soul thirsts,
In a land parched, lifeless,
and without water.
3 I look to you in the sanctuary
to see your power and glory.
4 For your love is better than life;
my lips shall ever praise you!

5 I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands, calling on your name.
6 My soul shall be sated as with choice food,
with joyous lips my mouth shall praise you!
> 7 I think of you upon my bed,
> I remember you through the watches of the night
8 You indeed are my savior,
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
9 My soul clings fast to you;
your right hand upholds me.
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IanAG said:
My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

Psalm 131
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Then Job answered the LORD and said:
"I know that You can do all things,
And that no purpose of Yours can be hindered.
I have dealt with great things that I do not understand;
Things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know.
I had heard of You by word of mouth,
But now my eye has seen You.” (Job 42:1-5).
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Hearing begins the faith inquiry. Seeing enhances the experience.
 
IanAG said:
Change my view.
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This question is a waste of time, since it is religious philosophy. Any response will also be religious philosophy.

So why would you listen to anything we have to say? What is important enough for you to hear, if religious philosophy is a waste of your time?
 
I think religious philosophy can have no force, no power, if it is not coupled with insight and an authentic presence.

Anyone can rattle off a few philosophical concepts, but it can sound so much better in the mouth of someone who knows how to apply the philosophy, who has lived and internalized it. Without this personal power, even the highest doctrines can sound to non-believers as only verbiage.

So I think our words have to be seasoned with salt, with authenticity… If we are content just to sit on our laurels and not do the heavy-lifting of personal growth on our part, then we are not doing our best service to God no matter how much book knowledge we have got under our belt. Though that is good too. But it isn’t sufficient.
 
One of the oldest definitions of Theology is faith seeking understanding.
 
Thanks Bartholomew, that makes total sense to me and ties in with my thinking.

I get the sense that Jesus wasn’t too interested in the metaphysical…that’s just a million layers of complexity we’ve added over the years.

I believe that in Jesus’s time God was self evident in His creation.

I mean, if Jesus chose seven fishermen and a tax collector amongst His disciples, how complicated can his message me.

I get the feeling we could do with a lot less intellectualising and a lot more application.
 
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IanAG said:
Change my view.
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Actually, I think not. It may (or may not; not for me to say) be a waste of your time, but at the same time decidedly not be a waste of someone else’s time.

If it is not important or even actively harmful to your faith, then it would be a waste of time for you. But for others, it might be the main tool strengthening their faith, so it is far from a waste for them.
 
Isn’t the best way of strengthening your faith putting the Gospel into practice…”if you love me you will follow my commandments”
 
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Isn’t that contemplation of the Word of God, The works of God, and the cross of Christ, rather than someone’s metaphysical theories or philosophies?
 
I don’t think there are specifics limits to what can be contemplated.
 
If that’s the best way for you, then yes. What works best for others may vary.
 
IanAG said:
Isn’t the best way of strengthening your faith putting the Gospel into practice…”if you love me you will follow my commandments”
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IanAG said:
Isn’t that contemplation of the Word of God, The works of God, and the cross of Christ, rather than someone’s metaphysical theories or philosophies?
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As a Dominican, I’m sensitive to this. We’re rather proud of our philosophical contributions. One of the mottos of our Order, made by our dear St. Thomas Aquinas is “To contemplate and to share the fruits of one’s contemplations.”

What does that mean?

It does not mean to sit in our ivory towers, think lofty thoughts, and spit out books that make us look good. God is both love and truth, and you cannot have one without the other. As Dominican, we search for God in truth, which is in many things. While it is first and foremost in theology, God is also in mathematics, art, and even philosophy.
 
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