Living with Tozer's God

Blogpost #25

Chapter 11: Wisdom of God - Part 2

"...Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God."

"...to the Jews a stumbling-block, to the Gentiles foolishness.

"...the foolishness of God is wiser than men..." 

 I Cor 1:23-24-25

The wisdom of God and the wisdom of man never lead to the same place unless the relationship between man and God is in the right place. Since man by his very nature is a rebel against God, any time his will and desire coincides with God's will and desire is purely accidental. Man, at his core, is totally selfish. His desire for wisdom is, at its core, a desire to exalt himself. This is why the gospel is such a problem; there is no way for a person to exalt himself and respond to the gospel of God's grace. A saving response requires a humble acknowledgment of wrongdoing, a plea for forgiveness and a recognition of one's total inability to change or atone for the wrongdoing.

Most people have no problem admitting they're "sinners". The essence of that admission is simply a general acknowledgment that "no one is perfect." This requires no humility because everyone is in the same boat. No personal responsibility for "my sins, my acts of rebellion or my selfishness" is required. There is no conscious personal awareness that, in God's eyes, "I am an outlaw; I have committed crimes against God that deserve His wrath and judgment." Rather, the mindset is more, "Yes, I've not been what I ought to be, but I can do better and, eventually, my good deeds can atone for my failures." How did we get so far from the truth? Where did this "mindset" come from?

The Wisdom of the World

In the book of Daniel, there is a famous "golden image" which foretells of the major empires which will rule the world. The first two (the Babylonians and Medo-Persians) were primarily about power and dominion. The third was Alexander the Great's Greece, then finally to Rome's world domination. As we read the histories of these empires, the major focus of their efforts was ruling their empires...with one exception: Greece. The other empires left very little in the form of a "legacy" to the world they once dominated. Greece is different. In a real sense, Greece continues to rule Western Civilization, at least it rules their thinking. Greece epitomizes the "wisdom of the world."

More than one historian has noted that while Rome conquered Greece, the culture of Greece ruled Rome and all of Western Civilization...and still does. There was a period in Greece from about 500-300 B.C. which is often called the "golden age of Greece."

It was one of the greatest periods of cultural development the world has ever seen. It was the period of the great philosophers (Plato, Aristotle), the great writers (Aeschylus, Euripides), mathematicians like Euclid and Archimedes...just to name a few. This period is viewed as the "birth of Western Civilization"...and when it is coupled with Alexander's vision of uniting his empire with a single "trade" language (Koine Greek), it laid the foundation for the ability of the "gospel" to be taken to the whole known world in one generation.

What is it about Greek culture that is so compelling? What does this have to do with the wisdom of God?

The "Mindset" of Jews and Greeks

It did not escape the apostle Paul's notice that Greek culture was dominating the world. In his letter to the Corinthians (Corinth was a major center of Greek culture), he noted that the "Jews seek for signs, Greeks search for wisdom." This masterfully sums up the two dominating mindsets of people in Paul's day. Their approaches couldn't be more different, yet both sought and failed to find the ultimate prize, the knowledge of God.

Yet, it is the culture and language of the Greeks which ruled the minds of the people, long after the power of the Roman empire vanished. What was it that was so attractive and compelling? The answer is pretty simple.

The Greek culture exalted man like no other. It represented the pinnacle of human achievement in many areas, laid the foundation for much of what mankind has achieved and planted the seed for the dream of "human potential" like it had never been seen before. This mindset (the seemingly limitless possibilities of individual human potential) has continued to rule Western Civilization ever since.

The interesting thing is how Paul sums up the contrast between the Jews and Greeks. The "Jews seek for signs, Greeks search for wisdom". That is really an amazingly succinct and accurate summation of two world-dominating cultures! The two paths they followed couldn't be more different; so you would expect them to be diametrically opposed. As we'll see, in many ways they were doing the same thing. But, though both supposedly sought the knowledge of God or at least "ultimate knowledge", neither path led to any kind of life-changing experience. If ever there was evidence that the idea that "all roads lead to God" was patently false, it has to be the history of the Jews and the Greeks. So, how did they approach the search for "wisdom"?

The Greek Mindset: Making Sense of It All

The Greeks worshiped perfection. It didn't matter whether it was in beauty, art, science, architecture or athletic prowess; perfection was always the goal. Logic and reason were the tools which guided them. Imperfection in all its forms was despised. Interestingly, while Greek philosophers often speculated about ultimate truth and moral accountability, the Greek "gods" were not morally perfect. They were, at best, super-human heroes. The gods of the Greeks had flaws, weaknesses...they usually excelled in only one main area or attribute. They were to be appeased, in order to secure their favor, not emulated.

The Greeks searched for a path to "perfection", believing that man is capable of great things. The problem is simply that this basic premise is totally false. Their idea of "perfection" was merely a human ideal. They called these idols "gods," but it was all an illusion. They simply ignored the obvious fact that all men are irrecoverably, morally flawed. They think God is more like man and man is more like God than they should. They have it totally backwards.

That's why they continue to try to reason their way onto the path of god-likeness. The reality of their world is very different from their perception of it. In other words, they are just deceived. As Paul says, they are "blinded by the god of this world." Their path to wisdom is a "dead end" street. This was inevitable because the Scriptures say that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning point of wisdom." They missed the turn because they were looking for glory for themselves, not God.

But...were the Jews any better? After all, they were God's "chosen people." Next time we'll see why both Jews and Greeks failed to see the "wisdom of God."