Tags: Vietnam War, Sixties,
counterculture revolution, Baby Boomers, American Dream, Darwinian education, Sodom and Gomorrah,
President Clinton's inauguration, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, White House,
Descartes, Greek philosophers, Socrates, Thales, Anaximenes, Anaximander, Empedocles,
Greek materialists, Saint Augustine, Confessions, C S.Lewis, Mere Christianity, the
just shall live by faith, agnostic, know nothing, Socratic mission, Western
philosophy, Christian history, Dimonea, Plato, Athens, Academy
The Great Sixties
Disaster
There'll be so much to pay for those
who follow
The call of their own will.
For their mind is set against the
only wisdom that could bring a better life
Then came the sixties with all its
fervor. The Vietnam War catapulted an entire generation of Baby Boomers into fear,
apprehension, and mistrust. I was one of those who were spared the draft through a college
deferment. Many others weren't as lucky as they went off to die in a war that nobody
understood nor could explain. It was an unsettling time in our nation's history, and many
of us began to question the values that had dominated about 200 years of American history.
In some regards, our rebellion was for
good reason. The war didn't seem to have a whole lot to do with the propagation of freedom
in the world. It appeared that our generation was being sent out to the slaughter for the
benefit of someone else.
In my first semester at the university I
made the error of signing up for a calculus class. There I was in the midst of engineering
majors with slide rule holsters attached to their sides in the event they might run into a
few numbers that needed deciphering. The professor had a habit of proclaiming after we had
all bombed one of his incorrigible tests, that we were a bunch of lazy slobs, only in
college to avoid the draft. It's hard for me to imagine that these walking brains that I
was associating with carried around slide rules to avoid the draft. Nonetheless, none of
us wanted to go to war.
Our parents had commissioned us to
"go to college" in order to pursue the American Dream. Ringing in all our ears
was the admonition, "Go and get yourself an education son, so you can make yourself a
whole lot of money." It seemed as if the generation of our fathers had set up gods of
gold and silver for us to worship as they had learned to do. Yet before us were standards
for success that many of us couldn't relate to. We determined that we would not trust
anyone over 30.
In reaction, we picked up our guitars to
sing songs about love and peace. We wore clothes that repulsed our parents and grew our
hair to show our disrespect. We made love, not war and it all seemed pretty innocent at
the time. However it was in the parting from the traditions of our grandfathers that we
made a serious blunder.
There were many values they had passed
to our parents that embodied sound morality. The sanctity of sex within a marriage was one
of these. "What is wrong with having sex with each other?" we inquired.
"Isn't it a natural biological function? Animals don't care who they have sex with do
they?"
The Darwinian education we had received
was beginning to have its effect on our lives, and most of our parents didn't have the
truth of Scripture in their hearts to effectively combat the lie. By the time the
Twentieth Century had arrived, biblical teaching had been supplanted the doctrine of
non-truth in many of America's churches. Those who gathered in these associations spent
most of their time in potlucks while hearing the Social Gospel that cannot save anyone
much less represent the truth. In other congregations, grace was beginning to be
misinterpreted as license, which eventually culminated in a church that didn't know what
to do about rampant sin in her midst. Many in America didn't go to church at all.
So, an entire generation of our nation's
youth gathered together, burned their bras, smoked some pot, and defiled one another with
sexual impurity. Our native land has never been the same since. Marching to the drum of
self-proclaimed prophets, America is now witnessing a moral decline that mirrors the likes
of Sodom and Gomorrah. Its streets are filled with the demonstrations of those who insist
on living their days as they see fit. Denying the love of God who created them, they
parade their atrocities for all to see.
They marched in unison down Pennsylvania
Avenue on the day of President Clinton's inauguration to demonstrate their rebellion and
indignation for the entire nation to witness. Early in 1993 the homosexual community had
finally came out of the closet to march on Washington. Before the steps of the White House
they embraced one another in an unnatural way as the photographers captured the event for
the nation. In so doing they demanded acceptance and recognition for behavior that has
perpetually been denounced in our realm, that which the Bible clearly condemns.
This is where the "love" of
the sixties has transported us to. It has burgeoned into a situation where individuals are
involved in the most sexually degrading act known to man, and enjoying it! What began as
free love between the sexes has matured into unfettered sex with anyone; and in Hollywood
sex with anything.
What will people be making
"love" to next? How many other rocks will they look under in their quest to
discover true love through their unleashed passions? Nowadays, the sky is the limit and
every creeping crawling thing had better tighten up its chastity belt!
I must admit though, I was caught up in
the philosophy of the Sixties trend. To do your own thing seemed good enough to me,
especially in light of one of the college courses that had caught my interest. She was a
woman who easily commanded the respect of her students. She seemed more astute than any of
us, and she held our grade point average at the end of her pen. This instructor of
philosophy called herself an agnostic, which in her estimation meant she hadn't made up
her mind about God yet.
I hadn't heard yet that from God's point
of view "You are either for me or against me," so I followed her for the ride of
my life. Together we traversed the history of philosophy to discover truth. She took me
back to the beginning of it all; to ancient Greece where I was to discover the origin of
what made me think the way I did. I was to unearth the foundation of the philosophy that
my generation had adopted. I was to study the minds of the humanists whose teachings have
raised the people of today.
In that semester of lectures we were
told that philosophy is defined as a love or search for wisdom. As the course proceeded,
we discovered the history of man's query for awareness starting with himself. In his own
mind the humanist reasoned that he could determine the nature of all reality.
Aristotle announced that philosophy
began when man asked the question, "why?" Interestingly enough, that question
was answered in the book of Genesis, thousands of years before his birth. Yet man in his
arrogant unbelief has continued to proceed ahead on his own.
Aristotle walked up and down the
corridors of his university while lecturing to the students at his side, as they scribbled
down the tidbits of his infamous wisdom. It was these notes that so many of the modern
humanists have looked to in order to formulate their beliefs on what is the nature of
reality.
What is Really
Real?
Now among philosophical thinkers, nobody
seems to be able to come to grips with the nature of reality. The monists believe that all
reality is composed of one substance. For example, the materialists reason that everything
is matter. Others claim there is no reality to matter for it is all in the mind. The
dualists on the other hand reduce the nature of reality into two substances. Descartes
articulated that all actuality is encompassed in the mind and the body. Finally the
pluralists contend that all existence is defined by many substances.
Before Socrates, all philosophers were
monists. Thales reasoned that everything was made up of water, noting that this substance
could take on the form of gas, liquid, or solid. Therefore he reduced all experiences of
reality to water.
Evidentially though, others thought he
had water on the brain. Anaximenes said that reality comes in many appearances, shapes,
and colors but is based on one central thing that cannot be experienced. He did not know
what it was though.
It is difficult to see the revelation in
this type of thinking. Yet man goes on pursuing the power of his own mind that he has
chosen to worship.
In that vein, Anaximander proclaimed
that everyone was wrong. It was his contention that all reality was based on air. In that
regard he was right so much as it concerned the thinking of these men. It is of little
doubt that the verity they were proposing was nothing but air, and hot air at that. Then
others followed, reasoning that existence was established on things such as earth and
fire.
Now along came Empedocles who appeared
with a unique idea. "Why don't we just put everything together and call that
reality?" he thought. Apparently he had the solution for everyone's errant thinking.
Reality, he insisted, is the synthesis of all of these substances put together. This
exercise of profound thinking made him the first pluralist, claming reality is composed of
air, earth, fire, and water.
In his bold scheme, Empedocles also
recognized the forces of love and hate, incorporating them in his system of metaphysics.
In so doing, he admitted that there is more to reality than can be defined by the material
world. It is noteworthy that even the carnal man eventually recognizes that there is more
to life than meets the eye. There are realities of human behavior that cannot be explained
by just considering materialistic philosophies. Today's evolutionists still haven't caught
on to the reality discovered by the ancient Greeks. Thousands of years ago they discovered
that materialism does not explain the true questions of life.
In answer to nonsense propagated by
these Greek materialists, Augustine penned in his Confessions, "All these (that which
God has created) praise You, the Creator of everything. But how do You make them? The way,
God, in which You made heaven and earth was not that You made them either in heaven or on
earth. Nor was it in air and or in water, for these belong to heaven and earth. Nor did
You make the universe within the framework of the universe. There was nowhere for it to be
made before it was brought into existence. Nor did You have any tool in your hand to make
heaven and earth. How could You obtain anything You had not made as a tool for making
something? Was it for something to be unless it is because You are? Therefore You spoke
and they were made, and by Your Word You made them (Ps 32:9,6)."
God Problems
Now, I remember being taught by my
college professor about the philosophy of religion. In all her great wisdom the professor
explained to her students the problems associated with the belief in the Almighty God. She
pronounced that all religions teach of a God who is all wise, all powerful, all knowing,
and all good. The question becomes, if God is all good, knows everything, and is all
powerful, then where did evil come from? A truly good God would not have created it. If He
knows everything, then He certainly is aware of evil's existence and origin. If he is all
powerful, then He must have complete control over all creation. If ultimately He is the
source of everything, did He invent evil? This would seem unbefitting of a Good God. And
while we're on the subject, why does evil continue to triumph in a world governed by an
all powerful God?
C. S. Lewis dealt with the problem of
evil when he asked in Mere Christianity, "If a good God made the world why has
it gone wrong?" What C. S. Lewis brought out was that, in spite of the fact that his
"argument against God was (once) that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust,"
the very admission of the existence of evil acknowledges that there must be a standard of
good which to measure the evil against. Likewise, there must be a good God behind the good
standard that opposes evil. "A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some
idea of a straight line," C. S. Lewis revealed. "What was I comparing this
universe with when I called it unjust?"
Then you come upon the problem of human
will. If God is all powerful, did he create man with or without a will? At that point the
professor argued that most religions testify to the existence of man's will. It is of no
doubt that the Bible speaks of this fact. "But if man has a free will," she
surmised, not understanding Reformation understandings of the bondage of the will,
"can God be all powerful as well?"
Now all of these arguments can be rather
confusing to a young mind, fresh out of high school seeking higher learning. Great
Christian apologists throughout history have gone into great detail, seeking out God's
wisdom in the Word to answer these questions. Indeed the answers are there, but one has to
wonder, "What is the value of the mental exercises of the humanists when eternity and
life fulfillment are at stake?" Is the unbeliever going to gamble spending an
eternity in hell to live an existence filled with hopelessness and misery just because he
cannot understand "why God can't pick up a rock bigger than Himself?" The fact
is there is no rock larger than the "Rock who is higher than I."(Ps 61:2) Need I
say more?
In spite of the obvious, the instructor
pronounced in all her piousness that she was agnostic. An agnostic is one who doesn't know
what to believe concerning God. There is not enough data available to make a quality
decision. There are valid arguments for each side and some convincing evidence needs to be
presented from one side to sway the scales enough in one direction or another.
Though the concept of God is totally
agreeable with good reason, God will not meet man in this way. Any one who aspires to
commune with God must do so on His terms. The dictum prescribed is: the just shall live
by faith. (Gal 3:11) It's simple. The word "agnostic" means to know nothing.
I rest my case.
No Nothings
Socrates was a man who claimed to know
nothing. He spoke of God rather than the gods, suggesting he was a monotheist. But his
belief concerning reality could be summed up in one statement, "I only know that I
know not." The Socratic mission related to us by Plato in the apology at the trial of
Socrates described his search for someone wiser than himself.
First, he went to the politicians to
discover he was wiser than they. (No doubt he had the likes of the Edwardonious
Kennedymulous of Athens upon which to base his opinion.)
Next he traveled to speak with the fine
artists who had so much talent. However, Socrates discovered that they didn't know how
they were able to do the things they did. Still they thought they knew everything. He had
no doubt he was wiser than they! I suppose our liberal, Hollywood elitist who proposes to
be an expert on everything from the environment to religion would not be happy with these
conclusions.
Lastly, Socrates sought out the skilled
craftsmen. Surely they were wise. Yet since they knew so much about their own trade, they
thought they knew about everything else. What Socrates concluded from all of this was that
he was wiser than the whole lot, for he admitted that "he knew not."
This is a profound admission coming so
early in the history of western thinking. It seems that Socrates had happened across the
folly of the man who would claim that he has gained any knowledge on the exclusive basis
of his own reasoning ability. In the genesis of Western philosophy, its father had
unlocked the futility of humanism from the very beginning. Alone and without the God of
the Bible, man, according to Socrates, can do no better than know nothing. Yet in spite of
this ancient admission, man has continued to remain persistent in his own quest to
discover all truth within himself.
Apparently, the Grecian leadership at
the time was not so happy with these conclusions. In an attempt to shut Socrates up, they
brought him to trial, accusing him of homosexuality and corrupting the youth with it. This
pagan society was strongly opposed to the "gay" lifestyle. How ironic it is that
our current society, so much entrenched with a Christian history, is attempting to embrace
a practice that the pagan Greeks abhorred.
It was also brought up in that ancient
society that Socrates had turned the youth against their parents. It is a sorry state of
affairs that people such as the First Lady, Hillary Clinton, proposed legislation to
assert the rights of children against their parents; an act that only could lead to
rebellion and family division. Apparently, even the ancient Greeks were appalled at this
sort of behavior.
Socrates firmly believed that an
unexamined life wasn't worth living, that you have to know what life is like and how good
it is. This is the essence of what the Socratic mission was all about.
It must be admitted that he gave his
life in the support of his beliefs. Upon his conviction he was given the choice of going
into exile, paying a fine or death. He indicated that he would not pay such a sum as exile
or a fine, too small of a payment as a penalty for guilt regarding such a noble cause. In
other words, he chose death. It is a tragedy that someone would lay down this life for the
sake of knowing nothing when the nation beholding the Creator, the Jewish people, lifted
their praises to Him so near to the earshot of this Greek philosopher.
Socrates claimed though, that he had an
inner voice called Dimonea who instructed him what to do and say. This voice is what told
him to speak out, and that to die for his cause was desirable. Death must not be evil for
it didn't warn him of danger while he was being tried. Besides death can be only two
things; endless sleep or survival of the soul. Either sounded appealing to his reason. It
is too bad that he failed in his reason to imagine an eternal hell.
The
Philosophy of Facsimiles
Socrates's prized student, Plato,
desired to be a politician as a young man. In 404 B. C. he was invited by his cousin and
uncle to join them as they established themselves as dictators in Athens. Appalled at
their inhuman and unscrupulous practices he declined their invitation. When they were
disposed of in 403 B. C., a democracy was formed that enticed Plato to put his hat in the
ring. But upon the death of his good friend Socrates, he left Athens to travel and work
out his disillusionment. In 387 B. C., Plato returned to Athens to establish what many
consider to be the first university that came to be known as the Academy. It was in this
environment that he spent the rest of his life investigating subjects such as astronomy,
biological sciences, mathematics, and political science.
Plato's philosophy can certainly be
considered to be unique. He was exceptionally interested in how man is able to apply a
single word for a variety of things. For example, he wondered how the word
"chair" can be used to describe all the individual objects that are chairs.
"It is because," he calculated, "they all have something in common."
(Now that's a fine bit of profundity if you ask me!) This common factor he defined as the
"form" or "idea". Plato concluded that the real nature of anything
depends upon the form in which it "participates." A chair is what it is because
it "participates" in the form of "chair-ness."
According to Plato, the things that we
see in this world are only replicas of the true forms that exist neither in space or time
that are unchanging and perfect. What we see in the world is constantly changing and
imperfect. The chair may change in many ways, but it will always remain as it is because
somewhere in the realm of the supernatural there is a perfect and unchanging form of a
chair. Because of their permanence and flawlessness, the forms in heaven upon which
everything is based on in the world have a greater reality than the ordinary objects
observed by the senses. It is through the intellect, however, that these true forms are
perceived, and true knowledge is contained in a knowledge of these forms.
It was wise of Plato to recognize that
there is a supernatural world that contains in its essence a preeminence that the physical
world cannot offer. The humanistic mind in all of its endeavor to exalt the power and
potential of the human mind was not yet willing to give up the notion that there is
something greater out there than we so readily perceive. As Augustine later pointed out, a
lover of wisdom must be a lover of God, for only God holds the key to wisdom. Plato
acknowledged, however, in ascertaining that knowledge of the supernatural can be attained
through reason rather than revelation, the humanists already had destined themselves to
failure with regard to the discovery of anything that is truly real. Beginning with these
ancient Greeks, this is the ultimate dilemma of the humanist.
How arrogant it is that the humanist
insists on proposing that he can have knowledge of the infinite through the finite. How
can he propose that through the limited resource of the mind that the nature of all
reality can be discerned?
In that regard Saint Augustine wrote in
his Confessions, in reference to his trek towards salvation, "So since we were
too weak to discover the truth by pure reasoning and therefore needed the authority of the
sacred writings, I now began to believe that You would never have conferred such
preeminent authority on the scripture, how diffused through all lands, unless You had
willed that it would be a means of coming to faith in You and a means of seeking to know
You. . . The authority of the Bible seemed the more to be venerated and more worthy of a
holy faith on the ground that it was open to everybody to read, while keeping the dignity
of its secret meaning for a profounder interpretation. The Bible offered itself to all in
very accessible words and the most humble style of diction, while also exercising the
concentration of those who are not 'light of heart' (Ecclus 19:4). It welcomes all people
to its generous embrace, and also brings a few to you through narrow openings (Matt 7:13-14)."
The debate with regard to how knowledge
regarding the nature of the universals can be obtained is the central issue that
differentiates the thinking of the believer from the unbeliever. Knowledge of universal
truth can only be gained through revelation. It has been given to man via the Holy
Scriptures as God revealed himself through men inspired by His declarative Word. The
revelation of Scripture is the most reasonable proposition of all because it best suits
itself to the observable world and to reason.
However, recognizing the authority of
Scripture implies responsibility and accountability to the total message in the Word
revealed. This is the one thing the humanist cannot acknowledge in his own life. Therefore
for the sake of his own independence, the humanist has spent the remainder of Western
history in the vain attempt to solve an unsolvable puzzle created by his own rebellion.
Plato's conclusion about the nature of
reality is indicative of the improbable resolutions the humanists have arrived at by the
strength of their own minds. He believed that though the body dies, the soul continues to
live forever. Upon death it ascends to the "realm of the true forms" where it
has the opportunity to sojourn with these perfect forms that make up all reality. It is
here that man can sit on the perfect chair.
This bliss is only temporary as he is
reincarnated into another body as his soul returns to earth. Throughout this life, his
soul searches for these true forms that he remembers so dimly. Plato contended that this
is why people fall in love. They recognize in the beauty of their cherished one, the ideal
form they once partook of in the "realm of the pure forms."
Now I must admit, that I when I gaze at
my wife I cannot help but notice her stunning form. She has a countenance that constantly
demands my attention as she sways her delicate femininity before my admiring eyes. Yet all
of her beauty is nothing in comparison to the Glory that awaits in the eternal.
Likewise, the demonstration of God's
glory in heaven is something I can only anticipate. It is a spectacle that I have not yet
seen.
However, when I am finally beholding in
amazement the awesome throne of my Lord, Jesus, it will be an experience that I will be
able to appreciate in its full reality forever. I will never be asked to leave it behind
as a dim memory. The God I serve is not a sadistic tease who would leave me in the mere
shadow of what I once knew in its entirety. On the contrary, with each day that passes I
come closer to the knowledge of His eternal glory.
The apostle Paul who dwelt among these
Greek thinkers was quite aware of Plato's concepts of the reality. In the midst of the
classic thinkers he declared to the Greek Corinthian church the reality of the true God. Now
the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who
with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness
with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. . . For God, who
said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to
give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. . . So we
fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but
what is unseen is eternal. (II Cor 3:18; 4: 6,18 niv)
God is the giver of all truth who holds
in the palm of His hand the genuine reality of His kingdom that I will embrace for all
eternity. I have not yet seen it, but one day I shall.
Amen.
About the Author
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About the Author
Don Wigton
is a graduate of the prestigious music department at CSULB where he studied under Frank
Pooler, lyricist of Merry Christmas Darling, and sang in Pooler’s world renown
University Choir alongside Karen and Richard Carpenter. During this time Don was also the
lead composer of the band, Clovis Putney, that won the celebrated Hollywood Battle of the
Bands. After giving his life to God, Don began attending Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa to
study under some of the most prominent early Maranatha! musicians. Subsequently he toured
the Western United States with Jedidiah in association with Myrrh Records.
Eventually
Don served as a pastor at Calvary Chapel Bakersfield to witness thousands of salvations
through that ministry. As the music/concert director, Don worked for seven years with most
major Christian artist of that time while producing evangelical concerts attended by
thousands of young people seeking after God. Don’s Calvary Chapel Praise Choir
released the album Let All Who Hath Breath Praise the Lord on the Maranatha! label.
The next
years of Don’s life were spent as the praise leader of First Baptist Church in Bakersfield
during a time of unprecedented church renewal. Don teamed with the leadership to
successfully meld the old with the new through a period of tremendous church growth.
During this exciting time, Don’s praise team, Selah, produced the CD Stop and
Think About It.
Today Don is
the leading force behind Wigtune Company. This
webbased project located at www.praisesong.net has provided several million downloads of
Don’s music and hymn arrangements to tens of thousands of Christian organizations
throughout the world. More music can be found at Don's Southern
Cross Band website at www.socrossband.com.
The book Holy
Wars represents Don’s most recent effort to bless the church with biblical
instruction and direction in praise and worship. This heartfelt volume is an offering not
only to God’s people, but also to God Himself.
Connect With Don Online
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was formed as a service to the body of Christ to encourage scriptural
worship. To accomplish this goal Wigtune Company offers free contemporary Christian praise
and worship music, contemporary Christian rock and hymn mp3 and chart material along with
a free on-line worship study book for personal devotions, Bible study groups, Sunday
schools, pastors, music ministers and ministry training. In order to bridge the gap
between the old and the new the worship study book gives solid theological and
historical support to the use of traditional Christian hymn-singing in conjunction with
praise chorus singing. 
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