Here’s an interesting tit-bit for you: the word “cosmos” comes from a Greek word meaning “orderly system.” The philosopher, Pythagoras (570 – 490 BCE) was the first to use the term in relation to our ordered universe. “Cosmos” therefore refers to the opposite of chaos, and this is significant, because our universe is not just any sort of universe; it is a highly ordered one.

The fact that it is ordered should inform everyone’s belief system. If it doesn’t, then one of the greatest realities inviting us to look beyond ourselves lies ignored and stillborn in our hearts.

As my philosopher friend, Dr Leonard Long, always reminds me: all beliefs, including atheism, are belief systems based on presuppositions that cannot be proved. They can, however, be informed by reason and experience––which, happily, is the case for Christianity. So, may I ask: how reasonable is your “faith”? Can I suggest that if it has not taken adequate account of the extraordinary order and fine-tuning of the physical forces in the universe that have allowed life to develop––then, that faith is poorly founded. 

Taking care with truth, certainly in the world of modern philosophy, is not in vogue at the moment. Modern philosophers have largely trashed the idea of truth. I confess that when reading the life of philosophers in the 1960s, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that their Nihilistic or neo-Marxist ideas were designed to support their sexual addictions. In other words, they did not so much get their thinking from philosophy, as bolster their addictions with philosophy. It’s not hard for radical ideas to become attractive if you can offer unbridled hedonism or greater personal power in a new world order.

Many modern philosophers inherited their radical ideas from the “Frankfurt School” of philosophy that flourished in Goethe University between the two world wars. Hitler’s persecution of such thinking resulted in some of its proponents fleeing to America. This began the long march of revolutionary philosophy through the academia of the West, which reached fever pitch during the university occupations of 1968. The Frankfurt School is still a major influence in many humanities departments of the West today.

Significantly, the big three Greek philosophers: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, did not follow the functional atheism of the atomist philosophers who preceded them. All three of them saw evidence of “mind” in the cosmos and the necessity of mind in ethics.

Centuries later, the Roman Stoic philosopher, Seneca, examined the atheistic thinking in Lucretius’ highly influential poem De Rerum Natura(that sidelined God and advocated a purely materialistic understanding of truth). Seneca argued against the sentiments of the poem and he also spoke of the evidence of “mind.”

The thirteenth century Dominican philosopher, Thomas Aquinas, went further. He put the case for the existence of God into a logical argument that he called the “Five Ways.” Aquinas’ thinking has been attacked through the centuries but his essential reasoning remains sound. It is logically sensible to believe ina First Cause, a Necessary Being, a Grand Designer.

All sorts of truths surround people today, but sadly, most of it is ignored. The perversity of humankind means that we tend to select the statements, claims and beliefs that support our chosen lifestyle. In other words, we select the information generated by our “tribe”––right or wrong.

May I suggest that there is more honesty and a brighter future if you choose that which is right?

Truth matters.