Shirley H Supporter Wife, mother, veteran in the spiritual war we all face!

I am quoting the footnote in my Bible. 

"Colossians 2:8 has been used at times to teach that Christians should not study or read philosophy. This is not Paul's meaning. Paul himself was adept at philosophy, evidenced by his interaction with the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers in Athens (Acts 17:1-34). Paul was warning believers not to be taken in by any philosophy that does not conform to a proper knowledge of Christ. The false teachers at Colossae had combined worldly philosophies with the gospel. These philosophies are spoken of by Paul as the basic principles of the world, which some have interpreted as 'spirits' or 'angels' who supposedly control a person's life (see Galatians 4:3,9). It seems more likely that the term principles refers to the elementary rules and regulations that certain teachers were seeking to impose on believers according to dictates of human philosophies. Paul's strongest indictment against the heretics was that their teaching was not according to Christ, and thus they were not walking with Christ."

Paul's exhortation. Colossians 2:6,7: "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving."

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Jack Gutknecht Supporter Arizona Bible College graduate and Dallas Seminary graduate

First of all, Peter exhorted believers to 'always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you' (1 Peter 3:15)."

The author uses this verse to support the argument that God commands us to use our minds, to reason, and to be prepared to defend our faith intellectually. Therefore, studying philosophy (properly understood) is not forbidden but required for this defense. For heaven's sake, my own mother had me major in philosophy when I first started at Arizona State University (ASU).

Also, God did give us a mind and commanded us to think (Matt. 22:37).

The Center for Excellence in Preaching [and I used to be a preacher] notes that Paul built "a kind of bridge" to his audience through contextualization"--pointing to the altar of the unknown God (Acts 17:23), complimenting their spirituality, and quoting their own poets ("In him we live and move and have our being," Acts 17:28; cf. Titus 1:12).

Conservative scholars observe that while Paul engaged philosophically, he did not compromise the gospel. His principle was "I have become all things to all people" (1 Corinthians 9:22), yet he resolved to know nothing but "Christ crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2). When he spoke of the resurrection, "some sneered" (Acts 17:32), showing that "our faith doesn't rely on rationality, logic or scientific proof" but on God's revelation through His Word and Spirit. Elsewhere, Paul argued from natural revelation--rain, seasons, crops--to point pagans to the living God (Acts 14:15-17).

A Logos sermon adds that Paul "engaged with their own worldview" and "preached a gospel of the supremacy of the one true God," calling philosophers to repentance.

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