Colossians 2:8 — Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

I recently followed a facebook discussion on the nature of God. Is He infinite and eternal? Do those words have any meaning when you talk about God? I stopped following the discussion when it became circular, and comments were made about the quality of people’s thought processes — I generally find that as the heat goes up in those discussions the light is dimmed! Afterwards, I was thinking about what had been — essentially — a philosophical discussion.
I do spend a fair amount of time thinking about that nature of God, and trying to get back to some very basic ideas. Am I going wrong. Should I take Paul’s comment in his letter to the Colossians as blocking of the philosophical route? I have seen it suggested …
Let me tip my hand. I think Christians are obligated to use the tools of philosophy. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines philosophy as “the study of ideas about knowledge, truth, the nature and meaning of life, etc.”. It defines theology as “the study of religious faith, practice, and experience : the study of God and God’s relation to the world”. I don’t suppose most Christians would deny that some study of theology would do them good. But I’m of the opinion that it’s hard to do theology without having some confidence in your understanding of things like knowledge, truth, and the nature and meaning of life.
But in thinking about Colossians 2:8, we shouldn’t just refute it on the basis of an opinion about the relationship between theology and philosophy. We should firmly reject the very bad habit of quoting verses out of context! Colossians 2:8 is, in fact, the endpoint of a philosophical argument. Let’s look at the whole passage:

And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

The whole passage says not “don’t do philosophy”, it says “don’t do philosophy as an alternative to (Christian) theology” — Paul starts by saying “watch out for people who set out to confuse you with arguments that don’t stand up to scrutiny”. Next he says “listen to people you can trust — people who, like me, have given you Christ’s teaching, and are still with you in writings and in your memories.” Then he goes on to suggest that having received the Christian talk from Paul, they should continue to walk the Christian walk. Finally, he restates it: “Don’t let slick talkers trick you into following the world’s rules instead of the kingdom’s”. Paul is not against philosophy — in fact his writings make it clear that he had a sound philosophical grounding. He was against worldly “false prophets” leading the flock astray … And so am I!