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And we also know, that this same One Who stooped lower than the angels for the
suffering of death, is the One Who is praised by the Psalmist as the Creator of all:--
"Unto the Son He saith . . . . . Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of
the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands" (cf. "The works of Thy fingers"
Psa. 8:) (Heb. 1: 8-10).
Human wisdom could never penetrate to this depth or scale this height. We bow
before the only wise God, and gratefully thank Him for the revelation He has given us of
Himself, and His creation, His purposes, and His goal. We glory in the blessed fact that
it all pulsates with life and love. There are no cold abstractions. To quote a recent
writer:--
"The Universe is not a spiritual vacuum, a mathematical abstraction; it is OUR
FATHER'S HOUSE OF MANY MANSIONS."
Human wisdom is cold and lifeless. Divine wisdom breathes the breath of life and
love. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift--a Person, and that Person, His
beloved, only begotten Son. He is all the Philosophy that we shall ever need.
#8.
The "Formless Being" of Xenophanes and the Scriptural
revelation of Him Who was "in the form of God".
pp. 46 - 49
The Milesian school of philosophy was succeeded by the Eleatics, founded by
Xenophanes and named after Elea, a town in Italy. The system was developed by
Parmenides, and owed its completion to Zeno.
The primitive conceptions of Thales and his correctors seem to have produced a
somewhat humbler frame of mind in his successors, for Xenophanes is at pains to tell us
that philosophy is but "reasonable opinion", "probability", and not "certain knowledge".
"There never was a man, nor will be, who has certain knowledge about the gods, and
about all the things of which I speak. Even if he should chance to say the complete truth,
yet he himself knows not that it is so."
Philosophy, therefore, is a self-confessed failure. Nothing but a Divine revelation can
supply us with sufficient knowledge to enable any one of us to say regarding these things:
"I know." Let the reader ponder some of the passages of Scripture written, "that ye may
know", and let him praise God for the light of His Word.
We must not forget the time at which Xenophanes lived. All around him were men
who worshipped gods, whose attributes were those of mortal men, and whose actions
were as immoral as those of their worshippers. In his search for "the One", and the