Why bother, if...

When I think of philosophers, I generally imagine a group of white-bearded (not to be confused with "white-bread", though the latter would certainly be as true as the former) men in tunics who sit around all day talking with people about esoteric theories of metaphysical existence. So when I was forced to take Philosophy 101 in college, some of my friends who were in that class with me may still remember the day when my professor said to me: "Guy, I get the impression from your attitude that you think philosophers don't ever do anything, and that philosophy in general is a bunch of pointless talk that never actually affects real life situations." To which I responded: "Yeah that pretty much sums it up." I'll never know what my professor thought in that moment when I responded like that, but by the look on my friend's face sitting beside me I think it was interpreted as being tantamount to telling my professor he was a waste of space. Naturally, he has had the last laugh, as I now spend a great deal of time reading the great philosophers in a desperate attempt to understand life and my role in the universe. Philosophers in general tend to have the last laugh.

It is perhaps an under-appreciated fact that many of the ancient Greek philosophers were convinced that just learning things about life without actually implementing them in our behavior was completely foolish. In Book I of the Discourses of Epictetus there is a chapter entitled "Concerning Progress." In it, he asks the question, what does it really mean to make progress in life? Some, he says, suggest that learning as much as possible is progress. Many people walk around having read a lot of books, having done a lot of studying, having taken a great many classes, but Epictetus wonders: What do they have to show for it? If all they do is learn this information from great teachers and philosophers, but then never actually act upon it, never actually practically incorporate it into their lives, then what was the point? Epictetus comes down very strongly on those who learn philosophical treatises and principles as if that is an end in itself. The point of philosophy, he argues, is life-change. Progress is made not when you learn that worrying about things that are out of your control is detrimental and futile, but when you actually stop worrying about things that are outside of your control.

The letter of James in the New Testament makes a very similar argument as it pertains to theological truths. In 1:22-27 he tells his audience that it is pointless to merely be hearers of God's message--rather, they should also be doers of that message. That is, they should put in practice what they learn! What is hardly ever revealed during a sermon on this text is that James is reflecting a very deep philosophical tradition that includes Epictetus and others. His audience, remember, would live in a world in which "ancient Greek philosophy" was not ancient at all, but contemporary and well-known. Luke Timothy Johnson, in his commentary on the letter of James,* sums it up well:

James here agrees with the most widespread ancient conviction concerning the philosophical life and picks up one of the main themes of protreptic literature. Theoretical correctness counts for little if one's life does not conform to the truth one espouses. The notion that some sort of profession/confession of belief or conviction could be significant if it were not demonstrated by a consistent pattern of behavior is not, in James' world, to be taken seriously.

Essentially, the idea that simply "believing the right things" about God or Jesus or the Bible is the point of Christianity, is the goal that God had in mind for his people, would be nothing short of laughable to the authors of the Bible. Not only did they personally object to such nonsense in their writings, but their entire worldview and context of experience would have rejected such a silly notion. Knowing or believing the right things was merely a first step to the ultimate purpose, which was, of course, practically living life in accordance with those beliefs and convictions.

This is not unique to James and the Greek philosophers of his day. Jesus says the same thing in the conclusion of his so-called Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 7:24-27, the author reports that Jesus said:

Therefore, everyone who listens to these words I have spoken and practices them will be like a sensible man who built his house upon rock; when the rain came down so that the flooded rivers came, the winds blew, and it all fell upon that house, it did not fall, for its foundation was upon the rock. But everyone who listens to these words I have spoken and does not practice them is like a foolish man who built his house upon sand; when the rain came down so that the flooded rivers came, the winds blew, and it all fell upon that house, it fell--and it was a tremendous fall!

Which brings me to my conclusion: Ultimately, the goal of the Good Life is not learning how to live the Good Life--it is living the Good Life. So as we press on together, let's put into action the things we have already learned! Otherwise, we might as well not waste our time learning them in the fist place...

*Luke Timothy Johnson, The Letter of James (AB 37A; New Haven: Yale, 2005), 213.