in general, is defined, the knowledge and study of nature
and morality, founded on reason and experience.” Philosophy owes its
name to the modesty of Pythagoras, who refused the high title of σοφός,
_wise_, given to his predecessors, Thales, Pherecydes, &c, as too
assuming; and contented himself with the simple appellation of
φιλόσοφος, _quasi_ φίλος τῆς σοφίας, _a friend_ or _lover of wisdom_:
but Chauvin rather chooses to derive the name from φιλία, _desire to
study_, and σοφία, _studium sapientiæ_; and says that Pythagoras,
conceiving that the application of the human mind ought rather to be
called study than science, set aside the appellation of wise, and, in
lieu thereof, took that of philosopher.
A knowledge of the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, or the
science of natural history, was always an object of interest. We are
informed that Solomon himself had given a description of the animal and
vegetable kingdoms, 1 Kings iv, 33. Traces of philosophy, strictly so
called, that is, the system of prevailing moral opinions, may be found
in the book of Job, in the thirty-seventh, thirty-ninth, and
seventy-third Psalms; also in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes,
but chiefly in the apocryphal book of Wisdom, and the writings of the
son of Sirach. During the captivity, the Jews acquired many new notions,
particularly from the Mahestani, and appropriated them, as occasion
offered, to their own purposes. They at length became acquainted with
the philosophy of the Greeks, which makes its appearance abundantly in
the book of Wisdom. After the captivity, the language in which the
sacred books were written was no longer vernacular. Hence arose the need
of an interpreter on the sabbatic year, a time when the whole law was
read, and also on the Sabbath in the synagogues, which some think had
been recently erected, in order to make the people understand what was
read. These interpreters learned the Hebrew language at the schools. The
teachers of these schools, who, for the two generations preceding the
time of Christ, had maintained some acquaintance with the Greek
philosophy, were not satisfied with a simple interpretation of the
Hebrew idiom, as it stood, but shaped the interpretation so as to render
it conformable to their philosophy. Thus arose contentions, which gave
occasion for the various sects of Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. In
the time of our Saviour, divisions had arisen among the Pharisees
themselves. No less than eighteen nice questions, if we may believe the
Jewish rabbins, were contested at that period between the schools of
Hillel and Shammai; one of which questions was an inquiry, what cause
was sufficient for a bill of divorce. If the Shammai and Hillel of the
Talmud are the same with the learned men mentioned in Josephus, namely,
Sameas and Pollio, who flourished thirty-four years before Christ, then
Shammai or Sameas is undoubtedly the same with the Simeon who is
mentioned, Luke ii, 25–35; and his son Gamaliel, so celebrated in the
Talmud, is the same with the Gamaliel mentioned, Acts v, 34; xxii, 3.
Anciently, learned men were denominated among the Hebrews חכמים, as
among the Greeks they were called σοφοὶ, _wise men_. In the time of
Christ, the common appellative for men of that description was
γραμματεὺς, in the Hebrew סופר, _a scribe_. They were addressed by the
honorary title of _rabbi_, רבי, great,” or master.” The Jews, in
imitation of the Greeks, had their seven wise men, who were called
_rabboni_. Gamaliel was one of the number. They called themselves the
children of wisdom; expressions which correspond very nearly to the
Greek φιλόσοφος, Matthew xi, 19; Luke vii, 35. The heads of sects were
called fathers;” the disciples were denominated sons,” or children,”
Matt. xii, 27; xxiii, 1–9. The Jewish teachers, at least some of them,
had private lecture rooms; but they also taught and disputed in
synagogues, in temples, and, in fact, wherever they could find an
audience. The method of these teachers was the same with that which
prevailed among the Greeks. Any disciple who chose might propose
questions, upon which it was the duty of the teachers to remark and give
their opinions, Luke ii, 46. The teachers were not invested with their
functions by any formal act of the church, or of the civil authority:
they were self-constituted. They received no other salary than some
voluntary present from the disciples, which was called an honorary,”
τιμὴ, _honorarium_, 1 Tim. v, 17. They acquired a subsistence, in the
main, by the exercise of some art or handicraft. That they took a higher
seat than their auditors, although it was probably the case, does not
follow, as is sometimes supposed, from Luke ii, 46. According to the
Talmudists, they were bound to hold no conversation with women, and to
refuse to sit at table with the lower class of people, Matt. ix, 11;
John iv, 27. The subjects on which they taught were numerous, commonly
intricate, and of no great consequence; of which there are abundant
examples in the Talmud.
St. Paul bids the Colossians beware lest any man should spoil them
through philosophy and vain deceit;” that is, a vain and deceitful
philosophy, such as was popular in that day, and had been compounded out
of all preceding systems, Grecian and oriental. An explanation of this
philosophy is given under GNOSTICS, and CABBALA.
On these ancient systems of pretended wisdom, Dr. Burton justly remarks:
“Philosophy is indeed the noblest stretch of intellect which God has
vouchsafed to man; and it is only when man forgets that he received his
reasoning powers from God, that he is in danger of losing himself in
darkness when he sought for light. To measure that which is infinite, is
as impossible in metaphysics as in physics. If it had not been for
revelation, we should have known no more of the Deity than the Heathen
philosophers knew before: and to what did their knowledge amount? They
felt the necessity of a First Cause, and they saw that that Cause must
be intrinsically good; but when they came to systems, they never went
farther than the point from which they first set out, that evil is not
good, and good is not evil. The Gnostics thought to secure the triumph
of their scheme by veiling its weaker points in mystery, and by
borrowing a part from almost every system. But popular, and even
successful, as this attempt may have been, we may say with truth, that
the scheme which flattered the vanity of human wisdom, and which strove
to conciliate all opinions, has died away, and is forgotten; while the
Gospel, the unpresuming, the uncompromising doctrine of the Gospel,
aided by no human wisdom, and addressing itself not merely to the head,
but to the heart, has triumphed over all systems and all philosophers;
and still leads its followers to that true knowledge which some have
endeavoured to teach ‘after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of
the world, and not after Christ.’”
and morality, founded on reason and experience.” Philosophy owes its
name to the modesty of Pythagoras, who refused the high title of σοφός,
_wise_, given to his predecessors, Thales, Pherecydes, &c, as too
assuming; and contented himself with the simple appellation of
φιλόσοφος, _quasi_ φίλος τῆς σοφίας, _a friend_ or _lover of wisdom_:
but Chauvin rather chooses to derive the name from φιλία, _desire to
study_, and σοφία, _studium sapientiæ_; and says that Pythagoras,
conceiving that the application of the human mind ought rather to be
called study than science, set aside the appellation of wise, and, in
lieu thereof, took that of philosopher.
A knowledge of the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, or the
science of natural history, was always an object of interest. We are
informed that Solomon himself had given a description of the animal and
vegetable kingdoms, 1 Kings iv, 33. Traces of philosophy, strictly so
called, that is, the system of prevailing moral opinions, may be found
in the book of Job, in the thirty-seventh, thirty-ninth, and
seventy-third Psalms; also in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes,
but chiefly in the apocryphal book of Wisdom, and the writings of the
son of Sirach. During the captivity, the Jews acquired many new notions,
particularly from the Mahestani, and appropriated them, as occasion
offered, to their own purposes. They at length became acquainted with
the philosophy of the Greeks, which makes its appearance abundantly in
the book of Wisdom. After the captivity, the language in which the
sacred books were written was no longer vernacular. Hence arose the need
of an interpreter on the sabbatic year, a time when the whole law was
read, and also on the Sabbath in the synagogues, which some think had
been recently erected, in order to make the people understand what was
read. These interpreters learned the Hebrew language at the schools. The
teachers of these schools, who, for the two generations preceding the
time of Christ, had maintained some acquaintance with the Greek
philosophy, were not satisfied with a simple interpretation of the
Hebrew idiom, as it stood, but shaped the interpretation so as to render
it conformable to their philosophy. Thus arose contentions, which gave
occasion for the various sects of Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. In
the time of our Saviour, divisions had arisen among the Pharisees
themselves. No less than eighteen nice questions, if we may believe the
Jewish rabbins, were contested at that period between the schools of
Hillel and Shammai; one of which questions was an inquiry, what cause
was sufficient for a bill of divorce. If the Shammai and Hillel of the
Talmud are the same with the learned men mentioned in Josephus, namely,
Sameas and Pollio, who flourished thirty-four years before Christ, then
Shammai or Sameas is undoubtedly the same with the Simeon who is
mentioned, Luke ii, 25–35; and his son Gamaliel, so celebrated in the
Talmud, is the same with the Gamaliel mentioned, Acts v, 34; xxii, 3.
Anciently, learned men were denominated among the Hebrews חכמים, as
among the Greeks they were called σοφοὶ, _wise men_. In the time of
Christ, the common appellative for men of that description was
γραμματεὺς, in the Hebrew סופר, _a scribe_. They were addressed by the
honorary title of _rabbi_, רבי, great,” or master.” The Jews, in
imitation of the Greeks, had their seven wise men, who were called
_rabboni_. Gamaliel was one of the number. They called themselves the
children of wisdom; expressions which correspond very nearly to the
Greek φιλόσοφος, Matthew xi, 19; Luke vii, 35. The heads of sects were
called fathers;” the disciples were denominated sons,” or children,”
Matt. xii, 27; xxiii, 1–9. The Jewish teachers, at least some of them,
had private lecture rooms; but they also taught and disputed in
synagogues, in temples, and, in fact, wherever they could find an
audience. The method of these teachers was the same with that which
prevailed among the Greeks. Any disciple who chose might propose
questions, upon which it was the duty of the teachers to remark and give
their opinions, Luke ii, 46. The teachers were not invested with their
functions by any formal act of the church, or of the civil authority:
they were self-constituted. They received no other salary than some
voluntary present from the disciples, which was called an honorary,”
τιμὴ, _honorarium_, 1 Tim. v, 17. They acquired a subsistence, in the
main, by the exercise of some art or handicraft. That they took a higher
seat than their auditors, although it was probably the case, does not
follow, as is sometimes supposed, from Luke ii, 46. According to the
Talmudists, they were bound to hold no conversation with women, and to
refuse to sit at table with the lower class of people, Matt. ix, 11;
John iv, 27. The subjects on which they taught were numerous, commonly
intricate, and of no great consequence; of which there are abundant
examples in the Talmud.
St. Paul bids the Colossians beware lest any man should spoil them
through philosophy and vain deceit;” that is, a vain and deceitful
philosophy, such as was popular in that day, and had been compounded out
of all preceding systems, Grecian and oriental. An explanation of this
philosophy is given under GNOSTICS, and CABBALA.
On these ancient systems of pretended wisdom, Dr. Burton justly remarks:
“Philosophy is indeed the noblest stretch of intellect which God has
vouchsafed to man; and it is only when man forgets that he received his
reasoning powers from God, that he is in danger of losing himself in
darkness when he sought for light. To measure that which is infinite, is
as impossible in metaphysics as in physics. If it had not been for
revelation, we should have known no more of the Deity than the Heathen
philosophers knew before: and to what did their knowledge amount? They
felt the necessity of a First Cause, and they saw that that Cause must
be intrinsically good; but when they came to systems, they never went
farther than the point from which they first set out, that evil is not
good, and good is not evil. The Gnostics thought to secure the triumph
of their scheme by veiling its weaker points in mystery, and by
borrowing a part from almost every system. But popular, and even
successful, as this attempt may have been, we may say with truth, that
the scheme which flattered the vanity of human wisdom, and which strove
to conciliate all opinions, has died away, and is forgotten; while the
Gospel, the unpresuming, the uncompromising doctrine of the Gospel,
aided by no human wisdom, and addressing itself not merely to the head,
but to the heart, has triumphed over all systems and all philosophers;
and still leads its followers to that true knowledge which some have
endeavoured to teach ‘after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of
the world, and not after Christ.’”