For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. ~2 Timothy 4:3-4
One of the most influential philosophers of the last three hundred years was David Hume (1711-1776). Hume was a skeptic and believed that nothing, except what was learned through mathematics or experiment, could be trusted. To paraphrase Hume, one should commit to the flames anything not obtained through mathematics or experiment, which of course, would include the Bible.
The problem with Hume’s statement (that things like the Bible should be committed to the flames), is that it is of the type which Hume tells us should be committed to the flames, since it is not a result of mathematics or experiments! Hume’s argument falls apart because it is contradictory and self-defeating. One can only conclude that Hume’s argument should be committed to the flames! Yet much of the denial and skepticism about God we see in our day is rooted in this kind of flawed logic.
It should be our constant prayer that God will open the eyes of the unbelieving that they too may bask in the glory of Christ.
Almighty God, help us to incline our hearts and minds toward you. Help us to conform the minutest details of our lives to your holy word. Protect us from the vanity of this world and the incessant temptation to be pleasers of men rather than lovers of God. Amen.
[1]C. W. Hendel, Jr. editor, Hume Selections, (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1955), 192-3.