The tactic I’m about to share is so wildly effective at striking at the very roots of scholasticism, that I have to obscure it in a code that scholastics themselves won’t be able to understand. Academics often have their head so far in the clouds, they can hardly explain the simplest of ideas in fewer than 6000 words. They often speak in a way that no simple Christian (with anything less than a government-approved document affirming their education at a 4-year liberal indoctrination camp) can ever hope to decode.
But their supposed strength is also their weakness. They have lost the ability to be plain. They can’t communicate through simple ideas. Their brain has been addled by so much liberal education and deceptive philosophy (see my previous article) that they no longer can relate to the common person.
So, the secret code is this: a sentence so obscenely simple and without qualification, that there’s no possible way that scholastics will be able to see through it.
Here’s how to defeat scholasticism:
Laugh.
When you’re confronted with an argument so ridiculously complicated, containing paragraph-long quotes from multiple dead guys, trying to convince you to abandon a blatantly obvious fundamental belief, laugh.
Don’t be intimidated by long words or quotes. There’s nothing inherently better about words that people with smooth hands learn only after they pay $85,000.
Don’t take them seriously.
God made important truths simple. I think this applies to all truths, but it especially applies to theological truths.
If they weren’t simple, then only elite intellectuals could access them. God would be putting an entry fee on truth. You must be this tall to be saved.
God Made the World Understandable
If I were a scholastic, I’d tell you that God made the world perspicuous. But because I’m a normal guy, I’ll tell you that God made the world understandable. Most important truths are clear. Uncomplicated.
Of course, we can’t understand everything comprehensively. But we can understand things well enough without spiraling into obscure philosophy or reading libraries of ancient tomes.
Salvation? Repent and obey Jesus. This simple idea is the basis of every successful evangelistic encounter you’ll ever have.
The Trinity? Three persons, one God. Understanding that simple construction will help you tear down any anti-trinitarian straw man.
Scripture? It’s the Word of God, and we should act like it’s the word of God. The fact that God wrote it through men doesn’t diminish it’s truth or value whatsoever.
Jesus Christ? Fully God. Fully man. This is simple, and defeats countless heresies.
I could go on.
Is it hard to wrap your head around exactly how these things work? Good. It’s impossible for you to fully comprehend anything, much less the infinite nature of God.
The problem comes in when academics get all worked up and bust in saying that “three persons, one God” isn’t good enough. And you need to buy their book for $29.99 to truly understand the doctrine of the trinity. It has footnotes!
I guess salvation comes with a price tag for prosperity gospel teachers and Christian academia.
The proper way to combat this mindless scholasticism isn’t with peer-reviewed essays in reputable academic journals. The proper strategy is to laugh.
To be taken seriously is exactly what they want. So don’t take them seriously. Make them speak simply, or ignore them. If ideas need to be obscured behind academic language, they’re not worth listening to, and it’s almost guaranteed that trying to deceive you. Or they’ve been deceived themselves. Truth doesn’t need to be hidden in obscurity.
The Idol of Academia
Our society takes academia so seriously that most people seem to be fine making huge life choices merely based on what gets passed down from on high by academia.
And yet doctors, some of the most highly educated people in the world, fall for the most scams. Why were churches shut down during the pandemic? Why were people forced to wear masks that did worse than nothing to protect people? Why were businesses closed, lives destroyed, and loved ones on their death beds barred from seeing their families? Because the people with degrees said so. Who are the pastors responsible for nearly every church that’s theologically gone to hell? Graduates of reputable seminaries. Who are the evangelical elites responsible for driving the church in our nation to completely abandon the authority of Scripture? Christian academics.
How can the most educated people in the world be the most corrupt and stupid? Perhaps there’s a correlation.
Academics are the priests of the secular world.
Do you think the Christian world is untouched by this?
No way.
I went to a secular college, a secular university, and then I went to a “conservative” Christian seminary. And it’s nothing short of a miracle I made it through relatively unscathed. Or rather, I should say, my theology has turned out hopefully Biblically solid in spite of the damage that higher education did to me.
I can’t categorically say that Christians should never go to college or seminary. But I can categorically say that in our current time where corruption has seeped into academia from all directions, it’s very likely a bad idea.
