Great Spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.

Great Spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.  Albert Einstein

The following analysis applies mostly to those who quote these words than the original authors themselves especially because those who quote choose the authors and words to propagate and proclaim as truth; the more an author or promoter of a saying leaves out the true context they are using or the more a secular author makes an absolute truth claim, outside pure mathematics, the more wrong they are found to be.

Doing a comparison and contrast is an excellent learning tool that can be used for Bible Study by an individual, a church or school leader.  You can learn a lot about what is true and false by seeing how the Bible defines and uses terms.

After you study this saying, you will realize that Einstein is not talking about himself, other scientists, poets, writers 9thinkers), empire builders, politicians, Christ, Jewish and Christian martyrs, or Jews.  You can also learn how humanists define “good” and “evil”......



“The best way out is always through”     Robert Frost

All the following analysis below apply mostly to those who quote a secular author's words as wisdom than to the original authors themselves.  The more a secular author makes an absolute truth claim, the more wrong their statements tend to be.

The first thing to notice is that Frost has made an absolute truth claim with the word “always”.  From a purely logical perspective, and from human experience, there are other options available for many situations:

Not getting into a problem situation or learning to recognize and avoid problem situations ahead of time (real wisdom).

Reversing course (retreating) once in the problem.

Getting out as soon as possible (cutting one's losses)

Asking for help from others, especially someone more powerful.

Asking for mercy from those causing you problems.

The second thing to notice is the open ended application of this statement.
What is promoter or author talking about getting out of?  Is he talking about the way out of trouble, problems, sin, judgment, death, weakness, ignorance or something else?

Let’s fill in the possible subject and see what the Bible says about dealing with these specific problems.  These few Bible passages give you better options and let you see the big picture.  (They are far from a full teaching on the subject.)

Trouble/Problem    “I will lift up my eyes to the hills-From whence comes my help?  My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth” God is in control and if we trust in him He will help us.”  Ps 121 

“Make haste, O God, to deliver me!  Make haste to help me, O Lord!  Let them be ashamed and confounded Who seek my life; Let them be turned back and confused Who desire my hurt”  Ps 70: 1-2

Sin    “It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification”  Rom 4: 24b- 25 

Judgment     “ He shall call to the heavens from above, And to the earth, that He may judge His people”  Ps 50: 4

Death    “Therefore we are buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life…For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Rom 6: 4,23

Weakness     “God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people” Ps 68:35

Ignorance      “Through wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; By knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  A wise man is strong, Yes, a man of knowledge increases in strength...and in a multitude of counselors there is safety”  Prov 24:3-5, 6b



"Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom"  Aristotle

What is the real value of self-introspection from a secular prospective?  Let’s assume that they know themselves and they know that they are a cannibal, or murderer (1st, 2nd or 3rd person), or just cleaning humanity, etc then what?  If they know that what they are doing is considered an evil action, but to them it is a good, maybe even a greater good, now what? 

At the very least, isn't all permissible, so long as I can get away with it?  Okay so you are picturing a lonely serial killer.  But what if they are Hitler, Stalin, Mao, or Pol Pot, didn’t they have public (even huge) support?  Did Hitler, Stalin and Mao not write letters or books?  Did they not search themselves for their beliefs?  Did they not share their wisdom?

It is interesting that the secular wisdom is the absolute statement because it says “all”.  Secular wisdom leaves the followers to look into and justify themselves.  Now let’s compare the above with God’s Word.

"Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments" Psalm 111:10  and "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love" 1 Jn 4:8

We can see in these two passages that wisdom, and following God’s commandments, and the fear and knowledge of God, and Love are linked.  To know God’s judgment and power, you have to first know what God has done in history.  The connection to love is continued and further elaborated in the following commandments:

The Ten Commandments (see Ex 20: 1-17) plus the two summary commandments as found in the Synoptic Gospels.  "Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments hang the Law and the Prophets'"  Matthew 22:37-40  see also Mark 12:29-31 and Luke 10:27

Now add the following commandments:
"Love your neighbor as yourself" Lev 19:18
"Love your enemies" Matt 5:44
"Love one another as I love" Jn 15:12
"do justly, to love mercy" Mic 6:8
"husbands, love your wives" Eph 5:25
"Now the purpose of the commandment is love" 1 Tim 1:5

Can a believer and true follower of Christ be a Hitler or Stalin or Mao?  Assuming they are living up to the wisdom they follow, which neighbor do you want to live next to?  Which religion would you want the political, social-economic and legal basis to be from?  Do you want a society built on the wisdom from the secular humanist religion followers?

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