Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Worldly Wisdom

All worldly wisdom which is guided only by the physical senses, without regard for the Holy Spirit, is insanity before God and before God's angels; for such a wisdom does not perceive either the spirit or the purpose of this world; rather it knows this world only as ashes from without and ashes from within; as ashes which the wind of chance piles up and strews at one moment this way and at another moment that way.
All wisdom of man which is directed only by the senses and by physical conceptions and fantasies is insanity before God and before angels and saints of God, for it does not know man as man; that is, as a spiritual being related to God, rather it knows man only as a body from without and as a body from within; as a body according to form and as a body according to essence.
St. Nikolaj Velimirovic

…true human wisdom, true human prudence is insufficient just because it is human. At the same time, the mental innocence of 'babes,' the absence of mental riches which prevent one from entering the Kingdom of Heaven, can turn out to be a condition for the acquisition of spiritual knowledge, which exhaust the poor wise men, are in vain. Like ungainly camels, they are loaded down with their knowledge. And like salt water, science only inflames the thirst for knowledge. It never gives peace to the feverish mind. For the Lord's 'easy yoke' and 'light burden' (Matt. 11:30) give the mind what it cannot get from the cruel yoke and hard, unbearable burden of science.
St. Pavel (Florensky)

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