EVERY system of thought is based on some proposition, some foundation or premise which may or may not be true or tenable. The truth or falsity of every system is determined by the soundness of its foundation. If the basic propositions of a system are false, its conclusions will inevitably manifest errors. Because their underlying premises are crumbling away, false systems are constantly changing; while a true system remains immovable and intact, its teachings always the same. A true system progresses not by changing or modifying its fundamental basis, but by fostering a clearer realization and more effective application of its teachings. There are countless false systems of thought, many systems that are partly true, but there can be only one system that is entirely true, forever and irrevocably true, because it is "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone."
Human philosophy is based on mortal concepts, among which may be mentioned space, dimension, causality, limitation. Because these concepts are materialistically conceived, the conclusions arrived at must likewise have the imprint of materiality and can give but faint gleams of divine reality. Human reasoning is of the earth, earthy; not of heaven, heavenly. Philosophical writers frequently differ as to the meaning of basic terms, and quite as frequently disagree regarding the conclusions to which their investigations lead them. Thus, a philosopher, when developing his concept, frequently finds it necessary to devote much effort to defining his terms before he attempts an analysis of the subject or arrives at a conclusion. Then subsequent writers criticize and modify his terms and his conclusions, with the result that an atmosphere of haze and uncertainty hangs over the whole subject. There are many schools of philosophy, and they differ much in their teachings, and frequently contradict one another. One philosopher comes to the conclusion that "matter alone seems to be stable and eternal;" another that "the corporeal world exists;" another that substance "has neither intellect nor will;" another teaches that matter is "not inanimate," and that "man has only an indistinct perception and a faint inkling of higher beings and the Supreme Being;" another that we shall possibly "never be able to know whether any mere material thing thinks or not." Then there are the agnostics, who deem it impossible to know reality.
The human mind and human intellect cannot build a tower on a materialistic foundation to reach the heaven of reality. The human intellect alone cannot attain to a knowledge of God. God does not reveal Himself to the materialistic and pantheistic searcher. He reveals Himself to the pure in heart who are able to grasp the reality of Spirit and the unreality of matter. How to reconcile matter with Spirit; how to account for man as both material and spiritual, and for evil as a reality, and at the same time acknowledge one God, infinite, supreme, and good— these are problems human philosophers have never been able to solve. Nicodemus evidently was a thoughtful man, but he reasoned materially, not spiritually. Christ Jesus said to him, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God; " that is, in order to know the realities of Spirit and the nature of the kingdom of heaven, men must understand the spiritual nature of God, man, and the universe. To attain this, reason must be guided, supported, and inspired by revelation. Human reason, unaided and alone, falls back upon itself in incoherence and weakness.
