At the very core of the Christian faith is the belief that God is the creator of all things, both animate and inanimate, and that He is continually involved with His creation. This describes all Christians who believe in theism that God as a deity created all things and continues to involve Himself with His creation till this day. This belief is premised on Scriptural evidence and fundamentally changes the way believers interact with fellow persons in different areas.
For a Christian, it usually is a case of a different world view as opposed to those that have the worldly view. In Genesis 1:1, the Bible espouses that God created the heavens and the earth at the beginning. Chapter I and 2 of the Book of Genesis expounds on how God created everything that inhabits the earth, both living and non-living. Further, there exists scriptural evidence that God is actively involved with His creation till this day. In Deuteronomy 28:7-12, Moses exhorts the people that if they obey the Lord God, God would cause their enemies to be defeated while at war, and grant them a bumper harvest. This is indicative of the fact that God did not stop at creation but continues to interact and concern Himself with His creation.
Integrating this very doctrine with real life situation, it then behooves all believers to ensure that they obey the commandments and precepts of God so as to ensure they do not invoke the wrath of God and also enjoy the good things that He offers. In this instance, a believer with a vocation as a Philosophy Professor must see to it that he obeys the statutes of both God and men say by attending to all his duties as required, in acknowledgement of the fact that all authority emanates from God and that God is the author of all creation.
Hebrews 1:2 acknowledges the case that God continues to engage in the affairs of mankind as His creation. It is to the effect that God at various times and in multiple ways spoke to the fathers and in the latter days spoke to His people through His Son Jesus Christ and continues to speak to mankind nowadays through His Spirit. Since the Lord continues to speak to his people (creation), it is the case that believers must heed to His word so as to know his will. Similarly, it follows that the people must communicate with Him and this can only happen through prayers. For the Philosophy Professor in college, he must practice this very thing of communicating with God and seek to hear from Him as well as communicate. Without doubt, he must even be at the forefront of encouraging his students as well as fellow faculty members to pray and learn to hear from God. In the typical case of a Christian fellowship or over a meal, the Philosophy Professor, knowing very well that God is usually involved with His creation through communication, should offer to lead in prayers and show the need for hearing and heeding to God.
It is also the case for theists that the very existence of stability and order in creation irresistibly points to the continuous involvement of a deity-in this case God. The Book of Exodus 9:22-26 gives an account of how God was actively involved in the supervision of which people were affected by hail which He sent as punishment for transgressions. The Book of Exodus 10:21-23 further confirms the fact that the active involvement of God was not only limited to people as part of creation, but also to inanimate things where He sent darkness to cover the area for three days. The visitation of plagues by God on His people whom He had created shows that God is always in control and will not countenance the continued sin of man as His creation. In the event that the Philosophy Professor is being egged on by a female student to pass her in the examinations in the exchange for sexual favors or monetary gifts, the Professor should discourage and denounce such offers and instead show her the right way. This would be in recognition that such behavior would be abhorrent before God and could result to a punishment like in the case of Israelites who were punished by plagues.
In Genesis 11:5-8, the Bible states that the Lord came down to see the city and tower which the sons of men had built in a bid to go up to the heavens. The Lord subsequently confused the languages of men and scattered them all over the earth. This is a clear demonstration of actual involvement of God in his creation. It sends the message that His creation-including man cannot and should not compete with its Creator in the different endeavors. In the case that the Philosophy Professor, as a respected intellectual seems to appeal more to logic that emanates from philosophy and tries to delve into philosophical doctrines to explain life, inconsistent with God’s word, he should desist from so doing. Similarly, in his interaction with students and fellow workmates, he must be cautious to ensure that he does not indoctrinate the students or workmates with philosophical teachings that run afoul of the teachings of the Scripture as doing so would contravene the principles of God.
Needless to say, this does not suggest that the wisdom of man is of no value. The Book of Proverbs makes several analogies about the worldly things. In Job 28:1-11, it is acknowledged of the achievements of human wisdom though they all originate from God. In Acts 7:28, Paul makes a mention of the poets of the time and their sayings. This notwithstanding, it does not preclude the theists from practicing their belief in whatever vocation they are in. And in the event they do so, the interaction with others essentially changes to mirror the will of God.
References
Gregory, A. (2010). Religious Studies: A Global View. New York: Routledge.
Mathews, C. (2006). The Discipline and Its Other: The Dialectic of Alterity in the Study of Religion. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 74(1), 56-87.
Turk, M. (2013). Naturalistic Foundations of the Idea of the Holy: Darwinian Roots of Rudolf Otto’s Theology. Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, 12(35), 45-56.
