In Colossians 2:8, the Apostle Paul warns against the claims of special knowledge that come from the spiritual powers of this world and human reasoning. Elsewhere, Paul calls it the “doctrine of demons” (1 Tim 4:1). The influence of the false teachers and the infiltration of this “special knowledge” into the church was a big problem for the Colossian believers. It’s still a big problem for the church today.

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6 Empty Philosophies

1. Atheistic Materialism

• Claim: Reality is only matter; there is no soul, no God, no transcendent meaning.
• Effect: Reduces the human body to a machine, desire to chemical impulses, morality to preference.
• Result: People live as consumers and producers, measuring worth by possessions and productivity.

2. Postmodernism

• Claim: Truth is relative, identity is fluid, meaning is constructed by individuals or communities.
• Effect: Undermines objective morality and God’s design; the body becomes a canvas for self-expression without limits.
• Result: Confusion about gender, sexuality, and purpose; fragmentation of community into competing narratives.

3. Humanism

• Claim: Humanity is the measure of all things; progress and ethics can be achieved apart from God.
• Effect: Elevates human autonomy, denies dependence on the Creator.
• Result: Pride in human achievement, but despair when confronted with suffering, death, or moral failure.

4. Scientism

• Claim: Only what can be measured or tested is real or valuable.
• Effect: Reduces the body to biology, the mind to neurons, and morality to evolutionary survival.
• Result: Devalues the soul, dismisses spiritual realities, and leaves no framework for meaning beyond data.

5. Identity Politics (Critical Theory)

• Claim: Human identity and morality are defined primarily by power structures, race, and oppression.
• Effect: Reduces people to categories of oppressor or oppressed, rather than image-bearers of God.
• Result: Fuels division, resentment, and perpetual conflict, rather than reconciliation in Christ.

6. Transhumanism

• Claim: Technology can upgrade or replace the human body, enabling people to transcend natural limits. Salvation comes through innovation, not redemption.
• Effect: Treats the body as outdated hardware to be modified, merged with machines, or discarded, redefining identity in technological rather than biblical terms (i.e. image-bearers of God).
• Result: Offers false hope of self‑made immortality and denies the goodness of God‑given embodied life, replacing dependence on God with dependence on human ingenuity

The Trajectory of These Philosophies

• Step 1: They sound plausible, even compassionate: “freedom,” “progress,” “justice.”
• Step 2: They subtly deny God’s authority and the goodness of His design.
• Step 3: They reshape desires, redefine identity, and normalize sin.
• Step 4: They fracture society, producing division, despair, and destruction.
• Step 5: They leave people either enslaved to the flesh or seeking salvation through human ingenuity, with no hope of true resurrection.

Here’s what the Bible says:

Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ (Col. 2:8).

Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons (1 Tim. 4:1).

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect (Rom. 12:2).

“My Feelings Define Reality”

Our culture has accepted a powerful but harmful idea: the inner self has more authority than the world God created. When that belief takes root, it changes how people think about the body, identity, right and wrong, and even truth itself. This is why the “beautiful at any size” narrative, when taken to its extreme, mirrors the logic of transgender ideology: my subjective self‑perception overrides the objective reality of my body.

This way of thinking shows up in many popular slogans. They sound kind, positive, and empowering; but they quietly teach us to trust our inner impulses more than God’s design. These messages all share the same assumption: the inner self is the final authority, and the body must bend to its wishes.

1. “Live your truth.” This mantra assumes truth is not something we receive but something we create. It elevates personal feelings above objective reality, including the reality of the body.
2. “Follow your heart.” This treats desire as morally authoritative. Scripture teaches the opposite: the heart must be renewed, trained, and disciplined. The flesh loves this slogan because it sanctifies impulse.
3. “You do you.” This elevates autonomy as the highest good. It suggests that self‑expression is more important than wisdom, community, or obedience to God.
4. “Be true to yourself.” This assumes the self is inherently good and trustworthy. Biblically, the self must be crucified and remade in Christ. Authenticity is not found by looking inward but upward.
5. “My body, my choice.” This treats the body as a possession rather than a stewardship. It disconnects bodily reality from moral responsibility and denies that God has authority over the body He created.
6. “Love is love.” This collapses all distinctions and boundaries. It removes design, purpose, and moral shape from relationships, implying that desire alone defines what is good.
7. “As long as it makes you happy.” This makes personal happiness the highest moral authority. It ignores the destructive potential of disordered desires and the biblical call to holiness.
8. “Don’t let anyone tell you who you are.” This rejects external authority, including God’s. Identity becomes self‑invented rather than received from the Creator.
9. “Your body doesn’t define you.” This separates identity from embodiment. It is the philosophical root of both extreme body‑positivity and gender ideology. It denies that the body is part of God’s good design.
10. “Beauty is whatever you say it is.” This makes aesthetics purely subjective. It denies the reality of physical health, the goodness of created norms, and the need to steward the body wisely.

Why These Messages Matter

These slogans are appealing because they promise autonomy, affirmation, and freedom from judgment. But they ultimately collapse under the weight of reality. The body, creation, and moral order do not bend to personal preference. When people try to live as if they do, the result is confusion, anxiety, shame, and self‑destruction. And because of that, the body is something to receive with gratitude, not reinvent according to our feelings.