Do not be excessively righteous, and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself? (Eccl 7:16-17)
This quote from Solomon (cf. Ecclesiastes 7:15-22) requires careful consideration. The context warns of the dangers of dualistic thinking: righteousness versus evil, life versus death, wisdom versus foolishness. It begins with a righteous man “perishing in his righteousness,” followed by “a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness.” To the mind that can only think in terms of black and white, this does not make sense. Solomon is referring to self-righteousness. The self-righteous person measures truth from the perspective of personal experience and biases and fails to gain from the experiences and wisdom of others. To think we are always right leaves no room for personal growth and stifles communication.
The focus of Ecclesiastes is life under the sun versus life with God. Both need to be contemplated more deeply than the dualistic thinking of Modernism and Postmodernism. It requires the ability to think classically.
C.S. Lewis, in his book The Abolition of Man, refers to “men without chests.” An article on Action Institute’s website defines it this way:
Lewis explains that the “The Chest” is one of the “indispensable liaison officers between cerebral man and visceral man. It may even be said that it is by this middle element that man is man: for by his intellect he is mere spirit and by his appetite mere animal.” Without “Chests” we are unable to have confidence that we can grasp objective reality and objective truth. (see)
Classical Thinking is the opposite of Classical Conditioning. The latter comes from Pavlovian Theory (remember Pavlov’s dog), which reduces human behavior to stimulus/response. Western culture has been reduced to Pavlov’s philosophy of human behavior.
Dualistic thinking is a byproduct of the fall. The missing link is wisdom. Solomon goes on to say:
Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you grasp one thing, and also not let go of the other; for the one who fears God comes forth with both of them.
Wisdom strengthens a wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. (Eccl 7:17-20)
The Holy Spirit was given to the Church to correct dualistic thinking. Those who are born of God and who receive the indwelling Holy Spirit, have the “mind of Christ” (1 Cor 1:16), are “transformed by the renewing of (our) mind (Rom 12:2), are “seated with Christ in the heavenly places” (Eph 2:3), and “seek the things above where Christ is seated” (Col 3:1).
Dualistic thinking: righteousness versus evil, I’m right, you are wrong, leaves no room for mutually contemplating the deeper truths of Scripture in the conversation. It is lacking in moral judgment. It squelches communication because it does not allow others in the discussion to experience the pleasure of deeper thought.