A Case For Christian Philosophy

Richard B. Cunningham
Several years ago, while on sabbatical at Cambridge, I was introduced to an
Anglican philosopher of religion as Professor of Christian Philosophy at The
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He replied wryly, "Oh! I didn't know
Southern Baptists were interested in philosophy." In fact, most probably are
not. But the same observation could be made of a large segment of the Protes-
tant communities today.
There has been a long tradition of antipathy toward philosophy among
churches and theologians birthed in the Reformation, an attitude accelerated in
this century by the impact of Barthianism in Europe and the United States.
Theological positivism and biblical fideism have dominated much of twentieth-
century Protestantism. Many Christians have resisted submitting the claims of
faith to the scrutiny of reason or building the insights of revelation on the
foundation of natural theology.
Yet it is standard practice for a theological seminary to include a philoso-
pher of religion within its faculty. One suspects that within many Protestant
contexts the subject itself is treated with pro forma respect or benign neglect by
some theologians and with trepidation or resistance by many students. Most
Reformation thinkers know that theology is the heartbeat of the body of divin-
ity. So the Christian philosopher is often compelled to justify the philosophical
task within the thought of the church.
Then there is the opposite pole of the Christian philosopher's dilemma.
There are philosophers who argue that it is unacceptable to attach the qualifier
Christian to the word philosophy, as though any Christian assumptions within
the philosophical arena are improper. In their view, Christian philosophy is
either theology masquerading as philosophy or corrupted philosophy. Al-
though recognizing that there are Christians who are philosophers, they con-
tend that there is no Christian philosophy as such.
This attitude is understandable, given the history of modern Western
philosophy. Yet for many centuries in Western civilization, a Christian philoso-
pher would have felt no need to make a case for Christiah philosophy. During
the Middle Ages, the same thinkers were usually both theologians and philoso-
phers, at one level raising the foundational questions of natural theology and at
another expounding the detailed content of the Christian faith.
With the passing of the centuries in the modern era, philosophy was emanci-
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pated from the life of the church. During the Enlightenment, Continental
rationalism and British empiricism began to open the door to diverse philoso-
phies, some of which were divorced from Christian thinking. Many philosophi-
cal developments influenced the decline of Christian philosophy. Descartes
established philosophy on a rigorous rationalistic basis independent of the
Christian revelation. Hume's empirical skepticism ruled out metaphysics and
cognitive religious claims along with philosophical knowledge of the empirical
world. In responding to the Humean challenge, Kant restricted knowledge to
the phenomenal world and held that we cannot know things-in-themselves or
any possible transcendent reality. Metaphysics and religious concepts, he con-
tended, have only a regulative purpose for a unified worldview or offer a basis
for the practical moral life.
Many modern thinkers, both philosophical and theological, have submitted
to the Humean and Kantian strictures on cognitive religious knowledge and
metaphysics. With certain grand exceptions (Hegel, for example), most
nineteenth-century Continental Christian thinkers, including Kierkegaard,
Schleiermacher, and Ritschl, rejected metaphysics. In the twentieth century,
analytical philosophy, which has become a dominating force in the Anglo-
American context, has generally attempted to restrict philosophy to the critical
task and attacked the possibility of metaphysics. As a result, in many of the
leading Western centers of philosophy, the philosophical styles and agendas
have made little allowance for Christian philosophizing or even a broader ap-
proach to the philosophy of religion.
Still alongside this phenomenon, some thinkers, both Catholic and Protes-
tant, have continued to pursue the philosophical task as Christians. Some have
worked self-consciously in the service of the church and others have reflected on
philosophical questions in light of their Christian insights. No history of mod-
ern philosophy could omit the contributions of distinguished Roman Catholic
philosophers like Jacques Maritain, Bernard Lonergan, Frederick Copleston, or
Gabriel Marcel. Noteworthy Christian philosophers are sprinkled through
twentieth-century British thought, people like F. R. Tennant, Leonard
Hodgson, I. T. Ramsey, H. D. Lewis, and Basil Mitchell, to name only a few.
Among Southern Baptists, solid contributions to Christian philosophy have
been made by senior philosophers like John Newport of Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary and Eric Rust, retired Emeritus Professor at Southern
Seminary.
1
In recent years, there has been a revitalization of the philosophy of religion
in general and Christian philosophy in particular. Philosophical discussion of
religious questions is widespread in contemporary philosophy. Roman Catholic
philosophers continue their creative activity. Numerous Protestant philoso-
phers are now prominently identified as Christian philosophers, thinkers who
are firmly committed to the Christian faith and thoroughly competent as philos-
ophers. Among these are many scholars whose reflective stance as philosophers
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is out of their primary Christian identity and commitment. One expression of
the current ferment among Christian philosophers is the Society of Christian
Philosophers, a rapidly growing organization established in the United States
in 1977.
The signs of vitality in religious philosophy include the resurgence of tradi-
tional as well as innovative forms of natural theology and the emergence of
various new approaches to Christian philosophy. One impressive effort is Ox-
ford philosopher Richard Swinburne's much debated probabilistic reformula-
tion of the arguments for the existence of God and the coherence of theism on
the basis of inductive confirmation theory.
2
Another trend is the development of
various more modest or reserved styles of natural theology. These approaches
focus upon a general, natural human awareness of God that forms a background
knowledge for one's fundamental trust in reality, a phenomenon described by
images like basic faith, tacit awareness, horizon analysis, ultimate concern, and
others.
3
Then there is an interesting new approach to Christian philosophy by a
group of American Reformed philosophers who argue for the philosophical
legitimacy of assuming the existence of God and certain other key Christian
insights as basic convictions at the beginning of the philosophical process,
without the need to justify them. Notre Dame philosopher Alvin Plantinga, for
example, contends that the theistic philosopher is as much entitled to certain
theistic basic beliefs as nontheistic philosophers are to their basic beliefs.
4
Taken together, these and other developments point to a revival of Christian
philosophy in the contemporary era.
A Definition of Christian Philosophy
Christian philosophy is a historical phenomenon. But what exactly is Chris-
tian philosophy and what are its dimensions? Christian philosophy is philoso-
phy, but it is Christian philosophy. In common with other philosophers who
share the perennial philosophical concerns, the Christian philosopher ponders
the great questions of Ufe, being, meaning, value, destiny, and others. Of course,
there is no universal agreement about the nature of philosophy, of what it is and
what it can do. Definitions may run from the broad understanding that philoso-
phy is the effort "to see life steadily and see it whole" to much more specific,
detailed, or restricted definitions. Traditional definitions on the grand scale
include Plato's view that philosophy is "the striving for cognition of Eternal
Being in all things" and Paul TUlich's view that philosophy is "that cognitive
approach to reality in which reality as such is the subject/'
5
Philosophy has traditionally encompassed both critical and constructive
tasks. The critical task focuses on a range of questions concerning the relation-
ship of our thought and language to reality, truth, and fact as we analyze our
intellectual tools and thinking process. The traditional constructive task of
philosophy is to integrate all our knowledge in an inclusive and comprehensive
understanding of reality. Much modern philosophy has eliminated the construc-
495
tive task and confined itself to a critical role. Analytical philosophy has largely
restricted philosophy to the critical analysis of language.
The philosophy of religion is the application of more general philosophical
tools to the basic concerns of religion, as philosophy does with other specific
areas of human experience. In the contemporary era, there are quite varied
approaches to the philosophy of religion, some of which strive for a high degree
of detachment and objectivity either on the stage of world religions or more
primarily within a particular religious tradition. Other philosophers, however,
approach their task with a clear recognition of the existential element within
any reflective philosophical process and therefore philosophize in transparent
self-awareness as religious believers within a particular religious tradition.
Christian philosophy, as I would define it, falls within this latter approach.
Christian philosophy involves more than a Christian doing philosophy. Chris-
tian philosophy occurs whenever a Christian thinks philosophically about reli-
gion and the inclusive dimensions of existence and being in a clear awareness of
one's existential religious experience and commitment and in the light of key
elements of the Christian revelation. The Christian philosopher thinks philo-
sophically as a believer. The Christian thinker cannot divorce himself from his
deepest encounter with truth as he begins to probe philosophical questions
about truth, meaning, value, and reality as a whole. As the Christian philoso-
pher strives for critical objectivity in his Christian philosophy, he also takes
seriously his own personal faith, the context of Christianity within which he
lives and thinks, and the most philosophically pregnant ideas of the Christian
revelation.
Christian Philosophy and Its Critics
There is the question of whether there can or should be a Christian philoso-
phy. An advocate of the discipline must justify Christian philosophy on several
fronts. One of these is to the Christian community itself, and in particular to
some ordinary believers and some biblical and systematic theologians within it.
On the opposite side are the philosophers who oppose attaching any qualifier
such as Christian to the way one philosophizes.
Many intellectually alive Christians, who have encountered God through
faith and interpreted the Christian faith from the biblical revelation and the
developing theology of the church, resist subjecting their faith to any kind of
philosophical reflection or aligning it with any philosophical point of view. Then-
religious language is devotional and worshipful, providing them with an inner
assurance of its truth. Religion for them is existential, engaged, committed, and
involved first level experience. They are convinced that faith should be
neither critically assessed nor seduced into abstract reflection by vain philoso-
phy.
The Christian philosopher would rarely dispute the importance and pri-
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mary value of religious experience or the authority of the biblical revelation for
the ufe of faith. The determinative assumptions, insights, and theology of most
Christians are rooted profoundly in the biblical revelation and in the classic
theological traditions of the church. Christian philosophy will notindeed it
could notdisplace faith and revelation but attempts to ground them, clarify
their concepts, and relate them to the larger areas of life and knowledge.
There are various encouragements, however, within the faith itself for
Christians to pursue the philosophical task. For one thing, there is the factor of
spiritual gifts within the church. As J. V. Langmead Casserley has observed,
Christian philosophy will result whenever a person with philosophical gifts also
believes the Christian faith and places both intellectual gifts and personal faith
in the service of the Christian church.
6
In the course of their philosophical work,
Christian philosophers can become interpreters, advocates, and defenders of
the major elements of a Christian worldview.
That philosophical role for Christians is important in our kind of world.
Living religions, including Christianity, will receive critical examination by
various intellectualsfrom individuals within the religion itself, from scholars
within a variety of intellectual disciplines, from adherents of other world reli-
gions, and from nonreligious philosophers as they engage in their comprehen-
sive philosophical work. If only critics of religion or nonreligious philosophers
do the work of philosophy, then the church can be put on the defensive and the
world is robbed of the insights of philosophers who reflect on the great ques-
tions of philosophy from within the Christian faith itself.
In a vital sense, Christian philosophy may be related to the church's man-
date for mission. Christian philosophy may help provide a foundation for the
apologetic task of the church as it attempts to communicate the gospel to all
people. In our culturally and religiously pluralistic world, various ideologies
contend for the ultimate allegiances of modern people. Many moderns are
inclined to ask for a reasonable justification of the Christian faith that goes
beyond kerygmatic or fideistic appeals. Christianity is no longer believable for
many people, and it is essential for contemporary Christians to interpret and
justify the truth of the Christian faith as a way of understanding human
existence and reality as a whole.
That need naturally raises the question of why systematic theology, as a
central intellectual discipline of the church, is not sufficient for that task. Most
Christian philosophers would surely grant that theology is indispensable. The-
ology is the church's reflective development of its understanding of God and his
ways with the world, based upon the biblical revelation and the theological
traditions of the church as these are brought into creative interplay with
contemporary life and thought. The theologian usually functionally assumes
the truth of the Christian faith and expounds and applies that truth as he
understands it. As he grapples with the intricacies of the church's faith, the
497
theologian may have no compulsion to probe the philosophical foundations of
faith, interact with critical philosophical questions, or reach toward metaphysi-
cal horizons.
Christian philosophers and theologians today, as well as historically, hold
differing views about how philosophy and theology should be related. In my
view, Christian philosophy can both complement and contribute to systematic
theology. As a complementary discipline, Christian philosophy normally asks
more foundational epistemological questions and works on a more comprehen-
sive scale than do most systematic theologians. In the simplest terms, Chris-
tian philosophy questions what theology often assumes and ventures beyond
the work of most theologians in relation to science, culture, world religions, and
other areas of experience that are of interest to metaphysics. The Christian
philosopher will be concerned not only with the conceptual clarification of the
faith but with the question of truth in relation to the religious experience of
humanity and the total sweep of human experience. In demonstrating the
explanatory power of the essential elements of a Christian worldview in the
larger context of ontology and metaphysics, Christian philosophy becomes the
widest expression of faith in search of understanding.
Christian philosophy also can contribute to systematic theology itself. As it
has done for centuries, contemporary Christian philosophy can provide concep-
tual forms that can be used to express the unique theological content of the
Christian faith. In addition, Christian philosophy can critically assess theologi-
cal concepts and assertions for their clarity, internal coherence, and consistency
within the whole of theology. Christian philosophy can also criticize some
theologians' easy appropriation of trendy or transient philosophical methods
and ideas that do not necessarily carry overwhelming philosophical credentials
or provide compatibility with the normative ideas of historic Christianity. In
any case, Christian philosophy and systematic theology engage in distinctly
different tasks that can nevertheless complement and enrich each other.
The Christian philosopher has perhaps an even greater task in justifying
Christian philosophy within the philosophical community. There are philoso-
phers, both Christian and non-Christian, who argue against the possibility of a
Christian philosophy, but for different reasons. One line of objection is repre-
sented by Yale philosopher John Smith. Smith, himself a Christian, defends the
role of Christians as philosophers and develops the kind of contributions he
thinks Christians can make to secular philosophy and, through interpreting
Christianity, to other branches of knowledge. Nevertheless, he argues against
the possibility of Christian philosophy on the basis that there is no unique
Christian approach to many central philosophical issues and questions such as
the problem of internal and external relations, of mind and body, or of the
nominalist-realist issue. Rather, the Christian, Smith contends, should be a
secular philosopher and inquire about "the relevance of certain philosophical
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solutions to the Christian faith" and about ways Christianity may be compati-
ble with different secular philosophies.
7
There are no Christian answers to
questions posed by secular philosophy, which deals only with general occasions
observable by any philosopher. If the philosopher asks questions posed by
Christianity, then Christian philosophy is really theology.
In response to such a view, I would agree that there cannot be a universal
Christian philosophy just as there can be no single Christian theology. Smith is
at least partially correct in that the prefix Christian is not significant for many
areas of philosophy. There is no Christian logic, philosophy of science, philoso-
phy of economics, aesthetics, and so on, although a Christian worldview might
have implications for any one of these. Even in such concerns as traditional
natural theology's exploration of whether reason can establish the existence or
nature of God, the believer and unbeliever will tend to approach the problem on
the same neutral grounds. Individual philosophers may utilize different episte-
mologies or have divergent views on any number of specialized philosophical
questions.
On the other hand, many philosophical questions may be illuminated by
assumptions and insights out of the Christian revelation. Christian philoso-
phers who differ on numerous general or specific religiously neutral philosophi-
cal matters may arrive at a broad view of reality shared by most other Christian
thinkers. At the most basic level, Christian philosophy can probe foundational
philosophical questions and develop metaphysical worldviews that reflect and
are made philosophically persuasive by key concepts of the Christian faith, l b
call this approach Christian philosophy is not basically different from identify-
ing other individual philosophies by the commonalities they share in a general
philosophical method by terms like empirical, analytical, naturalistic, idealistic,
and others. The qualifiers clearly indicate that such philosophies work within
distinctive methodological parameters.
Another objection to Christian philosophy is that it loses pure philosophical
detachment and objectivity in its confessional commitments. In response, one
may contend that pure objectivity is an ideal never achieved by any philosopher
in history. Every philosophy has a subjective element in it. Any philosophical
truth is always the truth as that philosopher sees it. Every philosopher philoso-
phizes as a concrete, existing individual, which powerfully shapes how he thinks
philosophically.
No philosopher begins to think as a neutral mind operating in an ideological
vacuum. Each individual is always this particular individual, a unique complex
of thinking, feeling, willing, and relating. One's highly individualized existential
context inevitably affects where one begins and how one proceeds as a philoso-
pher. Many factorsbiological makeup, childhood experiences, human relation-
ships, geographical setting, cultural surroundings, and religious or lack of
religious experiences, to name a fewinfluence what one initially sees and feels
499
about the universe, what one considers most important in one's experience,
what one takes to be clues to the larger questions of life, and what models one
chooses to interpret the world around us. Such factors unavoidably create in
every person a metaphysical bias (which is probably mostly unconscious) and
what Michael Polanyi calls a tacit personal knowledge of the truth as we see it
before we ever consciously formulate it.
8
No matter how hard we strive for
objectivity, one can never fully transcend one's own peculiar egocentric predica-
ment.
Virtually all philosophers recognize that any philosophy works out of cer-
tain absolute presuppositions, a starting point that one does not argue to but
from which one proceeds. Those foundational assumptions embody a vision, a
picture, an interpretation, a model, a general view of reality. Both metaphysical
and nonmetaphysical philosophies begin with such absolute foundations.
9
Metaphysical philosophies assume that everything fits into an intelligible
scheme, and they search for the clue to the nature of an ordered system in which
everything has its proper place. The particular clue becomes a working hypothe-
sis to be tested in the whole of experience as the philosopher develops his
individual scheme of thought. One may persuasively argue that different philos-
ophies are the result of differing insights about what is the key to reality taken
as a whole.
10
These absolute presuppositions are described by different philoso-
phers by ideas like fundamental axioms, first principles, basic convictions, or
basic beliefs.
Why does one philosopher begin with a certain grand vision or set of
absolute presuppositions and another philosopher with others? One can make a
case that a philosopher's particular vision grows out of one's metaphysical bias
or Gestalt on reality, one's intuitive hunch about the nature of things and how
to know reality. Certainly, responsible philosophers critically reflect back upon
their own first principles in ways that might cause some to shift their ground in
the course of the development of their philosophy. And philosophers will at-
tempt to justify at some level the first principles with which they begin. Other-
wise there would be no grounds for choosing between alternative foundational
presuppositions. The fact remains, however, that whatever the source of its
particular starting point, whether personally intuited or critically selected, no
philosophyempirical, rational, or any othercan conclusively prove the valid-
ity of its own first principles within the strictures of its own methodology.
So one can dismiss the idea that only Christian philosophers bring their
worldview, convictions, and commitments into the philosophical arena. All
philosophers do. Some are inclined to a narrow empiricism, or a rigid rational-
ism, or a reductionistic materialism. Some are strangers to religious experience.
Some have been religious believers but are so no longer. Others live out of a
particular religious commitment. All those existential factors, including the
religious, influence the perspectival stance of a given philosopher.
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The Christian philosophizes from the standpoint at which his encounter with
God and the Christian revelation place him.
11
The encounter with God as inter-
preted in the revelation is the most profound of all the Christian's experiences,
and it will therefore touch one's philosophizing as naturally as it touches any
other area of one's life. As the revelation interprets one's spiritual experience, it
provides interpretative keys to a range of important philosophical questions.
Neither those insights nor one's existential commitment can be simply set aside
as one begins to reflect on the great philosophical questions.
But the Christian philosopher is not a theologian. He is engaged in the
philosophical task. He is not proclaiming the faith or doing the detailed dog-
matic work of the theologian. He finds certain critical ideas within the revela-
tion to be philosophically valuable, ideas that allow one to deal constructively
with various philosophical concerns. The Christian philosopher must use ideas
out of revelation philosophically and justify them for their philosophical power.
As Leonard Hodgson has observed, philosophically potent ideas may come
from religious prophets as well as from professional philosophers.
12
Tb dismiss
an idea because it may originate in Christian revelation is to commit the genetic
fallacy. The origin of an idea is irrelevant to its truth. If it is true, it is true. In
Jacques Maritain's words, "The fact remains that what counts in a philosophy
is not that it is Christian but that it is true Philosophy depends on reason;
and the truer it is, the more will it remain rigorously faithful. . . to its philo-
sophic nature."
13
The reverse also follows. If it is true, it is philosophically
irrelevant that it is Christian. The real question is whether the philosophical
insights taken from Christianity more fully illuminate, interpret, and integrate
other areas of human concern. The work of the Christian philosopher, like that
of any other philosopher, must be judged on its own philosophic merits or
weaknesses.
The Nature of Christian Philosophy
I have suggested a definition of Christian philosophy as the Christian
thinking philosophically about religion and reality in a clear awareness of one's
existential experience and commitment and in light of the Christian revelation.
Let me sum up and further suggest several specific distinguishing marks and
tasks that grow out of such a definition.
A first mark of Christian philosophy is that it requires a Christian philoso-
pher whose philosophical thinking is believing thinking. As noted earlier, some
Christian philosophers insist that philosophy must start from and remain on
neutral nonconfessional ground, appealing only to general occasions or nonreli-
gious sources of experience that are open to all philosophical thinkers. But in
Christian philosophy, one does not delete the confessional dimension of one's
religious experience but attempts to recognize and utilize it in a controlled
philosophical way.
501
A second mark is that Christian philosophy is done in the service of the
Christian church as well as in the larger philosophical community. That context
helps set the Christian's philosophical agenda. The Christian philosopher who is
doing Christian philosophy has his own set of primary questions, many repre-
senting the philosophical interests of Christianity, that may or may not be the
pressing questions of preeminent centers of general philosophy like Oxford,
Harvard, or Berkeley. Prevailing contemporary philosophical passions and
styles are notorious for their transient character and are often obvious products
of the prevailing spirit of the age. Christian philosophy may be interested in
many of the dominating technical questions or problems of secular philosophy,
many of which are important, but will not necessarily be consumed by them.
Christian philosophy has R mandate to address, in addition, perennial philo-
sophical concerns.
A third mark is that Christian philosophy, when appropriate, will utilize
insights from the Christian revelation. Several qualifiers should be noted. Many
ideas in the revelation that are central to the theologiansuch as election,
grace, repentance, salvation, sanctification, or churchare not important to the
constructive work of the philosopher, although he may critically examine them
as concepts. And there are areas of philosophy where revelatory ideas have no
application or value. There are, however, central ideas in the Christian revela-
tion that contribute insight to such disciplines as epistemology and metaphy-
sics as well as to numerous specific problems addressed in the philosophy of
religion.
A fourth mark of Christian philosophy is that it is philosophy. The Chris-
tian philosopher must master standard philosophical methodology and disci-
plines and develop his thought within the rules of the philosophical game. The
truth of one's ideas, including any that one might derive from revelation, must
be demonstrated in terms of their philosophical explanatory power by generally
accepted philosophical criteria such as simplicity, inner coherence, correspon-
dence to general facts, comprehensiveness, existential relevance, pragmatic
value, and ontological and metaphysical fit.
If these are the general marks of Christian philosophy, then what are its
basic tasks? No one Christian philosopher can define those tasks for every
other. The Christian philosopher functions as a philosopher over a wide spec-
trum of philosophical concerns, depending upon the interests of a particular
philosopher. In terms of the philosopher doing specifically Christian philoso-
phy, there are at a minimum several obvious areas that one would address.
The most basic continues to be epistemology, the perennial struggle with
the problem of knowledge. In my own view, Christian philosophy will not
necessarily be bound to a particular epistemologyfor example, rationalism,
empiricism, intuitionism, or existentialism. Whatever the dominating ap-
proach, Christian philosophy will insist on a broad epistemology that embraces
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the holistic experience of concrete human beings in the total sweep of history
and the cosmos, one that can incorporate the knowledge that comes through
revelation and faith as well as through all natural human experience. Because
Christians have a knowledge about ultimate matters that transcends rigid
empirical strictures, that does not necessarily conform to the strictest rules of
formal logic, and that has more than merely pragmatic value, Christian episte-
mology will critique any restrictive epistemology that ignores our existential
experience and our ontological awareness of the depth of Being-itself.
Christian philosophers, along with other philosophers, will wrestle with all
broad epistemological issues and specifically with the question of how we may
arrive at a knowledge of the existence and nature of God. In exploring the
question of the place of natural theology and what natural reason can do in
establishing the existence and nature of God, individual Christian philosophers
may arrive at conflicting positions. They may hold optimal, moderate, or nega-
tive views about the possibilities of natural theology. Christian philosophy, as I
have defined it, does not stand or fall with one's positive or negative judgment
about traditional natural theology, although I judge that Christian philosophy
would be strengthened if unaided reason could construct either a conclusive or
highly probable argument or set of arguments for the existence of God. No
matter one's judgment about natural theology, most Christian philosophers
will make a case for and build on the cognitive knowledge that comes to
Christians through revelation and faith.
A second task of Christian philosophy is the critical analysis of such
matters as basic Christian concepts, the nature of religious claims, and Chris-
tianity in relation to other worldviews. One level of analysis relates to basic
Christian concepts. What is the meaning of individual concepts? Are the con-
cepts internally coherent and consistent with other concepts within Christian-
ity? More broadly, what is the nature of religious language? In what way, if any,
does religious language differ from other language usages? Is it ordinary lan-
guage qualified and oddly nuanced, or is it analogical or metaphorical in func-
tion? Does religious language have cognitive referents? What are the noncogni-
tive functions of religious language? There is also the question of the nature and
validity of religious claims and how they can be justified. Another critical
function is the analysis of Christianity in relation to alternative worldviews,
particularly regarding their respective truth claims.
A third task for Christian philosophy is to address the numerous perennial
and contemporary questions raised within religious philosophy. What is reli-
gion? What is the nature and origin of religious consciousness? How do the
great religions compare and contrast, and how do they relate to reality and
truth? What are the varying conceptions of God and how do they reflect
ultimate being? Are there good reasons to believe in God? What are miracles,
and are they possible? How can religion and science be related? What is a
person? What about the relationship between mind and body? Are humans free
503
or not? Does evil count against the claims of the Christian faith? Is there life
after death and, if so, what form does it take? Christian philosophers, in com-
mon with other philosophers of religion, wrestle with these kinds of questions.
A fourth broad task within the philosophical community is that of inter-
preting Christianity to the philosopMcal world. This requires that a Christian
philosopher be theologically informed and experientially sensitive to the dy-
namics of the life of faith and the Christian community. The Christian philoso-
pher can critique occasional misrepresentations among philosophers of what
Christians believe and practice. Christian philosophy can also evaluate various
general philosophies in terms of how they are or are not compatible with a
Christian worldview. It then can critique those philosophies that can accom-
modate Christianity only at the cost of abandoning vital elements of a Christian
worldview.
Finally, let me suggest that there is a metaphysical task for Christian
philosophy. Christian philosophers may share the widespread contemporary
skepticism about metaphysics. In that case, by my definition at least, they
would be Christians doing philosophy but would not be doing what in the broad
sense would be called Christian philosophy. In working out its own inner
necessities, Christian philosophy is driven to formulate a holistic view of reality,
one that embraces the existential and the ontological, the human and the
cosmos, time and eternity, God and the world.
In a consummate way in metaphysics, the Christian philosopher may uti-
lize central theological concepts of a Christian worldview for their metaphysical
explanatory power. Let me suggest the constructive and critical value of selec-
tive fundamental Christian ideas for philosophical metaphysics. One is the
Christian concept of Goda God who is personal being, omnipotent, omni-
scient, omnipresent, benevolent, transcendent and immanent, and purposive in
his creative and redeeming activity. Although antitheists frequently attack the
coherence of theism, one can make a solid defense of the coherence of theism and
the explanatory value of such a concept of God.
15
Or there is the idea of creation out of nothing, a powerful symbol of God's
absolute creation of the world that affirms the world's distinction from God, the
absolute dependence and quasi-independence of the world in relation to God, the
reality and goodness of the world, and the teleologica! character of the cosmos.
Such a view has fertile implications for a number of philosophical questions
such as the explanation of the universe, the nature of electrochemical and
organic processes in relation to ultimate causation, mechanism versus teleol-
ogy, freedom and determinism, mind and matter, and many more.
Or there is Christian anthropology, centered upon the imago dei, an image
that underscores the uniqueness, dignity, and personal character of human
beings. It images the essential nature of our individuality and our social interre-
latedness; our psychosomatic wholeness; our existence as self-conscious, free,
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responsible agents; and the eternal significance of our historical existence.
Because of this revelatory insight, Christian philosophy will adamantly oppose
mechanistic, materialistic, behavioristic, or instrumental interpretations of hu-
man beings.
Christian philosophy can interpret the broken situation of human beings,
our sense of disjunction between our existence and our essence, our sense of
estranged existence analyzed by non-Christian and nonreligious philosophers
from Plato to Heidegger. In interpreting the unquenchable human drive toward
actualization of our higher potential, Christian philosophers can extrapolate
from human beings to the person-making character of the cosmic process, which
can offer a powerful antidote to the varied naturalisms infecting contemporary
culture. There is the incarnational motif that brings the creator of the universe
into the ambiguities of human history, unleashing a reconciling agapeistic
movement in the creative process. In the image of agape, the Christian philoso-
pher can ground Christian ethics in cosmic love itself, the ultimate ground and
explanation for existence. Finally, there are the eschatological images that
break open a teleological vision of the whole cosmic process, a vision that draws
individuals and societies toward higher potentialities for historical existence.
These and other revelatory ideas have philosophical power and value for the
metaphysical efforts of philosophy.
In summary, Christian philosophy has a contribution to make to the philo-
sophical task at many levels, from foundational questions through numerous
specific philosophical concerns to ontology and metaphysics. Christian philoso-
phy can develop its philosophical ideas in ways that are both religiously and
philosophically satisfying. To paraphrase an observation of Elton Trueblood a
few years ago, in our day, it might be as important for Christians to outthink as
to outlive non-Christians.
16
In that way, Christian philosophy can make a last-
ing contribution both to the Ufe of the church and to the philosophical enter-
prise.
1
As an example of Eric Rust's constructive work in Christian philosophy, see his Religion,
Revelation, and Reason (Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1981).
2
See Richard Swinburne's trilogy of books: The Coherence of Theism (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1977); The Existence of God (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979), and Faith and Reason (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1981).
3
An excellent discussion of these approaches is in Danny R. Stiver, "Converging Approaches to
a Natural Awareness of God in Contemporary Natural Theology" (Ph. D. dissertation, The Southern
Baptist Theological Seminary, 1983).
4
Alvin Plantiga and Nicholas Wolterstorff, eds., Faith and Rationality (Notre Dame, Indiana:
University of Notre Dame Press, 1983), pp. 73-91.
5
Paul Tillich, Systematic Theology (New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1967), 1,18.
6
J. V. Langmead Casserley, The Christian in Philosophy (London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 1951),
p. 13.
7
John Smith, Reason and God (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1961), p. 152.
505
8
Michael Polanyi, Personal Knowledge (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1958).
9
Frederick Copleston, Religion and Philosophy (New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1974),
pp. 95-111; Leonard Hodgson, Towards a Christian Philosophy (London: Nisbet and Co., Ltd., 1946),
p. 12.
10
Hodgson, Towards a Christian Philosophy, p. 12.
11
E mil Brunner, Revelation and Reason, trans. Olive Wyon (Philadelphia: The Westminster
Press, 1946), p. 393
12
Hodgson, Towards a Christian Philosophy, p. 12.
13
Jacques Maritain, A Essay on Christian Philosophy, trans. Edward H. Flannery (New York:
Philosophical Library, 1955), pp. 30-31.
14
See Richard Swinburne's discussion of this problem in The Coherence of Theism.
16
See the defenses of Richard Swinburne in The Coherence of Theism and of H. P. Owen in The
Christian Understanding of God (London: The University of London, The Athlone Press, 1969).
16
Elton Trueblood, A Place To Stand (New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1969), p. 20.
A Selected Bibliography
Briimmer, Vincent. Theology and Philosophical Inquiry. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press,
1982.
Casserley, J. V. Langmead. The Christian in Philosophy. London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 1951.
Copleston, Fredrick C. Religion and Philosophy. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, Inc., 1974.
Emmet, Dorothy M. Philosophy and Faith, London: Student Christian Movement Press, 1936.
Hebblethwaite, Brian and Stewart Sutherland, eds. The Philosophical Frontiers of Christian Theol-
ogy. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1982.
Hodgson, Leonard, Towards a Christian Philosophy. London: Nisbet and Co., Ltd., 1946.
Maritain, Jacques. An Essay on Christian Philosophy. Trans. Edward H. Flannery. New York:
Philosophical Library, 1955.
Mascall, Eric L. The Openness of Being: Natural Theology Today. Philadelphia: The Westminster
Press, 1971.
McLean, George E, ed. Christian Philosophy in the College and Seminary. Washington, D.C.: The
Catholic University of America Press, 1966.
Owen, H. P. The Christian Knowledge of God London: The University of London, The Athlone
Press, 1969.
Plantinga, Alvin and Nicholas Wolterstorff, eds. Faith and Rationality: Reason and Belief in God
Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1983.
Richmond, James. Faith and Rationality. New York: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1966.
Theology and Metaphysics. New York: Shocken Books, 1971.
Rust, Eric C. Religion, Revelation, and Reason. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1981.
Smart, Ninian. Philosophers and Religious Truth. London: SCM Press Ltd., 1969.
Smith, John. Reason and God New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1961.
Swinburne, Richard. Faith and Reason. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981.
506
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