a case for christian philosophy

8/12/2019 A Case for Christian Philosophy

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A Case For Christian PhilosophyRichard B. Cunningham

Several yearsago,while on sabbatical at Cambridge, I was introduced to anAnglican philosopher of religion as Professor of Christian Philosophy at TheSouthern Baptist Theological Seminary. He replied wryly, "Oh! I didn't knowSouthern Baptists were interested in philosophy." In fact, most probably arenot. But the same observation could be made of a large segment of the Protestant communities today.

There has been a long tradition of antipathy toward philosophy amongchurches and theologians birthed in the Reformation, an attitude accelerated inthis 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 offaith to the scrutiny of reason or building the insights of revelation on thefoundation of natural theology.

Yet it is standard practice for a theological seminary to include a philosopher of religion within its faculty. One suspects that within many Protestantcontexts the subject itself is treated withproforma respectorbenign neglect bysome theologians and with trepidation or resistance by many students. MostReformation thinkers know that theology is the heartbeat of the body of divinity. 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 qualifierChristian to the wordphilosophy, as though any Christian assumptions withinthe philosophical arena are improper. In their view, Christian philosophy iseither theology masquerading as philosophy or corrupted philosophy. Although recognizing that there are Christians who are philosophers, they contend 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 philosopher would have felt no need to make a case for Christiah philosophy. Duringthe Middle Ages, the same thinkers were usually both theologians and philoso


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pated from the life of the church. During the Enlightenment, Continentalrationalism and British empiricism began to open the door to diverse philosophies, some of which were divorced from Christian thinking. Many philosophical developments influenced the decline of Christian philosophy. Descartesestablished philosophy on a rigorous rationalistic basis independent of theChristian revelation. Hume's empirical skepticism ruled out metaphysics andcognitive religious claims along with philosophical knowledge of the empiricalworld. In responding to the Humean challenge, Kant restricted knowledge tothe phenomenal world and held that we cannot know things-in-themselves or

any possible transcendent reality. Metaphysics and religious concepts, he contended, have only a regulative purpose for a unified worldview or offer a basisfor the practical moral life.

Many modern thinkers, both philosophical and theological, have submittedto the Humean and Kantian strictures on cognitive religious knowledge andmetaphysics. With certain grand exceptions (Hegel, for example), mostnineteenth-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 criticaltask and attacked the possibility of metaphysics. As a result, in many of theleading Western centers of philosophy, the philosophical styles and agendashave made little allowance for Christian philosophizing or even a broader approach to the philosophy of religion.

Still alongside this phenomenon, some thinkers, both Catholic and Protestant, have continued to pursue the philosophical task as Christians. Some haveworked self-consciously in the service of the church and others have reflected onphilosophical questions in light of their Christian insights. No history of modern philosophy could omit the contributions of distinguished Roman Catholic

philosophers like Jacques Maritain, Bernard Lonergan, Frederick Copleston, orGabriel Marcel. Noteworthy Christian philosophers are sprinkled throughtwentieth-century British thought, people like F. R. Tennant, LeonardHodgson, I. T. Ramsey, H. D. Lewis, and Basil Mitchell, to name only a few.Among Southern Baptists, solid contributions to Christian philosophy havebeen made by senior philosophers like John Newport of Southwestern BaptistTheological Seminary and Eric Rust, retired Emeritus Professor at SouthernSeminary.

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In recent years, there has been a revitalization of the philosophy of religion

in general and Christian philosophy in particular. Philosophical discussion ofreligious questions is widespread in contemporary philosophy. Roman Catholicphilosophers continue their creative activity Numerous Protestant philoso


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A Case For Christian PhilosophyReview and Expositor

is out of their primary Christian identity and commitment. One expression ofthe current ferment among Christian philosophers is the Society of ChristianPhilosophers, a rapidly growing organization established in the United Statesin 1977.

The signs of vitality in religious philosophy include the resurgence of traditional as well as innovative forms of natural theology and the emergence ofvarious new approaches to Christian philosophy. One impressive effort is Oxford philosopher Richard Swinburne's much debated probabilistic reformula

tion of the arguments for the existence of God and the coherence of theism onthe basis of inductive confirmation theory.2Another trend is the development ofvarious more modest or reserved styles of natural theology. These approachesfocus uponageneral, natural human awareness of God that formsabackgroundknowledge for one's fundamental trust in reality, a phenomenon described byimages like basic faith, tacit awareness, horizon analysis, ultimate concern, andothers.3Then there is an interesting new approach to Christian philosophy by agroup of American Reformed philosophers who argue for the philosophicallegitimacy of assuming the existence of God and certain other key Christianinsights as basic convictions at the beginning of the philosophical process,without the need to justify them. Notre Dame philosopher Alvin Plantinga, forexample, contends that the theistic philosopher is as much entitled to certaintheistic basic beliefs as nontheistic philosophers are to their basic beliefs.4

Taken together, these and other developments point to a revival of Christianphilosophy in the contemporary era.

A Definition of Christian Philosophy

Christian philosophy is a historical phenomenon. But what exactly is Christian philosophy and what are its dimensions? Christian philosophy isphiloso-

phy, but it isChristian philosophy. In common with other philosophers whoshare the perennial philosophical concerns, the Christian philosopher pondersthe great questions of Ufe, being, meaning, value, destiny, and others. Of course,there isnouniversal agreement about the nature of philosophy, of what it is andwhat it cando.Definitions may run from the broad understanding that philosophy is the effort "to see life steadily and see it whole" to much more specific,detailed, or restricted definitions. Traditional definitions on the grand scaleinclude Plato's view that philosophy is "the striving for cognition of EternalBeing in all things" and Paul TUlich's view that philosophy is "that cognitiveapproach to reality in which reality as such is the subject/'5

Philosophy has traditionally encompassed both critical and constructivetasks. The critical task focuses on a range of questions concerning the relation


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tive task and confined itself to a critical role. Analytical philosophy has largelyrestricted philosophy to the critical analysis of language.

The philosophy of religion is the application of more general philosophicaltools to the basic concerns of religion, as philosophy does with other specificareas of human experience. In the contemporary era, there are quite variedapproaches to the philosophy of religion, some of which strive for a high degreeof detachment and objectivity either on the stage of world religions or moreprimarily within a particular religious tradition. Other philosophers, however,

approach their task with a clear recognition of the existential element withinany reflective philosophical process and therefore philosophize in transparentself-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-tianphilosophy occurs whenever a Christian thinks philosophically about religion and the inclusive dimensions of existence and being in a clear awareness ofone's existential religious experience and commitment and in the light of keyelements of the Christian revelation. The Christian philosopher thinks philosophically as a believer. The Christian thinker cannot divorce himself from his

deepest encounter with truth as he begins to probe philosophical questionsabout truth, meaning, value, and reality as a whole. As the Christian philosopher strives for critical objectivity in his Christian philosophy, he also takesseriously his own personal faith, the context of Christianity within which helives and thinks, and the most philosophically pregnant ideas of the Christianrevelation.

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 justifyChristianphilosophy on severalfronts. One of these is to the Christian community itself,and in particular tosome ordinary believers and some biblical and systematic theologians within it.On the opposite side are the philosophers who oppose attaching any qualifiersuch asChristianto the way one philosophizes.

Many intellectually alive Christians, who have encountered God throughfaith and interpreted the Christian faith from the biblical revelation and thedeveloping theology of the church, resist subjecting their faith to any kind ofphilosophical reflectionoraligning it with any philosophical point of view. Then-religious language is devotional and worshipful, providing them with an innerassurance of its truth. Religion for them is existential, engaged, committed, andinvolved first level experience. They are convinced that faith should be


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mary value of religious experience or the authority of the biblical revelation forthe ufe of faith. The determinative assumptions, insights, and theology of mostChristians are rooted profoundly in the biblical revelation and in the classictheological traditions of the church. Christian philosophy will notindeed itcould notdisplace faith and revelation but attempts to ground them, clarifytheir concepts, and relate them to the larger areas of life and knowledge.

There are various encouragements, however, within the faith itself forChristians 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 alsobelieves the Christian faith and places both intellectual gifts and personal faithin the service of the Christian church.6In the course of their philosophical work,Christian philosophers can become interpreters, advocates, and defenders ofthe 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 byvarious intellectualsfrom individuals within the religionitself,from scholarswithin a variety of intellectual disciplines, from adherents of other world religions,and from nonreligious philosophers as they engage in their comprehensive philosophical work. If only critics of religion or nonreligious philosophersdo the work of philosophy, then the church can be put on the defensive and theworld is robbed of the insights of philosophers who reflect on the great questions of philosophy from within the Christian faithitself.

In a vital sense, Christian philosophy may be related to the church's mandate for mission. Christian philosophy may help provide a foundation for theapologetic task of the church as it attempts to communicate the gospel to allpeople. In our culturally and religiously pluralistic world, various ideologies

contend for the ultimate allegiances of modern people. Many moderns areinclined to ask for a reasonable justification of the Christian faith that goesbeyond kerygmatic or fideistic appeals. Christianity is no longer believable formany people, and it is essential for contemporary Christians to interpret and

justify the truth of the Christian faith as a way of understanding humanexistence and reality as a whole.

That need naturally raises the question of why systematic theology, as acentral intellectual discipline of the church, is not sufficient for that task. MostChristian philosophers would surely grant that theology is indispensable. The

ology is the church's reflective development of its understanding of God and hisways with the world, based upon the biblical revelation and the theologicaltraditions of the church as these are brought into creative interplay with


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theologian may have no compulsion to probe the philosophical foundations offaith, interact with critical philosophical questions,orreach toward metaphysical horizons.

Christian philosophers and theologians today, as well as historically, holddiffering views about how philosophy and theology should be related. In myview, Christian philosophy can both complement and contribute to systematictheology. As a complementary discipline, Christian philosophy normally asks

more foundational epistemological questions and works on a more comprehensive scale than do most systematic theologians. In the simplest terms, Christian philosophy questions what theology often assumes and ventures beyondthe work of most theologians in relation to science, culture, world religions, andother areas of experience that are of interest to metaphysics. The Christianphilosopher will be concerned not only with the conceptual clarification of thefaith but with the question of truth in relation to the religious experience ofhumanity and the total sweep of human experience. In demonstrating theexplanatory power of the essential elements of a Christian worldview in thelarger context of ontology and metaphysics, Christian philosophy becomes the

widest expression of faith in search of understanding.Christian philosophy also can contribute to systematic theologyitself.As it

has done for centuries, contemporary Christian philosophy can provide conceptual forms that can be used to express the unique theological content of theChristian faith. In addition, Christian philosophy can critically assess theological concepts and assertions for their clarity, internal coherence, and consistencywithin the whole of theology. Christian philosophy can also criticize sometheologians' easy appropriation of trendy or transient philosophical methodsand ideas that do not necessarily carry overwhelming philosophical credentialsor provide compatibility with the normative ideas of historic Christianity. In

any case, Christian philosophy and systematic theology engage in distinctlydifferent tasks that can nevertheless complement and enrich each other.

The Christian philosopher has perhaps an even greater task in justifyingChristian philosophy within the philosophical community. There are philosophers, both Christian and non-Christian, who argue against the possibility of aChristian philosophy, but for different reasons. One line of objection is represented byYalephilosopher John Smith. Smith, himselfaChristian, defends therole of Christians as philosophers and develops the kind of contributions hethinks Christians can make to secular philosophy and, through interpreting

Christianity, to other branches of knowledge. Nevertheless, he argues againstthe possibility of Christian philosophy on the basis that there is no uniqueChristian approach to many central philosophical issues and questions such as


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solutions to the Christian faith" and about ways Christianity may be compatible with different secular philosophies.7 There are no Christian answers toquestions posed by secular philosophy, which deals only with general occasionsobservable by any philosopher. If the philosopher asks questions posed byChristianity, then Christian philosophy is really theology.

In response to such a view, I would agree that there cannot be a universalChristian philosophy just as there can be no single Christian theology. Smith isat least partially correct in that the prefixChristianis not significant for many

areas of philosophy. There is no Christian logic, philosophy of science, philosophy of economics, aesthetics, and so on, although a Christian worldview mighthave implications for any one of these. Even in such concerns as traditionalnatural theology's exploration of whether reason can establish the existence ornature of God, the believer and unbeliever will tend to approach the problem onthe same neutral grounds. Individual philosophers may utilize different episte-mologies or have divergent views on any number of specialized philosophicalquestions.

On the other hand, many philosophical questions may be illuminated byassumptions and insights out of the Christian revelation. Christian philosophers who differ on numerous general or specific religiously neutral philosophical matters may arrive at a broad view of reality shared by most other Christianthinkers. At the most basic level, Christian philosophy can probe foundationalphilosophical questions and develop metaphysical worldviews that reflect andare made philosophically persuasive by key concepts of the Christian faith, lbcall this approach Christian philosophy is not basically different from identifying other individual philosophies by the commonalities they share in a generalphilosophical method by terms likeempirical, 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 losespurephilosophical

detachment and objectivity in its confessional commitments. In response, onemay contend thatpureobjectivity is an ideal never achieved by any philosopherin history. Every philosophy has a subjective element in it. Any philosophicaltruth is always the truth asthatphilosopher sees it. Every philosopher philosophizes asaconcrete, existing individual, which powerfully shapes how he thinksphilosophically.

No philosopher begins to think as a neutral mind operating inanideologicalvacuum. Each individual is alwaysthisparticular individual, a unique complexof thinking, feeling, willing,andrelating.One's highly individualized existentialcontext inevitably affects where one begins and how one proceeds as a philoso


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The Christian philosophizes from the standpoint at which his encounter withGod and the Christian revelation place him.11The encounter with God as interpreted 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 anyother area of one's life. As the revelation interprets one's spiritual experience, itprovides interpretative keys to a range of important philosophical questions.Neither those insights nor one's existential commitment can be simply set asideas one begins to reflect on the great philosophical questions.

But the Christian philosopher is not a theologian. He is engaged in thephilosophicaltask.He is not proclaiming the faith or doing the detailed dogmatic work of the theologian. He finds certain critical ideas within the revelation to be philosophically valuable, ideas that allow one to deal constructivelywith various philosophical concerns. The Christian philosopher must use ideasout of revelation philosophically and justify them for their philosophical power.As Leonard Hodgson has observed, philosophically potent ideas may comefrom religious prophets as well as from professional philosophers.12Tbdismissan idea because it may originate in Christian revelation is to commit the geneticfallacy. 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 philosophyis 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 philosophic nature."13 The reverse also follows. If it is true, it is philosophicallyirrelevant that it is Christian. The real question is whether the philosophicalinsights taken from Christianity more fully illuminate, interpret, and integrateother areas of human concern. The work of the Christian philosopher, like thatof any other philosopher, must be judged on its own philosophic merits orweaknesses.

The Nature of Christian Philosophy

I have suggested a definition of Christian philosophy as the Christianthinking philosophically about religion and reality in a clear awareness of one'sexistential experience and commitment and in light of the Christian revelation.Let me sum up and further suggest several specific distinguishing marks andtasks that grow out of such a definition.

A first mark of Christian philosophy is that it requires aChristianphilosopher whose philosophical thinking isbelieving thinking. As noted earlier, someChristian philosophers insist that philosophy must start from and remain onneutral nonconfessional ground, appealing only to general occasions or nonreligious sources of experience that are open to all philosophical thinkers. But in


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A second mark is that Christian philosophy is done in the service of theChristian church as well as in the larger philosophical community. That contexthelps set the Christian's philosophical agenda. The Christian philosopher who isdoingChristian philosophy has his own set of primary questions, many representing the philosophical interests of Christianity, that may or may not be thepressing questions of preeminent centers of general philosophy like Oxford,Harvard, or Berkeley. Prevailing contemporary philosophical passions andstyles are notorious for their transient character and are often obvious products

of the prevailing spirit of the age. Christian philosophy may be interested inmany 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 Rmandate to address, in addition, perennial philosophical concerns.

A third mark is that Christian philosophy, when appropriate, will utilizeinsights from the Christian revelation. Several qualifiers should be noted. Manyideas 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 maycriticallyexamine themas concepts. And there are areas of philosophy where revelatory ideas have noapplication or value. There are, however, central ideas in the Christian revelation that contribute insight to such disciplines as epistemology and metaphysics as well as to numerous specific problems addressed in the philosophy ofreligion.

A fourth mark of Christian philosophy is that it isphilosophy. The Christian philosopher must master standard philosophical methodology and disciplines and develop his thought within the rules of the philosophical game. Thetruth of one's ideas, including any that one might derive from revelation, must

be demonstrated in terms of their philosophical explanatory power by generallyaccepted philosophical criteria such as simplicity, inner coherence, correspondence to general facts, comprehensiveness, existential relevance, pragmaticvalue, and ontological and metaphysical fit.

If these are the general marks of Christian philosophy, then what are itsbasic tasks? No one Christian philosopher can define those tasks for everyother. The Christian philosopher functions as a philosopher over a wide spectrum of philosophical concerns, depending upon the interests of a particularphilosopher. 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


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the holistic experience of concrete human beings in the total sweep of historyand the cosmos, one that can incorporate the knowledge that comes throughrevelation and faith as well as through all natural human experience. BecauseChristians have a knowledge about ultimate matters that transcends rigidempirical strictures, that does not necessarily conform to the strictest rules offormal logic, and that has more than merely pragmatic value, Christian epistemology will critique any restrictive epistemology that ignores our existentialexperience and our ontological awareness of the depth ofBeing-itself.

Christian philosophers, along with other philosophers, will wrestle with allbroad epistemological issues and specifically with the question of how we mayarrive at a knowledge of the existence and nature of God. In exploring thequestion of the place of natural theology and what natural reason can do inestablishing the existence and nature of God, individual Christian philosophersmay arrive at conflicting positions. They may hold optimal, moderate, or negative views about the possibilities of natural theology. Christian philosophy, as Ihave defined it, does not stand or fall with one's positive or negative judgmentabout traditional natural theology, although I judge that Christian philosophywould be strengthened if unaided reason could construct either a conclusive or

highly probable argument or set of arguments for the existence of God. Nomatter one's judgment about natural theology, most Christian philosopherswill make a case for and build on the cognitive knowledge that comes toChristians through revelation and faith.

A second task of Christian philosophy is the critical analysis of suchmatters as basic Christian concepts, the nature of religious claims, and Christianity in relation to other worldviews. One level of analysis relates to basicChristian concepts. What is the meaning of individual concepts? Are the concepts internally coherent and consistent with other concepts within Christianity?Morebroadly, what is the nature of religious language?Inwhat way, if any,

does religious language differ from other language usages? Is it ordinary language qualified and oddly nuanced, or is it analogical or metaphorical in function? Does religious language have cognitive referents? What are the noncognitive functions of religious language? There is also the question of the nature andvalidity of religious claims and how they can be justified. Another criticalfunction 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 perennialand contemporary questions raised within religious philosophy. What is reli

gion? What is the nature and origin of religious consciousness? How do thegreat religions compare and contrast, and how do they relate to reality andtruth? What are the varying conceptions of God and how do they reflect


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or not? Does evil count against the claims of the Christian faith? Is there lifeafter death and, if so, what form does it take? Christian philosophers, in common with other philosophers of religion, wrestle with these kinds of questions.

A fourth broad task within the philosophical community is that of interpreting Christianity to the philosopMcal world. This requires that a Christianphilosopher be theologically informed and experientially sensitive to the dynamics of the life of faith and the Christian community. The Christian philoso

pher can critique occasional misrepresentations among philosophers of whatChristians believe and practice. Christian philosophy can also evaluate variousgeneral philosophies in terms of how they are or are not compatible with aChristian worldview. It then can critique those philosophies that can accommodate Christianity only at the cost of abandoning vital elements of a Christianworldview.

Finally, let me suggest that there is a metaphysical task for Christianphilosophy. Christian philosophers may share the widespread contemporaryskepticism about metaphysics. In that case, by my definition at least, theywould be Christians doing philosophy but would not be doing what in the broad

sense would be called Christian philosophy. In working out its own innernecessities, Christian philosophy is driven to formulateaholistic view of reality,one that embraces the existential and the ontological, the human and thecosmos, time and eternity, God and the world.

In a consummate way in metaphysics, the Christian philosopher may utilize central theological concepts ofaChristian worldview for their metaphysicalexplanatory power. Let me suggest the constructive and critical value of selective fundamental Christian ideas for philosophical metaphysics. One is theChristian concept of Goda God who is personal being, omnipotent, omni

scient, omnipresent, benevolent, transcendent and immanent, and purposive inhis creative and redeeming activity. Although antitheists frequently attack thecoherence of theism, one can makeasolid defense of the coherence of theism andthe explanatory value of such a concept of God.15

Or there is the idea of creation out of nothing, a powerful symbol of God'sabsolute creation of the world that affirms the world's distinction from God, theabsolute dependenceandquasi-independence of the worldinrelation to God, thereality and goodness of the world, and the teleologica! character of the cosmos.Such a view has fertile implications for a number of philosophical questionssuch as the explanation of the universe, the nature of electrochemical andorganic processes in relation to ultimate causation, mechanism versus teleology, freedom and determinism, mind and matter, and many more.


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responsible agents; and the eternal significance of our historical existence.Because of this revelatory insight, Christian philosophy will adamantly opposemechanistic, materialistic, behavioristic, or instrumental interpretations ofhuman beings.

Christian philosophy can interpret the broken situation of human beings,our sense of disjunction between our existence and our essence, our sense ofestranged existence analyzed by non-Christian and nonreligious philosophersfrom Plato to Heidegger. In interpreting the unquenchable human drive toward

actualization of our higher potential, Christian philosophers can extrapolatefrom human beings to the person-making character of the cosmic process, whichcan offer a powerful antidote to the varied naturalisms infecting contemporaryculture. There is the incarnational motif that brings the creator of the universeinto the ambiguities of human history, unleashing a reconciling agapeisticmovement in the creative process. In the image ofagape,the Christian philosopher can ground Christian ethics in cosmic loveitself,the ultimate ground andexplanation for existence. Finally, there are the eschatological images thatbreak openateleological vision of the whole cosmic process, a vision that drawsindividuals and societies toward higher potentialities for historical existence.These and other revelatory ideas have philosophical power and value for themetaphysical efforts of philosophy.

In summary, Christian philosophy has a contribution to make to the philosophical task at many levels, from foundational questions through numerousspecific philosophical concerns to ontology and metaphysics. Christian philosophy can develop its philosophical ideas in ways that are both religiously andphilosophically satisfying. To paraphrase an observation of Elton Trueblood afew years ago, in our day, it might be as important for Christians to outthink asto outlive non-Christians.16In that way, Christian philosophy can make a last

ing contribution both to the Ufe of the church and to the philosophical enterprise.

1As an example of Eric Rust's constructive work in Christian philosophy, see his Religion,

Revelation, and Reason(Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1981).2See Richard Swinburne's trilogy of books:TheCoherenceof Theism(Oxford: Clarendon Press,

1977); The Existence of God (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979), and Faith and Reason (Oxford:Clarendon Press, 1981).

3An excellent discussion of these approaches is in Danny R. Stiver, "Converging Approaches toa Natural Awareness of God in Contemporary Natural Theology" (Ph. D. dissertation, The Southern

Baptist Theological Seminary, 1983).4Alvin Plantiga and NicholasWolterstorff, eds.,Faith and Rationality (Notre Dame, Indiana:University of Notre Dame Press, 1983), pp.73-91.


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8

MichaelPolanyi,PersonalKnowledge(Chicago:The UniversityofChicagoPress,1958).9

FrederickCopleston,ReligionandPhilosophy(NewYork:Harper and Row, Publishers,1974),pp.95111;LeonardHodgson,TowardsaChristian Philosophy(London:NisbetandCo.,Ltd.,1946),p.12.

10

Hodgson,Towards a Christian Philosophy,p.12.11

Emil Brunner, Revelation andReason,trans. OliveWyon (Philadelphia:TheWestminster

Press,1946),p.39312

Hodgson,TowardsaChristianPhilosophy,p.12.13

JacquesMaritain,AEssay on Christian Philosophy,trans.EdwardH.Flannery(NewYork:

PhilosophicalLibrary,1955),pp.3031.14SeeRichard Swinburne's discussionofthisprobleminTheCoherenceofTheism.

16

Seethe defensesofRichard SwinburneinThe CoherenceofTheismandofH.P.OweninThe

Christian UnderstandingofGod(London: The UniversityofLondon, The AthlonePress,1969).16

Elton Trueblood,APlaceToStand(NewYork:Harper and Row, Publishers,1969),p.20.

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a case for christian philosophy

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