by Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Useful books on philosophy and the believer:
Some Christians are squeamish about or antagonistic to philosophy. But they should not be. We should assess all things in the light of the biblical revelation, including philosophical thought. And anyone who studies Western philosophy knows that in so many ways they are also studying the history of Christian thought, be it Augustine or Anselm or Abelard or Aquinas or Erasmus or Edwards or Kierkegaard or Plantinga or Swinburne, etc.
But some philosophies and philosophers can be antagonistic or in opposition to Christian philosophy and theology. That would include things like Eastern thought, and atheistic and naturalistic Western philosophers, postmodernists and others.
But if at its core philosophy simply means the ‘love of wisdom,’ then Christians should not shy away from it. Of course it is God’s wisdom that we want to listen to, pursue, and share with others. But some secular philosophers can sometimes have wise things to say as well. As has been said, all truth is God’s truth. As C. S. Lewis rightly reminded us:
If all the world were Christian it might not matter if all the world were uneducated. But, as it is, a cultural life will exist outside the Church whether it exists inside or not. To be ignorant and simple now—not to be able to meet the enemies on their own ground—would be to throw down our weapons, and to betray our uneducated brethren who have, under God, no defence but us against the intellectual attacks of the heathen. Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered.Some recommended volumes