2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Compilation of Philosophical Support of Christian Theology, December 10, 2009
This review is from: For Faith and Clarity: Philosophical Contributions to Christian Theology (Paperback)
While I'm holding firm on my presuppositional philosophical view, I must acknowledge that the contributors of this work provided much to ponder. In "For Faith and Clarity" James K. Beilby offers a stimulating anthology of the relationship between philosophy and Christian theology. He loads this volume with some heavy hitters of modern Christian philosophy: Alvin Plantinga, William Lane Craig, Nicholas Wolterstorff, JP Moreland and others.
Chapter topics include:
- General ontology and theology
- Religious epistemology
- Inerrancy
- Pantheism
- Divine simplicity
- and other salient essays
My favorite chapters were Moser's and Plantinga's. Moser's exposition on reorienting religious epistemology is short and to the point (after all it is just one chapter in this collection). He asserts that "God's self-revelation of transforming love takes its recipients beyond mere historical and scientific probabilities to a foundation of personal acquaintance with God" (p. 78). Most Evangelicals will not affirm Plantinga's conclusion that design is compatible with evolution (but not compatible with Naturalism), but his essay is full of fascinating insights.
One may limit his epistemic ground to the triune God who alone furnishes the a priori essentials for immaterial universal immutables including the laws of logic, moral law, mathematics, etc. (like I do), but everyone who reads this volume and ruminates on its contentions will gain understanding on the relationship between philosophy and theology.
Most chapters are written at a high-school level or greater, nevertheless it's graspable and cognizable for the non-philosopher.
The Necessary Existence of God: The Proof of Christianity Through Presuppositional Apologetics
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An Unremarkable Introduction to Philosophical Theology, May 30, 2009
This review is from: For Faith and Clarity: Philosophical Contributions to Christian Theology (Paperback)
The tagline of this book is "Philosophical Contributions to Christian theology." Thus, the 11 essays in this book are by professional philosophers who apply their own methodology and insights to theological issues. That being said, it is ideal for theology majors or interested laypersons. Most of the essays are not too technical, and they cover a wide range of issues--pantheism, speech acts and inerrancy, divine attributes, metaphysics of human persons, and theological/philosophical methodological issues. Further, most of the essays are crafted as to not be hostile to theology, but rather to instruct and aid it.
However, the anthology, as a whole, is relatively unremarkable. At least three of the essays are shorter glosses on full length books (Wolterstorff's, Hasker's, and Richards'). This isn't bad per se, but for a more elaborate treatment of those topics (justice, emergent dualism, and divine simplicity, respectively), one will do better to buy the respective book. And, the glosses add no substantial information for those already familiar with the topics. (This certainly isn't to say that these three essays are poor in quality--indeed, they are some of the finest in the book.) Two of the essays--Craig's on pantheism, and Clark's on inerrancy and speech acts--are particularly strong, and deserving of a read. However, two or three of the essays are not very good--with one in particular lapsing into a rant of sorts against relativism (whatever that may be--it's not defined). Plantinga's essay "Evolution and Design" is worth highlighting because it makes a serious effort to be relevant to theological issues regarding creation, evolution, and modern science. Similarly, Keith Yandell's essay successfully navigates the reader through all the major forms of the problem of evil, even sketching some preliminary responses to each form.
Overall, the book is mixed. Some of the essay are very strong, some strong, and others downright bad. Some of the essays will be interesting and useful to the intended theologically -interested audience, others will not. It's certainly not one of the best example of philosophers contributing to theology (a less accessible, but very impressive, example would be
Philosophy and the Christian Faith (University of Notre Dame Studies in the Philosophy of Religion, No. 5)), but it can't be the worst. It also tries, in style and tone, to be accessible and amicable to theology, which is worth a great deal. But, in practicality, it simply is only an option for those who want to "get their feet wet" in philosophical theology, and it's not a very good one at that.
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