Customer Reviews

Introduction to Philosophy: A Christian Perspective

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Neutrality is a myth. Everyone, including skeptics, has an opinion. The authors of this book honestly present themselves as Christian philosophers. They actually are very objective, laying out for each issue all the options, and then for each options all the Pros and Cons. Each chapter is then followed by some conclusions that are compatible with Christian Theism. This cannot be a bad choice in my eyes, given that non-Christian philosophies end up either in Postmodernism or in other denials of rationality.

Contents:

Part one: Introduction to Philosophy
1. What Is Philosopy?
2. Disciplines Within hilosophy
3. Methodology in Philosophy
4. The Tools of Philosophy
5. The Challenge of Philosophy

Part two: What Is Knowledge?
6. Can We Know?
7, How Can We Know?
8. Is Certainty Possible?
9. How Do We Perceive the External World?
10. How Are Believes Justified?

Part three: .What Is Reality?
11. Is Reality One or Many?
12. The Relationship Between Mind and Body
13. Is Man Free?
14. Does Man Survive Death?
15. Are There Other Minds?
16. What Is Truth?

Part four: What Is the Ultimate?
17. The Relationship Between Faith and Reason
18. What Is Meant by ``God''?
19. Does God Exist?
20. How Can We Talk About God?
21. The Problem of Evil
22. Can We Experience God?

Part five: What Is Good or Right?
23. What Is the Right?
24. How Do We Know What Is Right?
25. The Relationship Between Rules and Results
26. Is the Right Universal?
27. Do Moral Duties Ever Conflict?

The book requires some thinking but is really a delight to read. One feels really illuminated after reading it, and has a deeper look at what he encounter in his own experience. A few places are difficult to follow because they are arduous philosophical problems without a solution (e. g. the existence of other minds). By the way I can recommend the other books of Geisler as well as those of J P Moreland.

Bruno Granger
The Hague, Hollan

Even though this book is written as a textbook, I found it very useful. The first chapter shows the reader what philosophy is about and its value. Of particular note, is the half page section titled, "The Christian Challenge." Here the authors state their position on the relationship between Christianity and philosophy:

"Christianity can stand up to the intellectual challenge mounted against it. The result of such a challenge should not be the loss of faith, but the priceless possession of a well-reasoned and mature faith." (page 22)

Before the authors embark on the specific fields of philosophy, a quick sketch is provided of some of the major fields (e.g. ethics, political philosophy, and logic) and the tools of philosophy. This discussion of logic and argumentation includes induction vs. deduction, the existential method, the phenomenological method and the analytic method.

Two of the most important chapters for the new philosopher are, "The Tools of Philosophy," and, "The Challenge of Philosophy." The Tools chapter is a discussion of how arguments are constructed and how to evaluate them. The Challenge chapter discusses the goals of philosophy and the role the philosophy plays for the Christian (including "The Biblical Basis for Christian Philosophy")

Following this are Parts that focus on the main branches of philosophy:
Epistemology (What is Knowledge? How can we know?)
Metaphysics (What is reality? Is man free? Does man survive death?)
Philosophy of Religion (Does God exist? The Problem of Evil)
Ethics (What is the right? Is the Right Universal? Do Moral Duties ever conflict?)

The authors general approach is to explain a view point, explain its supporting arguments and then the criticism that have been laid against it. Occasionally, the authors include an explicitly Christian viewpoint that incorporates all the previous views into one comprehensive whole.

The best example in the book of a Christian synthesis is the chapter entitled, "What is the Right?" In this chapter, the authors construct a Christian definition for the right, that is both philosophically sophisticated and true to the Bible. This discussion explains how the Christian definition depends on general revelation (i.e. natural law) and special revelation (i.e. the Bible).

Two other chapters stand out as well, "Does God exist?" and, "The Problem of Evil." In the, "Does God exist," chapter, the authors evaluate atheism (the view that God does not exist), agnosticism (the view that God's existence is unknown or unknowable) and theism (the view that God exists). Readers of Geisler's other works (notably Christian Apologetics and the Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics) will recognize Geisler's superb arguments. He puts all the arguments in a clear, precise form, which makes the arguments easier to analyze. The chapter concludes with the following heading, "We have sufficient reason to believe in God."

"The Problem of Evil," chapter follows the typical example of explaining the differing viewpoints and evaluating them but it also includes the precise, step-by-step formulation that makes complex arguments accessible. From both of these chapters, it is clear that the only real argument that atheism can muster against theism is the argument from evil. But, after reading this chapter and reading other excellent Christian philosophers like William Lane Craig, it becomes obvious that this objection has been refuted.

The authors include a glossary, which provides quick definitions for terms such as: Logic, non sequitur, theism, accident, antinomy, deontology etc... There is also an index.

My only serious criticism of the book is similar to what I wrote about Geisler's "Christian Apologetics." At the end of every chapter, the authors list, "Suggested Readings." However, these are almost always primary readings (e.g. Plato, Kant etc...) or from books that are out of print. It would be helpful if the authors had included more contemporary books. Lastly, the lack of an annotated bibliography is noted. <I recommend this book for Christians who are studying philosophy at the university or college level and for Christians interested in knowing what philosophy is all about.

This book is well organized. It lays out the options together with the pros and cons. It seems to cover the major areas and issues in phiosophy. It's written as a textbook for use in introductory courses in christian schools. I highly recommend it for any christian wanting a survey of the problems and issues in philosophy.

I liked this text a lot.
First, there are not so many Introductory Philosophy courses with Christian perspective on different issues. Geisler's text is very good. He's not just presents available options without giving you a clue what fits into Christian Scheme of thought, but he explains which philosophical concepts fit perfectly into Christian Worldview and why.
Second, it's pretty exhaustive volume. Even though it is introductory, still it covers a lot.
One negative thing is - format and layout. Whoever published this volume should make it prettier :D to read. Content is good but the outlook is quite like an antique... :D
Anyways, book is great. Buy it and read it. (as the matter of fact, anything by Geisler is good. Especially his Intro to Ethics and Christian Aplogetics)

Norm Geisler never dissapoints. Expect to be a little confused by some of his extremely deep and tough-to-comprehend philosophy. It might be hard for beginners to understand, but not then again not everything is easy to learn in the beginning.

I have to add that the most recent review before this one didn't really make much sense to mean. The reviewer complained that this book on Christian philosophy ignored eastern philosophy and Islamic logic (had to say it because it rhymed). Let's think about this. It isn't a book on philosophy in general, or even on religious philosophy, but on Christian philosophy. The author wrote from the Christian perspective because this book is about Christian philosophy, nothing outside of that. Note the title of the book, "Introduction to Philosophy: A CHRISTIAN perspective". No offense to you. I just thought that was a little unfair to give it a bad rating because you would prefer a different subject for the author to discuss.

Buy it.

This book serves, as the title suggests, as an introduction to philosophy from a Christian perspective. This a bit shorter and easier read than Craig and Moreland's "Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview" (not only shorter in length, but the pages are shorter as well). Sill, it's around 430 pages of epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, and other topics wholly relevant to Christians and philosophers alike. Each chapter is titled in the form of a question so you know what the authors plan to discuss and answer. The general format is a slight introduction to the question, many possible solutions with history and the "big names" scattered about, then responses, critiques, and complements of the views. The chapter will always point out (though sometimes at the end of the chapter) which view(s) a Christian should hold. Sometimes there is only one position a Christian may take, other times there are several that are compatible with orthodox Christianity. (see my review of Craig and Moreland's book for a diatribe on why Christians need to understand and be able to discuss philosophy)

To me. this book seems to be classic Geisler. In a very systematic way, he attempts to lay out the issues, give all sides as fair of a hearing as possible, and make the best case for what he sees as being the truth. Although I did learn a lot more and enjoyed Craig and Moreland's book more, this is still a solid book, especially if you're looking for a place to start.

Norman L. Geisler (b. 1932) is a Christian apologist (his Ph.D. in philosophy was from Jesuit Loyola University, so he is well-trained in scholastic philosophy, as well as evangelical). Paul Feinberg is a professor of biblical and systematic theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Other reviews have ably summarized the contents of this book; here are some representative quotations, to give you a feel for the book:

"Unfortunately, some Christians have taken this verse (Col 2:8) to be an injunction against the study of philosophy. This is incorrect for several reasons. First, the verse is not a prohibition against philosophy as such, but against FALSE philosophy, for Paul adds, 'and [beware of] vain deceit, after the tradition of men.' In fact, Paul is warning against a specific false philosophy, a kind of incipient gnosticism which had infiltrated the church at Colosse.... Finally, one cannot really 'beware' of false philosophy unless he is first aware of it. A Christian must recognize error before he can counter it, just as a doctor must study disease before he can knowledgeably treat it."

"(T)he mind-body dependence of our present existence proves nothing about the conditions of a future existence. To conclude anything we would have to observe that future life. It could be that the conditions of that existence are quite different from those of this present life."

"'If God canNOT make a stone that He canNOT lift, then He is not omnipotent.' If we were to put this into logical notation, however, the statement would read: 'Any stone which God can make, He can lift.' Worded this way, the statement does not present any limitation to God's power."

"But once the atheist admits there is an eternal, uncaused something which is more than all the finite parts of the universe and is the cause upon which they are dependent, then he has acknowledged what the theist has argued for all along, namely, God."

"(A)ll the theist needs to do is show some POSSIBLE explanation for evil to defeat the non-theist's claim. Theists are not obligated to show IN FACT that this is the case."

"Further, perhaps DISBELIEF in God is an illusion. It would be nice if there were no God to whom we must give account some day, but the very fact that many free-living persons WISH it that way makes their belief (that there is no God) suspect."

This book is an excellent, well-argued presentation of the philosophy of religion HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

As I stated in the title to this review: This book bridges the gap between Christian and secular views of philosophy. I consider myself fortunate to read another book by N.L. Geisler. I became familar with several of his other works during my years in theological studies.

It has been a long time since I spent quality time studying the field of philosophy, although this subject has much to do with my field of Christian writing. Ironic as it may seem, I can now go back through all my volumes of poetry and prose to see whether they fall into analytical or speculative philosophy. From Sinner to Servant: Traversing the fires of Hell to reach my promised landI Am the Wind: The Definitions of LoveTo Thwart the Mighty Dragon's Fire: The stories of my lifeListen to the Fog: Life after near-deathFrom the Newborn's Cry...Unto the Thunder: My Epitaph'Til Your Hands, My Heart Caress: For I am love...and all that surrounds meThings to Do...Things to Be: Picking up the piecesIf and When: If you seek the truth...be honest first, to yourself

I can now better understand how one's perception of life and moralistic issues shape our innermost drives and desires. I strongly recommend this particular book as well as any of the other scholarly texts by Geisler.

Sincerely,

Rev. Dr. Steven C. Brown, D.D.

My assumption is that most of the people reading this review are purchasing this book for a college/seminary level into to philosophy class. This book is certainly a textbook, but do not count it as non-useful outside of the classroom. If you are looking into the book to obtain an understanding of Philosophy this will definitely help. At the beginning of every chapter, a short overview of the chapter is defined, followed by how it will be outlined. This is nice since it allows the reader to see where the author is taking them before just jumping into the topic.

Each philosophical thought is explained and evaluated from an evangelical perspective. One of the major benefits of this textbook is its structure. If you were only interested in a topic such as "The problem of evil", you could easily jump to that section of the book, prior to reading the previous sections. The five major sections of the book are as follows..

1. Introduction to Philosophy
2. What is knowledge?
3. What is reality?
4. What is ultimate?
5. What is good or right?

If any of you are wondering, the authors do not present their personal perspective on predestination in this book. They present hard determinism, soft determinism, indeterminism and libertarianism with an explanation of each. They said that topic was "purposely omitted." If you would like something a little lighter / more of an introduction, I would recommend "The Consequences of Ideas" by RC Sproul. If this is a must read for school, you will find it is organized in an easy to learn fashion.

this book is basically a medium level intro to western philosophy from a conservative christian viewpoint. Philosophy is always done from some sort of bias to some degree or another, this is just human. Despite the obvious "christian slant" in this work, it is still pretty good to get your philosophical gears turning.