Customer Reviews

Philosophy of Religion

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I'm an atheist. Trueblood's a Christian. And this book was the most decent, honest representation of the traditional aspects of philosophy from the Christian perspective. Some of the logic is easy to poke holes in, but some of it is pretty solid. By the end of the book, I was very sincerely doing some spiritual searching. Many Christians leave me rather wanting to throttle them with their crucifix necklaces, but Trueblood redeems a great many of them.

I'm an atheist. Trueblood's a Christian. And this book was the most decent, honest representation of the traditional aspects of philosophy from the Christian perspective. Some of the logic is a little weak, but some of it is pretty solid. By the end of the book, I was very sincerely doing some spiritual searching. Many Christians leave me rather wanting to throttle them with their crucifix necklaces, but Trueblood redeems a great many of them.

A disappointing example of modernist apologetics, Trueblood attempts to outline a philosophy of religion based on a largely outdated model of logical proofs which can only (a la Derrida) set itself up to be deconstructed. Trueblood often over-generalizes (it's obvious that everyone has an objective experience of possession by art, for example), and his insistence on the necessity of a transcendent objectivity to make sense of life is stated as a fact without any supporting argument. Trueblood also shows a puzzling igorance of the role of cultural formation and transmission of morals, aesthetics, and ethics. Although he does provide an excellent critique of scientific reductionism and a helpful summary of Marxism, the volume feels dated after cultural criticism. Better find a newer and less 1950s bound summary, unless you're wanting an example of the thinking of that particular time.