"The church needs philosophers & philosophers need the church"
Paul Gould
May 6, 2014
G.D.O'Bradovich III
1
The following is the complete text and items are bold in the original.
“Who cares what Aristotle thinks about a severed hand,” an exasperated philosophy student retorted on a wintery night in a Midwestern university.
My lecture screeched to a halt. As the class stared at me, enjoying the showdown, the subtext of my student’s comment was not lost on them or me: “Aristotle’s view of substance provides me with no ‘real-world’ benefit, so it is useless knowledge.”
Outside of political philosophy, there are no "real world" applications for philosophy. This is reason Plato states that the majority of philosophers are useless.
The student’s comment highlights a widely held misconception about the discipline of philosophy and those of us who like to think of ourselves as philosophers – philosophy provides no “worldly good,” no “non-cognitive benefit.”
The truth that philosophy is worthless and provides no “worldly good,” no “non-cognitive benefit.” is a notion held by the many and not without cause.
Those of us who are both Christians and philosophers risk further marginalization, often viewed with suspicion by the church as well. Like Socrates and his uneasy relationship with Athens, Christian philosophers can be seen by the faithful as unwanted “gadflies” who ask annoying questions in Sunday School and cause doubt in the minds of young believers.
Those seek the truth at all costs are philosophers. This can not be said of the followers of the revealed religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Socrates' "uneasy relationship with Athens" ended with his murder. One charge against Socrates was that he corrupted the youth. Philosophers cast doubt in the minds of the youth by asking questions, not by stating facts. If one asks enough questions of a cobbler, eventually he will admit he knows nothing about shoes.
As we navigate an increasingly pragmatic university setting and the suspicious gaze of the church, permit me to plead my case: The church needs philosophers and philosophers need the church.
The church has always been suspicious of philosophy. The ability to control people is directly proportional to ignorance and superstition. I doubt the church needs people who are atheistic and no atheist needs a church. Unless, of course, Mr. Gould is referring to the philosopher's ability to make the weaker argument appear stronger, then I agree.
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I offer three reasons why the church needs philosophers.
First, opposing perspectives to our faith – what we might call defeater beliefs – rear themselves in every day and age. Christian philosophers are well-suited to identify, dissect and rebut these defeater beliefs. In the fourth century, for example, a defeater belief for the pre-converted Augustine was the idea of there being an immaterial (divine) substance. It took the so-called Platonist books to open Augustine’s eyes to the reality of an unseen world of forms and substances.
The creation of technical jargon ("defeater beliefs") may indicate this is an esoteric document. One wonders if Christian philosophers rebut these beliefs through rhetoric. Nothing is mentioned about the manner Christian philosophers rebut facts. Perhaps we are to infer that Christian philosophers do not refer to reality. The appeal to the impious Augustine, or any impious Church Father, does nothing to assert the correctness of unseen worlds, Platonic or otherwise.
All these centuries later, that debate seems largely irrelevant. Now, in 21st-century Western culture, prevalent defeater beliefs include the idea that God is a moral monster, that science has disproved God, that evil makes God’s existence unlikely, and that there are many paths to God. Christian philosophers are uniquely qualified to address the logic and philosophical underpinnings of such claims as well as the structure of arguments erected around such defeater beliefs. Given the rampant anti-intellectualism of our day, the reality is that all too often the layperson in the pew no longer is equipped to grapple with arguments mounted against Christianity by her adversaries. Neither are many pastors in the pulpit, especially given all the directions they are pulled.
Although the debate "seems" irrelevant, we wonder if this is a correct assertion. We encounter the Straussian phrase "Western culture" and a repeat of "defeater beliefs". This commentator is hopeful that as we approach the middle of the text, the esoteric meaning of the text will present itself. One "defeater belief" is the Gnostic Demiurge ("moral monster"). We wonder how science (from the Latin "knowledge") has disproved God. One would have to philologically and philosophically link Latin word "science", "knowledge" to the Greek word gnosis and continue until one reaches wisdom and, finally, the love of wisdom. It is only through this chain of reasoning that one can state that science or philosophy has disproved God.
The solution is not avoidance. Rather, it is a disciplined discipleship program that helps the average person in the pew think carefully about these challenges to orthodox faith, for which Christian philosophers can help.
With philosophy upending revealed religion, the church must turn to Christian rhetoricians to attempt to repair the damage that has been done to the reputation of the church.
Second, Christian philosophers can lead the way in spiritual formation and discipleship by highlighting the key role of the mind in loving God and man. As a culture, we are no longer guided by right thinking. We have shifted from being attentive to our feelings to being driven by them. But we are, as Aristotle puts it, rational animals, and in this entertainment-driven culture – a culture full of empty selves who mindlessly grope from one sensual experience to another – we betray our God-given identity. When Jesus stated that the greatest commandment is to love God with all one’s heart, soul and mind (Matthew 22:37), He was in effect saying, “Love Me with all of your being. Love Me in all the ways I have created you.”
Christian philosophers can draw attention to the key role of the mind. People in western culture are being driven by our feelings, instead of being attentive to our feelings. We read that we are reasoning animals and immediately following this, we are told our culture is populated with people people who mindlessly grope from one sensual experience to another. The contradiction of "rational animals" behaving like hedonists is not lost on the attentive reader.
Never – in Jesus’ mind or in Scripture – is there a splitting of head and heart; they are always meant to go together. Similarly, the apostle Paul puts the mind front and center in the process of spiritual formation when he urges believers to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). Christian philosophers can help the church understand how to think well, and in thinking well, to live well under the banner of Christ.
The "head and heart" could be interpreted as "thinking and feeling" or "mind and body", where the later interpretation could be construed as Gnostic. To our surprise, Saint Paul places the "mind" in the "front and center" of "spiritual formation" or, restated: Gnostic Paul puts the mind (Greek Nous) at the top of the formation of the spirit (Greek pneuma or, less commonly, psyche).
Finally, Christian philosophers play a vital role in the contribution to “shalom” – human flourishing – of those within the church and in the broader culture. This may sound odd – how can teaching one to think well really make the world a better place? Isn’t it the engineer who builds bridges, the minister who feeds the poor, the politician who institutes programs to lift the downtrodden, and the lawyer who convicts the sex trafficker that make the world better? Yes! But, the engineer, minister, politician and lawyer all do so by virtue of their beliefs – their views on human nature, moral obligation, personal responsibility and vocation -– which are philosophical doctrines, one and all.
We encounter technical jargon ("shalom") attached with a new definition. We agree that practical or political philosophy touches upon "human nature, moral obligation, personal responsibility and vocation". However, we disagree that these are philosophical "doctrines" and strongly disagree that philosophy has any doctrines.
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Knowledge about God, the world and self is the beginning of wisdom and provides the rails for faithful Kingdom service in a fallen world. Let us Christian philosophers help the church to awaken her curiosity, strengthen her conviction, inspire her creativity and bring clarity to her calling to be salt and light to the world.
The author alludes to the Psalm 9:10 where it states "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." This is comprehensible in the light of a Gnostic exegesis where the "Lord" is the Demiurge. The knowledge of oneself refers to Plato's "The unexamined life is not worth living."
At the same time....
Just as the church needs philosophers, we Christian philosophers need the church. We need to be reminded daily that western intellectual history is not our “real food.” To paraphrase Jesus, “Man does not live on Rene Descartes and Immanuel Kant alone, but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
The pious fraud of philosophers needing the church is followed by references to Descartes and Kant. It is not lost on this commentator that Feuerbach, David Strauss, and Fredrick Nietzsche (Fred to his friends) are absent.
We need to be reminded of the Great Commission. Reminded that Jesus, and not a solution to the problem of universals, is the world’s greatest need. Push us to live for Christ and experience His grace, that our life in Christ is more satisfying, more exhilarating than getting a book published, a journal article accepted, a good teaching evaluation or even coherently articulating an important idea.
We need to be daily pulled down from the heights of the Areopagus, where philosophical problems lurch around every corner, and be bothered by the mundane problems of relating with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. We need good biblical exposition and sound theology to remind us of the limits of our discipline and that reason provides us with a tool, but not the only tool, as we wrestle with ideas and their implications. And we need the prayers and encouragement of our fellow believers in Christ. Our temptation is to go it alone, to be disconnected from the broader body of Christ. Lead us to Christ, keep us from intellectual snobbery, remind us of our need for each other.
"Our temptation" refers to political philosophers. The true philosopher does leave the city to be alone with his thoughts. The practical philosopher, due to either his love for mankind or the benefits provided by civilization, stays behind to guide the city.
If history teaches us anything, it is that people are fickle. We are too easily tossed to and fro by the winds of popular culture, base appetites and short memories. We need to take the long view, and now, because of the influence of prominent Christian philosophers such as the late Dallas Willard, alongside Alvin Plantinga and William Lane Craig, it is a good time to remind the church of the usefulness, indeed the necessity, of philosophy in service to Christ.
History teaches us that the masses are "fickle", influenced by "popular culture", have "base appetites" and "short memories". History teaches this and the human experience reinforces it.
So, what did I say to my erstwhile student who thought learning Aristotle’s theory of substance was a waste of time? I told her that Aristotle was interested in understanding what unites things – what it is that makes people whole people, or trees whole trees, or the cosmos one cosmos. He taught the importance of finding unity to his student Alexander. Years later, this student became a warrior-king and set out to unite the world under his authority. This king, known to us as Alexander the Great, was moved by the idea of unity – an idea he learned from his teacher and misapplied to geo-political matters – to conquer and unite most of the known world of his day under his leadership. Ideas have consequences; that is why we ought to care about Aristotle’s view of a severed hand.
Although Plato states that women are capable of being philosophers, I believe this is a sham argument. There is no doubt in my mind that the female student was taking this class, not from the love of wisdom, but a prerequisite.
In my mind that night, I had won a small victory for philosophy. I had demonstrated the importance of ideas to this student and to my class. Minimally, philosophy helps us to analyze ideas and spell out their implications. Some ideas are great. Some are not. Some are harmless and some can be deadly. But all matter.
If this was a victory for philosophy, I fear for western civilization. It seems rather late in the day to attempt to demonstrate the importance of ideas to Midwestern college students. The "deadly ideas" might refer to no existence of God and no afterlife.
Reflecting on that night, I now realize I should have gone further. For at the end of the human quest to make sense of our universe, we will find many of those great ideas of the western world – goodness, truth, beauty, justice – and unity. And standing before every great idea is Jesus Christ Himself, in whom are “hidden all treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). The world’s truly great ideas were God’s ideas first! And the church, the bride of Christ, must become experts at identifying and pursuing ideas that are good, true and beautiful, for in doing so, we are running hard after God. Help us Christian philosophers serve the church in this endeavor, as the church leads us.
The article ends with an exhortation to the Platonic ideas of "goodness, truth, beauty, justice" and the Modern idea of "unity". Because "goodness, truth, beauty," and "justice" are not found in Nature, these are man made constructs. These unnatural designations are inexactly repeated as "good, true and beautiful" and, we are told, they originate with God.
Dr. Gould received his doctorate from Purdue University. From Dr. Gould's dissertation: "My dissertation is a defense of a Platonic theism that seeks to remain faithful to the theistic tradition. I focus on one kind of abstract entity, property, and argue that it is possible to understand properties as necessarily existing entities created (and hence dependent) on God."
Titus Andronicus Act I Scene IV.
Chiron raises Aristotle by a hand. Demetrius raises by a hand and a tongue and, not surprisingly, Lavinia folds.
Chiron raises Aristotle by a hand. Demetrius raises by a hand and a tongue and, not surprisingly, Lavinia folds.