“Review of A Christian Approach to Philosophy” is an article from Dr. Gordon H. Clark’s papers. If you notice any typos on the typed document please email the administrator at douglasdouma@yahoo.com.
**Items from the unpublished papers of Dr. Gordon H. Clark should not be considered his definitive statement on the particular topic addressed. These papers are being provided for educational value. For Dr. Clark’s official positions consult his published writings.**
Unpublished 90. Review of A Christian Approach to Philosophy (typed)
Notes: From the papers of Dr. Gordon H. Clark at the Sangre de Cristo Seminary.
U.E.A. 1/15/55
A Christian Approach to Philosophy By Warren C. Young. pp. 252; $4.00 Van Kampen Press. 1954
As Dr. Kantzer’s Foreword suggests, this volume is one evidence of a revival of letters among evangelicals, some of whom have had little love of learning and less love of philosophy. The book therefore is a welcome sign that Christians are beginning to recognize and confront their enemies.
Writing in the form of an “introduction” rather than a history, the author selects about a dozen topics (the problem of truth, the problem of knowing, the origin of living forms, the nature of consciousness, etc.) and lists under each the conclusion, if not the arguments, of many philosophers. With a genial eclecticism Dr. Young finds some truth in most of the views.
From the middle of the book on, more attention is giving to analyzing arguments. The conclusion is that the problems cannot be solved on any basis other than revelation (pp. 157, 158, 173).
Revelation seems to mean that “God has spoken in a unique way to the individual” (p. 199); revelation must be experienced (p. 203); the experience of God is the foundation of Christian philosophy (p. 204). Dr Young does not seem to hold that the Bible is this revelation, but “the record of God’s special disclosure is to be found in the written Word” (p. 209); “the record of this revelation is set forth in the Hebrew-Christian Scriptures” (p. 209).
Thus while God may make himself known in the Bible, the Bible apparently is only a record of a past revelation; it is not the present revelation, which can be only a vital experience of an individual.
G.H.C.