Everyone is a philosopher. If you think, then you are a philosopher. Okay, I stand corrected; maybe everyone isn’t a philosopher. This section paints Christian theology with a philosopher’s brush so to speak. Christian philosophy begins with divine revelation, and is grounded on Christian theology. It is not always easy to distinguish between when someone is doing theology and when they are doing philosophy. One primary difference is the more obvious use of logical syllogisms, argumentation, and philosophical language. Philosophy has two basic tasks: the critical task of asking questions and assessing truth claims. Second, philosophy has the constructive task of answering questions and, in the process creating a coherent, holistic view of life. It is the Christian position that only Christian philosophy succeeds in this endeavor. Every non-Christian philosophy fails to stand up to rational scrutiny.
When I say that everyone is a philosopher, what I am saying is that everyone has a philosophy of life, an outlook, a comprehensive view of the world. And that philosophy is the product of your experiences, your background, your biases, and even your culture. Ultimately, when you boil it all down to the big stones in this stream we call life or reality, you end up with a philosophy that is either godly, or one that is ungodly. Your philosophy of life is either the unique Christian philosophy of life, or it is an ungodly philosophy, a philosophy rooted in autonomous human reason. All variations of ungodly philosophy are hostile to true Christian belief and philosophy. They are by nature, at their core, at their foundation, opposed to God. And more than anything else, that opposition is ethical in nature even if the metaphysical and epistemic realities of the fall and subsequent state of human depravity seem more prominent in the literature as well as the discussions.
My aim in this section is to provide basic, big-stone support in your endeavor to learn a thing or two about philosophy and how this field relates to Christian theology and apologetics.
Learning Objectives
- Help you understand the basic issues in the branch of philosophy known as metaphysics.
- Distinguish between a Christian view of reality and the non-Christian view of reality.
- Provide a broad understanding of the contemporary issues in epistemology.
- Distinguish between a Christian view of knowledge and the non-Christian view of knowledge.
- Understand the necessary preconditions for the intelligibility of the experience of morality.
- Understand how only the Christian worldview provides the necessary preconditions for morality.
- A brief introduction to the laws of logic and why they only make sense within the Christian worldview.