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Title: Philosophers Who Believe: The Spiritual Journeys of 11 Leading Thinkers by Kelly James Clark ISBN: 0-8308-1543-0 Publisher: Intervarsity Press Pub. Date: November, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.62 (8 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Very worthwhile, but not exactly what I was expecting
Comment: I found this to be generally interesting, but not exactly what the title had led me to expect. I was expecting a more philosophical/intellectual discussion of belief - i.e., why these scholars find Christian theology convincing notwithstanding their training in philosophy. Instead, this might just as easily be "Lawyers Who Believe" or "Accountants Who Believe." In other words, the contributors' descriptions of how they came to their beliefs and how they maintain them in an academic environment generally struck me as no more (or less) profound or well-thought-out than you might get from any group of reasonably intelligent Christians. The essays are well-written, candid and diverse, but overall the book seemed to convey no deeper message than: "See, not all academics regard Christianity as nonsense." I thus had the feeling that the book might be aimed primarily at college-age readers rather than those of us who have struggled with our beliefs at least as much as these folks and were hoping for something meatier. Too often, I was left wondering: "So precisely why, having been steeped in philosophy, are you a Christian? Can you explain it a little more deeply?" I give this four stars because I did enjoy all of the essays and found them to be generally worthwhile, albeit not what I was expecting from "11 leading thinkers." I also appreciated the fact that the book has no particular agenda, except to demonstrate that belief isn't incompatible with a high level of intelligence and academic training; the contributors' beliefs seem to range across a wide spectrum of Christianity. (Be forewarned that some of these essays are VERY candid: One contributor discusses his promiscuous homosexuality and struggles with masturbation at greater length than we perhaps needed in order to get the picture. On the other hand, it's admirable of him and the others that they were willing to be this honest, because a dishonest spiritual autobiography would be pretty useless.)
Rating: 4
Summary: Interesting Testimonies and Topics
Comment: This is a very interesting book if for no other reason than reading the testimonies of how these thinkers embraced Christianity. Moreover, these thinkers also discuss the moving trends in philosophy, especially the philosophy of religion, toward a more theistic based system (i.e. the possibility of God's existence being more readily embraced).
While I do not necessarily agree with all that is espoused in these pages, it made for quite interesting reading, nonetheless. Spiritual journeys of thinkers such as Mortimer Adler, Alvin Plantinga, Richard Swinburne and others are included. The biggest surprise, for me anyway, was Humean scholar Terence Penelhum - I enjoyed his chapter the most. Several of these men give their histories (e.g. upbringings, influences, philosophical changes which occurred in their lives, etc.) which also made for quite interesting reading.
This book has many different elements present - for example, this book is biographical, philosophical, theological, spiritual, religious, and contains diverse Christian beliefs, which allows it to speak to a wide audience. Another interesting element of this book is the issues which are discussed. There were a few men, though, that I thought could have been added to the text - William Lane Craig for instance (though he may not have the teaching reputation in a major university that these other men have, he certainly has the writing reputation in the arena of philosophy of religion). Overall, this was a pretty good text and covered some interesting topics.
Rating: 5
Summary: Humans do philosophy, too!
Comment: I have to admit a bias against, and consequent ignorance of, academic philosophy. I tend to think all human beings are philosophers by nature, but suspect professional philosophers may forget they are human beings. One measure of my ignorance is that, even though I've written a couple rather philosophical books on the truth of Christianity in relation to other religions, I had never heard of the authors of this book, aside from Plantinga, Adler, and Wolterstorff.
This book seems an ideal introduction to them for someone like me. (Or, yes, the intellectual but down-to-earth uncle you're looking for a present for.) Most of the autobios are genial and human, written with sometimes surprising honesty. Reason is not discarded as irrelevent to the spiritual quest, nor given a naive carte blanche, but seems to integrate naturally into the whollist ic engagement with reality that our spiritual lives, with their sometimes ambivalent attitude towards truth, tend to be.
Some of the stories are pretty far out; one or two a bit dull. Frederick Suppe seems to have lived his life on the edge, and made a wild story even more dramatic by his matter-of-fact style and repressed passion -- a lonely thrill-seeker spending a life trying to choose between God and sin, apparently doing top-notch philosophy (as both vocation and avocation) all the while. Wolterstorff's warmth and unabashed affirmation of his roots makes a good read. I noticed a lot of parallel's between Basil Mitchell's story and C. S. Lewis' growth, as described in Surprised by Joy, and enjoyed the story. I could also relate to Richard Swinburne's honest confession that he tended to be rather glad Christianity was a minority religion, "The more clever people there were to argue against, the better!" (It reminded me of the French general who, when reminded that his unit was surrounded, replied, "Great! Then we can attack in any direction!")
A book is a meeting of minds. An anthology arranging a common medium for that meeting to take place. At its best, this book takes on something of the atmosphere of a campfire on the last day of camp, with the stars overhead, darkness all around, a blaze before us, lending not only light, but warmth as well, as campers of the most thoughtful possible kind through pine cones on the fire and share what they learned over the weekend.
author, Jesus and the Religions of Man
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Title: Professors Who Believe: The Spiritual Journeys of Christian Faculty by Paul M. Anderson ISBN: 0830815996 Publisher: Intervarsity Press Pub. Date: November, 1998 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview by J. P. Moreland, William Lane Craig ISBN: 0830826947 Publisher: Intervarsity Press Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: God and the Philosophers: The Reconciliation of Faith and Reason (Oxford Paperbacks) by Thomas V. Morris ISBN: 0195101197 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: January, 1996 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Finding God at Harvard by Kelly Monroe ISBN: 0310219221 Publisher: Zondervan Pub. Date: 10 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $12.99 |
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Title: Warranted Christian Belief by Alvin Plantinga ISBN: 0195131932 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: May, 2000 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
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