He has been called a boring windbag who “…deliberately sets out to be tortuous.”[1] Philip Yancy acknowledges that at times his writings have perplexed him.[2]

They are speaking about the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, whom many have call the Father of Existentialism, although he did not coin the term.

In his book, Philosophy & The Christian Faith, Colin Brown writes that “Kierkegaard deliberately sets out to be tortuous and…in order to bring his reader to the desired goal, Kierkegaard often found it necessary to be devious.”[3]

The author of over 35 books, Soren Kierkegaard’s (1813-1855) writings were mostly ignored outside of his native Denmark until the 20th century.

Anna Louise Strelis Söderquist, St. Olaf College curator of the Hong Kierkegaard Library argues that “Kierkegaard’s work still has burning relevance for us today, wherever we live and whatever our backgrounds, for he meets his reader in the inner depths, where reside the personal, yet universal questions about who one is and how one ought to live.”[4]

Kierkegaard (1813-1855) was a devout Christian who was grieved over the condition of the Lutheran church in Denmark, the State Church.

Shelley O’Hara writes, “Kierkegaard was incensed by the lack of involvement it took to be a Christian, and he felt that Official Christianity or Christendom had departed so far from the New Testament teachings that it needed to be torn down and rebuilt…Kierkegaard…was not attacking the teachings of Christianity, but the official way it was sanctioned and carried out by the Lutheran Church at the time.”[5]

His anger was so great toward the Lutheran Church he refused communion while on his death bed.

If you have read or attempted to read Kierkegaard you know that he can be a difficult read and one may wonder if it would be beneficial to read his works.

One would benefit greatly by reading Lee C. Barrett’s (PhD, Yale) instructive book Kierkegaard as Theologian. As Professor of Theology, at Lancaster Theological Seminary at Moravian University, he has written extensively on Kierkegaard including several books and articles.

What makes this book so instructive and helpful, especially for those new to the philosopher’s writings? Before reading selections from Kierkegaard, Barrett summarizes the text in great detail, making Kierkegaard’s writings much easier to understand.

The texts that Barrett’s comments on are several of Kierkegaard’s more familiar writings, including For Self-Examination, Judge For Yourself, Either/Or, The Sickness Unto Death, and Fear and Trembling, among others.

He also explains Kierkegaard’s theological style:

Kierkegaard’s work as an exercise in theology requires some explanation and justification, for Kierkegaard’s writings do not resemble anything remotely like a collection of standard theological texts. If he counts as a theologian at all, he certainly was not a typical one.[6]

At the end of every chapter Barrett supplies questions for reflection, which may prove helpful to readers as they digest and savor what both Kierkegaard and Barrett are saying. It is certainly not a book to rush through.

Barrett’s book simply titled Kierkegaard (Abingdon Press) is another helpful read to understanding Kierkegaard’s writings.

Reviewed by Larry Russi

Publisher’s page: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/tt-clark-reader-in-kierkegaard-as-theologian-9780567670373/

Notes

[1] Colin Brown, Philosophy & The Christian Faith (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press,1968),125

[2] Søren Kierkegaard, Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard (Farmington, PA: The Plough Publishing House, 1999, back cover

[3] Colin Brown, Philosophy & The Christian Faith (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press,1968),125

[4] Claire Strother, “A World-Renowned Center for the Study of Kierkegaard” St. Olaf Magazine (Spring/Summer 2022), 23.

[5] Shelley O’Hara, Kierkegaard Within Your Grasp (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2004), 6

[6]Lee C. Barrett, ed. T & T Clark Reader in Kierkegaard as Theologian (NY: Bloomsbury, 2018), 1

In this second volume, Torrance and McCall have collected 16 articles exploring the implications for science and theology regarding Christ’s incarnation and role as creator and sustainer of the universe (Col 1:15-17). As in the first volume, the text lacks a unified theology. However, for scientists, theologians, philosophers, and researchers interested in tackling ideas of science and faith as they intersect in the person and work of Jesus, this text would be a worthy place to begin. For if you are not interested in the focus of one article, simply turn a few pages and an entirely different focus will be explicated in the next.

The book opens with a splendid, and dare I say, must-read introduction by the editors, where they set the table for the articles that follow. The articles are organized into four sections, theological perspectives, biblical and historical perspectives, philosophical perspectives and scientific perspectives. This organization is helpful in relating to the reader what the writer’s point of view is. Nevertheless, in each case, authors bring, to varying degrees and intensities, their Christian faith into the discussion. In other words, the authors are not disinterested and objective writers but are those writing from a faith position. I have spotlighted a handful of publications to help readers in getting a sense of the diversity of topics and will end with some summary observations.

Murray Rae’s article, “Jesus Christ, the Order of Creation”, opens the Theological Perspectives section by arguing that science’s understanding of reality and the explanation given by Scripture (Col 1:15-17; 1 Cor 8:6, etc.) can be reconciled by recognizing that explanation for phenomena can occur at differing levels. He uses the music of Chopin to illustrate how science can explain a song by looking at the notes, and theology explains by looking at the score. As valuable as this heuristic is, Rae recognizes that we must also consider the impact that sin has fractured our world so that the score is in a sense broken. Nevertheless, God has left enough of the score intact to let us see the beauty and a glimmer of the ultimate purpose.

Brian Brock’s “Jesus Christ the Divine Animal?: The Human Distinctive Reconsidered” responds to Darwin’s denial that humans are qualitatively different from animals by reframing the issue. Brock contends that looking for something intrinsically different in humans when compared to animals, is a dead end. Rather, we should look extrinsically, namely to our relationship with God. From this perspective, Brock believes that evolution and a high view of scripture (i.e. Genesis story) may be reconciled while avoiding ensnarement with other problems such as the presence of evil. Brock’s idea here is an interesting rephrasing of the functional view of human identity (Gen 1:28).

The problem of evil is addressed in Brian Curry’s “Christ, Creation and the Powers: Elements in a Christian Doctrine of Creation.” Curry contends that the typical binary discussion of God and creation fails to account for the biblical testimony, which includes a third element, the evil powers. The presence of evil powers is necessary because scripture says that God is not satisfied with creation. God continues to work towards redemption and fights the powers to achieve those ends. Curry provocatively says that science can be a power that both enslaves and benefits its users. Readers will be stimulated by Curry’s forceful discussion, but some may be put off by the apparent leaning toward open theism.

In recent decades, the long struggle between science and theology has intensified, forcing Christian theologians to increase their attention on the doctrine of creation. The challenge facing theologians was is how to correlate and contextualize biblical teaching concerning creation with the findings of contemporary science. The effort is difficult because of the diversity and complexity of the issues which include how we got here, the relationship between revelation and reason, free-will and providence, and biblical teaching about nature. Knowing Creation (vol 1.) addresses these subjects through 16 articles by scholars from prestigious schools who self-identify as Christian. The editors explicitly sought to make the book interdisciplinary, arguing that too often academics become siloed in their field (p.18).

The book is organized into four sections each containing four articles: Theological Perspectives, Biblical and Historical Perspectives, Philosophical Perspectives and Scientific Perspectives. While the editors wisely decided to organize the articles by theme or emphasis, readers should understand that some of the categorizations were arbitrary. For example, Mark Harris’ article, “’The Trees of the Field Shall Clap Their Hands’ (Isaiah 55:12): What Does It Mean to Say That a Tree Praises God?” is placed in the Scientific Perspectives section but could have easily been placed in the Biblical and Historical Perspectives.

Given the diversity of topics covered in this text, an integrated review is impossible. So rather than write on all 16 articles, attention will be placed on a few select papers taken from each of the sections.

Section 1 Theological Perspectives

Simon Oliver’s article, “Every Good Gift is from Above” discusses the relationship between culture and nature and how the often-touted dichotomy between nature and culture is problematic (p. 31). In this, Oliver is spot on. The idea that nature is to be understood as non-human assumes an improper understanding of both nature and humanity. In short, it is a false dualism. Oliver contends that viewing creation as a gift from God helps overcome this dualism. He explains this by employing Marcel Mauss’ conception of gifts and giving. Oliver concludes by arguing that food unites culture and nature. He then continues to tease out the implications of the aforementioned premise by drawing on biblical narratives showing how food is strongly associated with reconciliation and communion (i.e. fellowship). In this way, food is both a gift and an offering. Oliver concludes by drawing attention to how food production is tied to much of the environmental problems of our day. Recognizing the interplay between food and culture highlights the importance of creation in our lives and in the biblical narrative.

Oliver’s insights are rather abstract and tend to arrive at theological conclusions that are at times a bit tendentious. Nevertheless, his ideas are stimulating and worthy of engagement.

According to Socrates, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” But to many, if not most modern people, pursuing the examined life is unappealing and even unnecessary. In today’s environment, no one knows what “spirituality” is, yet a flat stomach is of greater value than having a mature, Christian character. Is philosophy important? Surely it is, for in this world today we cannot agree about the status of babies, or the sexual makeup of the population. Why do I need philosophy if I have the Bible? Are not philosophers simply engaged in meaningless disputes? Mark Foreman contends that we need philosophy by addressing these and other questions in this prelude.

Whereas most introductions to philosophy provide a quick definition of it, and then proceed to delve into the branches, issues and problems of it, this book is a stark contrast. Unlike most introductions, this book looks at the underlying principles that are important for the study of philosophy. In the first half of the book, Foreman defines the task of philosophy, compares it to other disciplines and demonstrates its value to Christians interested in developing a more reflective faith. The second half introduces the topics of logic and argumentation, which are the essential tools of a philosopher. I will spend more time in focusing on the first part of this title than the latter half in what follows.

Vern S. Poythress is professor of New Testament interpretation at Westminster Theological Seminary, where he has taught for nearly four decades. In addition to earning six academic degrees, including a PhD from Harvard University and a ThD from the University of Stellenbosch, he is the author of numerous books and articles on a variety of topics, including biblical interpretation, language, and science. Life is full of big questions, and philosophy over the centuries has sought to answer such questions. In this book, Poythress investigates the foundations and limitations of Western philosophy, developing a distinctly Christian approach to answering basic questions about the nature of humanity, the existence of God, the search for meaning, and the basis for morality.

Building from a theological methodology based on the work of John Frame, Poythress writes this introductory exploration of the relationship between philosophy and the teachings of Scripture. Philosophers generally divide their discipline so that they can answer smaller sets of questions. Three of these subdisciplines are metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophical ethics. Metaphysics studies questions about existence, such as Why does anything exist? And, What is the nature of what exists? Epistemology studies the nature of knowledge: What is knowledge? How do we come to know what we know? When can we be sure that we have accurate knowledge, as opposed to mistaken ones. Philosophical ethics studies issues of right and wrong: What are moral standards? Are these standards universal? Where do these standards come from?

Metaphysics considers questions about what exists, which includes questions about God. For example, does God exist? If he does, what kind of God is he? Does he hold us morally accountable? Materialists do not think so – that is, those who think that the ultimate nature of the world is material. Philosophers have debated metaphysics for centuries, and materialism in one form or another has been advocated by some since at least the ancient Greeks. People who believe in God, however, say that matter and motion are not all that exist. They believe that God exists, created matter and motion, and everything else as well. Theists claim that materialists ignore important dimensions of reality that point to the existence of a deity. People disagree about metaphysical issues, and these disagreements lead invariably also to disagreements about knowledge, i.e. epistemological issues. Questions about how we come to know things, in turn, interact with questions about metaphysics and ethics. Conversely, answers to metaphysical questions have an influence on epistemology and ethics.

Garrett J. DeWeese and J.P. Moreland, Philosophy Made Slightly Less Difficult: A Beginner’s Guide to Life’s Big Questions (InterVarsity Press, 2005), 170 pages.

Over the last two centuries the confidence of Christians in the reasonableness and credibility of their faith has met significant challenges from a number of quarters. With the almost wholesale acceptance of a naturalistic account of the origin of our species, and a growing conviction that science can explain everything about the world without the need to invoke the “spooky” supernatural, the floodwaters of unbelief have been rising about the Church on all sides, greedily devouring the grounds for faith and certainty. All the evidence, we are told, points to the non-existence of a benevolent God, the obsolescence of religion, and the absence of any justifiable grounds for the Christian hope of the resurrection.

However, the authors of Philosophy Made Slightly Less Difficult are convinced that the real nature of the challenge that faces us today “is not really scientific or theological or anthropological, but philosophical.” It is how modern man thinks about science and the universe that skews his view of the Christian faith as something irrelevant and outmoded. We wrestle not against evidence from laboratories, but against materialism, against scientism, against the naturalistic worldview of the West, against doctrines and ideas that have become entrenched in the modern mind chiefly through the Church’s neglect of the intellectual life.

Moreland and DeWeese seek to redress this problem by making philosophy more accessible to laymen, and by providing the outlines of a Christian perspective on a number of important philosophical issues, including ethics, metaphysics, the mind-body problem, philosophy of science and epistemology—all that in a mere 170 pages! As one who is still very much a beginner in these things, I am, perhaps, reasonably well positioned to make some sort of judgement as to whether or not they have succeeded in opening up these areas of inquiry to non-experts.

There are, I think, at least two sorts of pits into which a project of this sort may stray. On the one hand, in its efforts to achieve accessibility it may produce something so superficial that it is basically of no help to anybody; its contents are grasped easily enough because it avoids saying anything very important. On the other hand, in its attempts to attain conciseness, clarity and simplicity may be dispensed with altogether; the writers dash from one difficult problem to the next, without ever really explaining to anybody’s satisfaction what exactly it is they are talking about.

Perhaps it is inevitable that such a project as this one should gravitate towards one or the other of these two extremes. Philosophy is a difficult subject, and a genuine grasp of even the basics is not something to be had in a weekend’s read. In my estimation, Philosophy Made Slightly Less Difficult attempts to bite off more than can be chewed in a single paperback of these proportions, producing an uneven volume that varies noticeably in perspicuity and in its level of difficulty across the different chapters. Whilst some sections should be quite comprehensible for the beginner (for example, the chapter on philosophy of science), other parts prove much less digestible (such as the discussion of the mind-body problem) without a prior acquaintance with the subject matter. This is rather frustrating for the beginner, who might have walked away with a better understanding of some of the issues, had the authors contented themselves with saying a little more about a little less.