What is Catalyst?
Four issues of Catalyst are mailed each academic year to some 5,000 UM theological students in more than 100 seminaries in the U.S.A.

AFTE
Catalyst is a project of A Foundation for Theological Education (AFTE).

What is the John Wesley Fellowship Program?
Each year AFTE awards up to five John Wesley Fellowships to assist gifted United Methodists in their doctoral studies at the finest universities.

Back Issues
Several back issues of Catalyst are now available on-line.

Subscriptions
Subscription is free for UM seminarians, and is available to all others for $5 per year.

REVIEW ESSAY: CHRISTIANITY AND WESTERN THOUGHT

Colin Brown, Christianity & Western Thought, vol. 1: A History of Philosophers, Ideas & Movements: From the Ancient World to the Age of Enlightenment (InterVarsity, 1990)

In 1975 InterVarsity released a book entitled Philosophy and the Christian Faith by British theologian Colin Brown that had been published seven years earlier in its author’s native country. In less than 300 hundred pages, Brown, who later joined the faculty of Fuller Seminary, attempted the ambitious task of producing a survey of philosophy and its effect on Christianity from Augustine to the time his book was first published. Brown’s book went through several printings and played the very helpful role of introducing the history of philosophy in a clear and readable fashion to many undergraduates, including the present writer.

The work currently under review builds on the foundation of Brown’s earlier volume. His original plan was to expand that material into two larger volumes, the first covering the period from the pre-Socratics through the Enlightenment, and the second continuing the story through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The first of these volumes was published as planned, but Brown was unable to complete the second. Fortunately, however, he gave his blessing to A. Padgett and S. Wilkens to finish the project. Brown’s original design was altered yet again when the latter two authors, who teach philosophy at Azusa Pacific University, found the nineteenth century even more complex and fascinating than they anticipated. The resulting volume on that period has more pages of main text than Brown’s work on the previous two thousand or so years of western philosophy. A final volume on the twentieth century is now projected to complete the work.

Brown does not claim to be a philosopher by training and he describes his account as one “written by a non-specialist for non-specialists.” He does not intend to give us a general or neutral history of philosophy. Rather, he is especially interested in the story of how philosophy has interacted with Christian thought and practice. However, he does not want his work to be viewed as a piece of Christian apologetics. Although he aims to provide a critical discussion of the thinkers surveyed from a Christian standpoint, he also aspires to present a fair and honest history of their ideas.

Despite his disclaimers, it is clear that Brown has an excellent grasp of the large sweep of the history of philosophy as well as the central contributions of the major players. Indeed, given his particular interests, his history is broader than typical histories of philosophy. In addition to the figures typically treated in such historical accounts, he also gives attention to Reimarus and the beginning of the quest for the historical Jesus, situating this important debate in its philosophical and ideological context.

Whereas his previous book began with Augustine, this volume gives significant space to the philosophical and theological predecessors of the Bishop of Hippo. This material is important in its own right and it is also crucial for understanding medieval as well as modern philosophy in terms of its larger stream of development. Just as one needs to understand something of Plato to read Augustine insightfully, and Aristotle to appreciate Aquinas, so one needs to read Hume against the background of ancient skepticism and Epicureanism. Brown’s concise summaries of these figures and movements are most helpful for charting the connections between various philosophers.

Brown’s volume contains eighteen chapters, most of which deal with a number of thinkers and their ideas. Exposition is nicely blended with philosophical criticism and theological assessment throughout. Moreover, the philosophical analysis is typically preceded by biographical sketches of the various thinkers that not only place them in their cultural and historical setting, but also give us interesting, and sometimes, humorous glimpses into their lives and personalities. For instance, we are informed that Kant had no ear for music and intensely disliked noise. Stern personality and moralist that he was, we are not surprised to learn that on one occasion he urged authorities to stop inmates at a nearby prison from consoling themselves by singing hymns!

Of course, Kant is famous for more than his impatience with hymn singing. His massive and often obscure writings were of crucial importance for theology as well as for philosophy. Much of the history of theology since the eighteenth century can be understood as various attempts to come to terms with Kant’s claims about the limits of human knowledge. Most leading Christian philosophers today reject his work as deeply flawed and are far more confident about our prospects for substantive knowledge about God and other related matters than Kant would allow. Nevertheless, many theologians have accepted his strictures and much of the thin and sterile theology produced since his time is at least partly due to his abiding specter. Brown’s chapter is a helpful summary of Kant’s central claims and their relevance to Christian thought. Another philosopher with a similar impact on theology is Hume. Brown’s chapter on the Scottish philosopher is one of the best in his book.

Steve Wilkens and Alan G. Padgett, Christianity & Western Thought, vol 2: Faith & Reason in the 19th Century (InterVarsity, 2000)

Padgett and Wilkens deserve our thanks for assuming the task of completing Brown’s project and their volume does an excellent job of continuing the fascinating and important story he initiated. They begin their volume with a reminder of the ways in which Kant set the agenda for the next hundred years. As they note, the nineteenth century departed from him in some significant respects. One of these departures pertains to the “greater allowance for the full range of human experience as a matter of philosophical and theological interest and even authority” (18).

Telling the story of all that was involved in the full range of human experience explored by thinkers of the nineteenth century requires the authors to direct their attention to a broad range of writers beyond the relatively circumscribed circle of the philosophers. Thus, in addition to obvious choices such as Hegel, Mill, and Kierkegaard, the authors also give extensive space and attention to figures such as Darwin, Durkheim, Weber, and Freud. The book is structured in a clear and consistent manner. As in Brown’s treatment, the authors typically begin their treatment of the thinkers discussed with some brief biographical information. In the second volume, critical assessment of each thinker is usually reserved for a distinct section that follows exposition. Strengths and weaknesses are noted as well as the lasting significance of each major thinker.

The tendency in the nineteenth century to attend to the full range of human experience is nowhere more evident than in one of the best known movements of the period, namely, Romanticism, the effects of which are still with us today. With its emphasis on experience, intuition, and the aesthetic as means of access to the divine, Romanticism was deeply at odds with the Enlightenment’s heavy reliance on reason as the guide to all things. Romanticism profoundly affected theology, most notoriously in the figure often recognized as the father of modern theology, Schleiermacher. Padgett and Williams give significant attention to Schleiermacher, as one would expect, but they also devote several pages to the theology of Coleridge, who is better known for his contributions to English literature. The discussion of Coleridge is fascinating as an example of how the best insights of Romanticism can be deployed in a more orthodox framework than Schleiermacher is noted for.

Any treatment of the nineteenth century must, of course, deal with the towering influence of Hegel. Padgett and Williams do not dissent from the generally held view that Hegel was the greatest western philosopher of his century and they make a valiant effort to render his thought intelligible and to defend him from analytic philosophers who are often inclined to dismiss his work as “illogical gibberish.” However, in the very course of doing this, they confirm the suspicions of those inclined to be skeptical.

Padgett and Willliams also continue the story of the quest for the historical Jesus that began with Reimarus and they show how Hegel’s philosophy shaped the later discussion. They skillfully detail the role played in this historic controversy by the pivotal figures of D. F. Strauss and F. C. Baur, both explaining their contributions and holding them up to critical scrutiny.

One of my favorite chapters in the volume is the one entitled “Rebellion against Rationality,” which deals with Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche. Kierkegaard and Nietzsche are both figures whose influence in the twentieth century was far greater than in their own, and it seems clear their shadows will extend into the next century as well. Nietzsche, particularly, has been recognized as a seminal influence on postmodernism in its various guises. I read this chapter shortly after teaching a course on Postmodern and Pop Culture and I was struck with how much Schopenhaur’s thought resonated with the pessimistic tone of such recent films as “American Beauty” and the ironically entitled “Happiness.” Perhaps, Schopenhaur will assume a voice for our times as significant as the other thinkers in this chapter.

Readers of this work will find interesting the final section of chapter eight that deals with the movements for women’s rights that achieved success in this century. The authors highlight the role played in these struggles by revivalist and holiness leaders such as C. Finney, L. Lee, F. Willard, and P. Palmer. Methodists may be gratified to be reminded that these important social developments have not only Christian but distinctively Wesleyan roots as well.

Obviously there is much in these volumes that I have not commented on even in cursory fashion. Also obvious is the fact that a work as wide ranging as this will include missteps here and there as well as contested judgments. But I hope I have said enough to indicate the value of these volumes for anyone who wants a better understanding of how the currents of western thought have both shaped and been shaped by Christian faith. They are written clearly and interestingly enough that they provide a pleasurable and profitable read from cover to cover, but they are also suited to serve as reference tools for occasional consultation. Footnotes include extensive references to other literature for those who want more detail than the authors provide. Readers would be well advised to add these books to their library and to anticipate completing the set when the third volume appears.

By Jerry L. Walls, John Wesley Fellow, Professor of Philosophy of Religion, Asbury Theological Seminary, author of Hell: The Logic of Damnation (Notre Dame Press, 1992) and Heaven: The Logic of Eternal Joy (Oxford, forthcoming).