INTRODUCTION TO CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY

PHILOSOPHY AND CHRISTIANITY

Since Christianity is a religion centering in the person and work of Jesus Christ, it is not a philosophy. For a philosophy is an intellectual construction resulting from the human intellectual activity that is called philosophy. Christianity is neither a human intellectual construction - a philosophy - nor the human intellectual activity of philosophy. That this is so can be seen by investigating the nature of philosophy and its differences from religion and its relation to religion and to Christianity in particular.

THE NATURE OF PHILOSOPHY

The term "philosophy" comes from two Greek words, philein, to love and sophia, wisdom. The Greek philosopher Pythagoras (c. 572-497 B. C.) is said to have called himself a lover of wisdom. Socrates (c. 470-399 B. C.) refused to call himself a sophist, that is, one who has wisdom, but only a philosopher, a lover of wisdom. Philosophy therefore is not wisdom, but only the love or desire for wisdom, implying thereby the pursuit of wisdom rather than its attainment.

What is wisdom? In modern times the word wisdom has been restricted almost entirely to practical wisdom; it denotes an insight which applies knowledge to life and action and connotes a manner of life based on understanding and experience. In earlier times (Plato and Socrates) wisdom was taken to include both theoretical and practical wisdom. Later philosophers (Aristotle and Aquinas) limited the concept of wisdom to a kind of knowledge that gives understanding and insight into the meaning of the whole of reality. This speculative or theoretical wisdom was distinguished from and contrasted with "prudence" which was the name they gave to practical wisdom.

Philosophy is the search for this wisdom. Accordingly philosophy may be defined as that human intellectual activity which aims at the acquisition of a body of general and systematic knowledge concerning those aspects of reality characteristic of it as a whole in order to understand the whole of reality. An analysis of this definition will disclose three important characteristics of philosophy.

1. First of all, philosophy is a human intellectual activity. Of the many activities of man there is that activity which may be called philosophy. Philosophy is distinguished from other human activities in that it belongs to that group of human activities which may be called intellectual. Thus philosopy is an activity of man's mind and not an intellectual construction. Such an intellectual construction results from the intellectual activity of philosophy. Philosophy, the intellectual activity, should be carefully distinguished from a philosophy, the intellectual construction resulting from this activity.

2. Second, according to our definition of philosophy, philosophy as an human intellectual activity aims at a body of general and systematic knowledge concerning those aspects of reality characteristic of it as a whole. This is the goal of philosophy. Knowledge may be defined as warranted or justified belief. [1] The knowledge which is the goal of philosophy is general and systematic. Such knowledge is general in the sense that the propositions in which this knowledge is stated apply to each instance of the kind of phenomena which is the subject of the propositions. Also this knowledge is systematic in the sense that the propositions in which it may stated may be organized into a deductive system. A deductive system is a number of propositions so organized that from a minimum number of them (called axioms or postulates) the rest of them (called theorems) may be deduced. [2] Knowledge is systematic when it has the form of a deductive system. The subject matter of this body of general and systematic knowledge is those aspects of reality characteristic of it as a whole. [3] There are at least three of these aspects that philosophy is concerned with: being, knowledge, value. These three aspects give rise to the three main problems of philosophy: the problem of being, the problem of knowledge and the problem of values. To deal with these three aspects, philosophy is divided into three areas of investigation: ontology to deal with the problem of being, epistemology to deal with the problem of knowledge and axiology to deal with the problem of values.

3. Third, according to the above definition of philosophy, the purpose for acquiring this body of general and systematic knowledge is to gain an understanding of the whole of reality. Understanding is that ability to see beneath the superficial and seemingly obvious into the subtle interrelationships between seemingly isolated things and events and thus to view them in a wider perspective. This understanding is concerned with the whole of reality. As such philosophy may be said to be comprehensive. But it is comprehensive in a certain special way. For the whole of reality is the subject matter of philosophy because its particular subject matter is those aspects characteristic of it as a whole. These are not just any characterstics but those which are characteristic of reality as a whole: being, knowledge, value. Since these aspects are characteristic of it as whole, the whole of reality may be said to be the subject matter of philosophy. In this sense philosophy is comprehensive and not because it is the sum of all knowledge.

In conclusion, the body of knowledge that philosophy seeks to give understanding of the whole of reality may be called theoretical wisdom. The ability to bring this theoretical wisdom to bear upon the problems and tasks of life may be called practical wisdom. Philosophy as an intellectual activity is the search for wisdom and a philosophy as an intellectual construct is the wisdom sought. [4]

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION

Philosophy differs from religion formally in three respects. Since Christianity is a religion, it differs formally from philosophy in the same three respects that other religions differ from philosophy. [5]

1. First of all, religion and thus Christianity is a different kind of human activity from philosophy. A religion is not primarily an activity of the mind. It is an activity of the total man. Religion involves the total man because it is the most basic of human activities. The object of ultimate significance and supreme importance to which a person commits and devotes himself will determine the quality of his whole life. It furnishes him with an entire set of values and these values in turn govern each of his specific decisions, intellectual as well as moral. In this sense the activity of religion is the most basic of all human activities and thus involves the total man. Philosophy, on the other hand, does not involve the total man in this way.

2. Second, religion has a purpose and goal different from philosophy. In contrast to philosophy whose goal is the acquisition of a body of general and systematic knowledge, the goal of religion is not knowledge but, on the contrary, is commitment and worship. Knowledge is important to religion only as a means to this commitment. If religion seeks knowledge it is for the sake of worship. [6]

3. Third, religion differs from philosophy in that it is concerned with a different part or aspect of reality than philosophy. In religion the object of commitment and devotion in addition to being regarded as of ultimate significance and supreme importance is also acknowledged to be ultimate reality and the source and ground of all the rest of reality. Religion is thus primarily concerned with that which is believed to be ultimate reality. It is only secondarily concerned with the rest of reality. Philosophy, on the other hand, is concerned with the whole of reality and in particular with those aspects of the whole of reality which are characteristic of it as a whole.

THE RELATION BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION

Thus religion and Christianity as a religion differs from philosophy. But although religion and philosophy are formally different, this does not mean that they are unrelated. On the contrary, there is a positive twofold relationship between philosophy and religion. This relation consists of more than just the fact that they are both human activities and are concerned with reality. This positive twofold relationship may be stated in the following way: philosophy has a religious foundation, and religion has philosophical implications. [7]

1. The religious foundation of philosophy may be seen from two considerations.
   1. First of all, since philosophy is a human activity, it is involved in that most basic of all human activities, the religious commitment. Man is a psychological whole; this means that all human activities are interrelated and involved directly or indirectly with each other. Accordingly, religion (in the narrow sense of the term as defined above) and philosophy are psychologically interrelated. But since religion is the most basic of human activities, philosophy is accordingly grounded in it. As was pointed above, the object of ultimate significance and supreme importance to which a person commits and devotes himself will determine the quality of his whole life by furnishing him with an entire set of values which in turn will govern his specific moral and intellectual decisions. Philosophy, accordingly, as an intellectual activity is governed consciously or unconsciously by one's ultimate commitment. Pschologically, therefore, philosophy has a religious basis.

   2. The second consideration which shows the religious foundation of philosophy follows from the first. Since philosophy is an intellectual activity, it involves certain presuppositions. [8] Now the basic assumptions and presuppositions of philosophic thinking are provided by one's ultimate commitment. In this way philosophy as an intellectual activity consciously or unconsciously is grounded in an ultimate commitment. Intellectually, therefore, philosophy has a religious basis.

   From these two considerations it appears that philosophy is involved with, grounded in, and carried on consciously or unconsciously from within the confines of a religious commitment. [9]

2. The other side of the positive relation between philosophy and religion is that religion has philosophical implications. As it was pointed out above, the object of ultimate commitment is not only regarded as being of ultimate significance and supreme importance but is also acknowledged to be ultimate reality. Now for the object of ultimate commitment to be regarded as ultimate reality means that it is believed to be the source and ground of all the rest of reality; all the rest of reality is secondary to and derivative from it. Thus to regard something (someone) as ultimate reality implies a definite view of the world or reality, a Weltanschauung. [10] A world view may be defined as the widest perspective that the mind can take of reality from the standpoint of some particular ultimate commitment (religion). Thus every ultimate commitment involves a world view. [11] Now this world view gives a certain character to the whole of reality. It is this character of the whole reality that has implications for philosophy. For it implies a definite position with regard to those aspects of the whole of reality which are characteristic of it as a whole. And as one thinks philosophically, that is, studies and analyzes the whole of reality with respect to those aspects characteristic of it as a whole to obtain a body of general and systematic knowledge concerning them, this position implied by the character of reality given in one's world view comes to intellectual expression. [12] This intellectual expression of one's world view is called a philosophy. A philosophy, in giving intellectual expression to a position with regards to those aspects of reality characteristic of it as a whole, is thus an elaboration and clarification of the philosophic implications of the ultimate commitment of a person or group of persons. It is this way that religion as ultimate commitment has philosophical implications.

THE RELATION BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY AND CHRISTIANITY

The elaboration and clarification of the philosophic implications of the Christian ultimate commitment to Jesus Christ and to God the Father through him is called a Christian philosophy. The Christian ultimate commitment implies a definite view of the world or reality. This view of reality which is contained in the Hebrew-Christian Scriptures makes the fundamental ontological distinction between the Creator and the creation (Gen. 1:1; Isa. 40:28; Acts 17:24; Rev. 4:11). God the Father is the creator of all things that are not-God through Jesus Christ, His Son (I Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2; John 1:3). This Christian world view gives a certain character to the whole of reality. All that is real is created by God the Father through Jesus Christ, His Son, except God Himself (John 1:3). Also God freely created all things (Rev. 4:11). All that is not-God is the free creation of God. He was under no compulsion or necessity to create. There was no inner necessity in God which required that He create to fulfill a lack or need. Even though all of creation is dependent upon God for its existence, God is not dependent upon anything. In addition, the creation is neither an emanation nor a part of God; it neither came out of God nor did it eternally exist as a part of God. Finally, all creation is good. Although not-God, the creation is not evil; it is good but not ultimate good. It is good because God created it and recognized that it was good.
"And God saw everything he had made, and, behold, it was very good"
(Gen. 1:31; see also Gen. 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25).
This character of reality given in the Christian world view implies a definite position with regard to those aspects of reality characteristic of it as a whole, such as being, value, and knowledge. A Christian philosophy is the intellectual expression of this position. Thus a Christian philosophy may be defined as an intellectual construction which contains the elaboration and clarification of the philosophic implications of the Christian ultimate commitment to Jesus Christ and to God His Father through Him.

In conclusion, although Christianity is not a philosophy, there is a definite positive relationship between Christianity and philosophy. As a religion Christianity sustains the same positive two sided relation with philosophy as any other religion:

1. Christianty can provide the religious foundation for philosophy as described above. That is, philosophy as an intellectual activity may be involved with, grounded in and carried on from within the confines of the Christian ultimate commitment.
2. Christianity also has philosophic implications as described above. The Christian ultimate commitment involves a world view. As a Christian engages in philosophic thinking, this world view will express itself consciously or unconsciously in the results of his philosophic thinking, in his philosophy.

ENDNOTES

[1] See W. H. Werkmeister, The Basis and Structure of Knowledge (New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1948) p. 3f. This definition is intended as a working definition, not as a solution of the problem of knowledge.

[2] See Irving M. Copi, Symbolic Logic (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1954) pp. 167-181. The general and systematic character of scientific knowledge is what distinguishes it from common everyday knowledge like that in a telephone book.

[3] The word "reality" is used here to refer to that which is as contrasted to that which is fictitious, imaginary or illusionary. The word is not intended to indicate the ontological position of any philosophy nor to offer a solution to the problem of being.

[4] The definition of philosophy given above is partially inadequate because it fails to make any reference to the methodological character of the intellectual activity we have here called philosophy. This intellectual activity is not haphazard. It proceeds according to a definite method called the philosophical method. This method is very much similar to the scientific method. In fact, it is the scientific method as applied to the subject matter of philosophy. An explanation of the scientific method and its application to subject matter of philosophy will be set forth in the next chapter.

[5] In the following comparison between philosophy and religion the formal differences are stressed; that is, the differences of form between them. This does not mean that they are unrelated. On the contrary, there is a definite positive twofold relationship between them as will be pointed out below.

[6] "The essence of philosophy is to think; the essence of religion is to dedicate. Each is more an undertaking that a subject of study. A good course in philosophy does not merely teach students about philosophy; far more significantly, it teaches them to philosophize. Those who promote religion are never satisfied with imparting information about religion; they are concerned, instead, that people be religious. Philosophy and religion, both, seek knowledge, but they seek knowledge for different purposes."
[Trueblood, op. cit., pp. 8-9. Italics are his.]
He goes on to quote from William Temple,
Nature, Man and God
(London: Macmillan Company, 1934), p. 30.
"Philosophy seeks knowledge for the sake of understanding, while religion seeks knowledge for the sake of worship."

[7] John A. Hutchison, Faith, Reason, and Existence
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1956) pp. 28-29.

[8] "In thinking, no beginning can be made without assumptions. No matter how basic the problem, there is not [sic] absolute starting point behind which there remains nothing to be defined." [Marten Ten Hoor, "The Role of the Philosopher," Philosophical Review, LVI (1947), p.510.]

[9] One objection that might be raised against this presentation of the religious foundation of philosophy is that it involves philosophy in pure subjectivism. Philosophy, according to this point of view, becomes just the instrument for the expression of the philosopher's personal interests and prejudices. This objection overlooks the fact that philosophy is the intellectual activity of a person, a self. "Reasoning never occurs in the abstract. It is always the activity of an individual mind. It can never be separated from the crucial experience of a particular living person." [Edward Thomas Ramsdell, The Christian Perspective (New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1950), p.31] But even though philosophy is subjective in the good sense of that term as any other human activity, it is not purely subjective. For every subjective decision of a person has objective reference if it is not whimsical or arbitrary. "The value judgments which free choice entails are 'objective' in the sense that they refer to a standard of good and evil independent of oneself. They are distinguished from private inclinations and tastes by the fact that this external criterion can overrule personal preferences. If a man's value judgments are consequent upon the particular standard which he adopts, and if he cannot make a responsible decision without reference to it, the conclusion is that the very exercise of freedom necessarily involves the agent in a relation to something beyond himself."
[E. La B. Cherbonnier, Hardness of Heart
(Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1955), p. 39]
Philosophy, ancient and modern, has either overlooked or ignored this relation (see E. La B. Cherbonnier, Ibid., pp. 45-48). The subject is not without its object in the sense of an external criterion and standard of good and evil. When this object is the subject's ultimate criterion, it is his god and the subject's commitment and devotion to it is his religion.

[10] "A reader of the higher class of works in German theology - especially those that deal with the philosophy of religion - cannot fail to be struck with the constant recurrence of a word for which he finds it difficult to find a precise equivalent in English. It is the word 'Weltanschauung,' sometimes interchanged with another compound of the same signification, 'Weltansicht.' Both words mean literally 'view of the world,' but whereas the phrase in English is limited by associations which connect it predominantly with the physical nature, in German the word is not thus limited, but has almost the force of a technical term, denoting the widest view which the mind can take of things in the effort to grasp them together as a whole from the standpoint of some particular philosophy or theology."
[James Orr, The Christian View of God and the World
(Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1947) p. 3]

[11] "Whatever a man worships as the supremely important defines his perspective." [Edward Thomas Ramsdell, op. cit., pp. 32, 33. Italics are his.]

[12] Many philosophers use the terms "world-view" and "philosophy" synomymously (cf. Brightman, Kattsoff). This seems to me to lead to much confusion. A philosophy (in distinction from philosophy as an intellectual activity) is an intellectual construction about those aspects of the whole of reality which are characteristic of it as a whole such as knowledge, value and being. A philosophy is the result of an intellectual activity, whereas a world-view is the point of view given with one's ultimate commitment. Thus to use these terms interchangeably is to confuse these two very different things. This, however, is not intended to deny that there is a positive relation between them. The character given to the whole of reality by a world-view implies a definite position with regard to those aspects of the whole of reality which are characteristic of it as a whole. This position comes to intellectual expression in a philosophy. For further discussion on this point see H. A. Durfee, op. cit., footnote 10, p. 197.