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Philosophy of religion

Thinking about faith

Clarifying beliefs?

PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION (2nd edition)
Thinking about faith
By C. Stephen Evans & R. Zachary Manis
IVP. 208 pages. £11.99
ISBN 978-1-84474-399-5

There are evangelical preachers — whom I know and respect — who have an instinctive hostility to philosophy of religion. It seems too arcane, too unbiblical and far too intellectualist.

Philosophy conjures up images of men in togas reasoning their way to the knowledge of God. And the word ‘philosophy’ in Scripture is associated with Stoics, Epicureans and other hollow and deceptive thinkers. So I can understand why many Christians guess that philosophy of religion has nothing to say to them.

But, as evangelical philosophers, C. Stephen Evans and R. Zachary Manis make clear, in their excellent little introduction to this subject, that there are many kinds of philosophy and not all are hollow and deceptive. In fact, the analytic philosophy recommended by Evans and Manis simply means clarifying and defending our beliefs. Philosophy of religion is merely critical thinking and not an attempt to reason our way to God.

After clarifying what philosophy of religion is for, Evans and Manis argue that no one approaches God from an intellectually neutral, emotionally objective position, and that faith is essential to finding the truth about God. But the authors do not recommend blind leaps of faith. That would make commitment to Christ an act of sheer willpower, and would suggest that when God calls us he simply bypasses our minds.

The authors show that science does not obviously clash with Christian belief, that it is not irrational to believe in miracles and that we can trust our experiences of God.

Even hearing God’s voice in a sermon or a passage of Scripture provides powerful and rational grounds for believing in God. The importance of experiencing and trusting God is the central theme of this book.

That said, this is a textbook for beginning students. The material in the book is accessible and helpful, but it will not win any prizes for readability. The author’s defence of propositional revelation will be helpful to those engaged with more radical members of the Emergent Church. But they avoid taking a definitive stance in the debates about God’s knowledge of the future and the nature of free will.

Graham Veale,
Richhill Presbyterian Church;
Head of Religious Education, Armagh High School, Northern Ireland