IS THERE A CHRISTIAH PHILOSOPHY ? By Warren C. Young Northern Baptist Theological Seminary See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy a n d empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. — Paul Introduction Our attention in this paper will be centered on the world view which roots itself in' the assumption that truth, in the final and complete sense, can only be attained if a special revelation from God be granted. It is the con- viction of the Christian r e a l i s t i c philosophy that human experience as a whole can be understood only if the existence of a God who has disclosed Himself to us be admitted. Our concern, then, is with the philosophy, not according to human tradition, but according to C h r i s t . Before proceeding further, it is necessary to point out that there are those who reject the suggestion that t h e r e is a Christian realistic philosophy· Opposition comes from at least two s o u r c e s . F i r s t , t h e r e a r e s o m e who view religion of any type as superstition which had its beginnings in m a g i c , myths, and legends of ages long past. Religion is to be regarded as an evidence of cultural lag. If it is to be of any value at all, it m u s t be n a - turalized, or at least rationalized, in the light of m o d e r n scientific and philosophical theory. While t h e r e a r e some, particularly those of the ί- α e ali s tic tradition who do give religion a place of value and importance in human experience, yet, h e r e also the revelation al aspect so essential to Christian r e a l i s m is either completely overlooked or openly rejected. All religions m u s t be tested by empirical categories varying with the i n t e r e s t of the investigator before their teachings a r e to be accepted as even ten- tatively t r u e . Such empirical investigation leaves no place at all for the authority of revelation as adhered to be Christian thinkers. Secondly, t h e r e a r e those who live; and move within the framework of the revelational approach to truth who would deny to the Christian world view the name of philosophy· Christianity is not a philosophy, but r a t h e r , a way of life based, not on human r e a s o n and speculation, but on faith in the su- pernatural. Philosophy is rationalistic; Christianity is nonrationalistic. Philosophy is man#m a d e, speculative; Christianity is God#given, dogmatic. Hence, Christianity m u s t not be contaminated with the foul epithet, phil- osophy. Most of us would be agreed that if "philosophy" is to be defined in t e r m s of empirical and rationalistic systems exclusively, then Christianity is not a philosophy. The Christian r e a l i s t ic faith is founded, not on human spec- ulation, but on divine disclosure. On the other hand, if '•philosophy··.be understood to m e a n a world view or a way of life, as it has been used throughout this work, and as it is m o s t generally understood today, then Christianity is a philosophy. If philosophy i s , as Matthew Arnold suggest- ed, the attempt to see life steadily and to see it whole, or as o t h e r s have suggested,to give a coherent account of all of one's experience, then c e r - tainly there is a Christian philosophy. The basic question of human ex- perience is not philosophy versus no philosophy, but good philosophy ver# sus bad philosophy. Everyone has "a" philosophy of life, a world view, no 6 matter what form it may happen to take. Our problem is not to get rid of philosophy, but to find the right philosophy, and, having found it, to present it to others with a conviction that grows out of the knowledge that one has found the truth. It is the Christian realistic contention that only if the revelational postu- late be granted is it possible to construct a fully integrated philosophy. At the same time it must be pointed out that idealists and naturalists make certain claims for their respective systems and a r e endeavoring to dem- onstrate their claims to others, also. Let it be clearly understood that our present task is not one of attempting to demonstrate that Christian r e a l - ism is a more coherent world view than that which other thinkers may have to offer. Our purpose is rather to state as concisely as possible what the Christian realistic philosophy i s . Converts from one world view to another are seldom made by demonstrating that one's own particular phil- osophy is more coherent than all others. There is no world view which is coherent per se. Each philosopher sees his own view as coherent be- cause it accords with the assumptions which he believes to be most sig- nificant. If he did not believe this, he would be living in an incoherent world--a world in which no one can live for very long. What we a r e at- tempting to say is that coherence itself is always relative. It always de- pends upon a system of assumptions which are adhered to be faith or con- viction rather than by rational demonstration. Christian realism is the most coherent world view, we believe, if the assumption of special revela - tion be granted; it is not the most coherent philosophy if the fact of special revelation be denied, as in the case of empirically rooted views such as idealism or naturalism. Our task, then, is not to argue that Christian realism is the most coherent view per se, and that therefore thinkers who are perfectly rational ought logically to~"äccept it, but to present the claims of this world view as generally held by Christian realists themselves. Revelation We have tried to point out that Christian realistic philosophy begins with the conviction or postulate of special revelation--that not only does God exist b u t that we know of His existence because He has made Himself known to us. The heart of revelation is to be found in Christ, the Word Who became flesh, while the record of God's disclosure is to be found in the written Word—the Hebrew-Christian Scriptures. If this postulate be rejected, there is no basis for speaking of a Christian philosophy. If hu- man experience by itself be the standard of all attainable truth, then one's choice of world views would be limited to some type of idealism or na- turalism. On the other hand, if God has spoken in a unique manner, there is certainly a place for another type of world view. Such a world view seeks to understand all experience, and to integrate all the facts of exist- ence, in the light of, and in relation to, the Word which God has spoken to man. Christian philosophy begins, then, with the assertion of a positive, super- natural, and authoritative message.^ This message is never to be thought of as a human achievement but always as a divine gift. It is a Word which comes to man from an order beyond the world of natural experience. It is a Word directed toward the whole man, to his emotions, his intellect, his will, not to any one aspect of personality. More will be said on this point a little later. This world view does not claim that all areas of truth are fully and com- pletely dealt with in the Word which God has given. There are a r e as of knowledge which have been left for man to investigate and to develop by himself, but this world view does claim that all areas of human experience 7 are to be understood rightly only in the light of the Word of God. In other words, Christian philosophy, taken as a whole, is that system of thought (or world view) which results from man thinking under the influence of the Spirit which God has given, which recognizes as authoritative the Word He has spoken, and which finds at its very heart, Christ, the Word who be- came flesh. If objection be raised to this point of beginning, it can only be pointed out that all philosophical systems begin with postulates of some kind, so that there is no evident reason for rejecting the hypothesis that a world view may be built on a supernatural postulate. Such a view insists that human experience cannot be known fully and completely from the inside, that i s , by human means alone. Rather, it can only be understood in the light of what the Creator has to say in His Word. Rational and empirical philoso- phies assume that a complete and sufficient world view can be constructed by human speculation alone, while Christian realistic philosophy insists that an over-all view can be constructed only in the light of the plan and purpose of the Creator as it is set forth in His Word. While all truth is God's truth, its true significance is evident only in the light of special revelation.