Philosophy and the Christian Worldview: Analysis, Assessment and Development

Written by David Werther and Mark D. Linville, eds Reviewed By R.T. Mullins

There are days when I doubt my decision to study theology. Some of the current fashion trends in contemporary theology can often be disheartening to a young philosophical theologian. When one tries to rigorously explore one's faith, certain contemporary theologians throw down the most unfortunate and unnecessary roadblocks to intellectual inquiry. In some theological circles it is hard to have a conversation without hearing the phrase, 'All language is metaphor.' At times it can be difficult to ask hard questions about one's faith without being told that Christian faith involves ineffable mysteries that ought not to be pried into. These types of roadblocks to intellectual inquiry can be frustrating for those who have a faith that seeks understanding. Perhaps I was spoiled during my graduate education. You see, I had the privilege to study under one of the most interesting characters in philosophy of religion-Keith Yandell. The intellectual rigor (and wonderful sense of humor) that this man exhibits set a very high standard in my mind as to what counts as good philosophical theology. Yandell has little patience for unnecessary intellectual roadblocks and is always interested in seeing how far philosophical inquiry can help us understand our faith. These virtues-or maybe you would consider them vices-rubbed off on me. As such, I was delighted to read this Festschrift for Yandell. This book reminded me of why I originally wanted to study theology.

David Werther and Mark Linville have put together a wonderful collection of essays in honor of Yandell. Each contributor has been a student of Yandell's in one way or another, and each offers a paper touching on a theme within Yandell's work. Yandell's work has covered a broad range of topics within traditional philosophy as well as topics within Christian theology and Eastern religions. The essays in this collection break down into four main areas of Yandell's work: (1) religion and worldview assessment; (2) religion and epistemology; (3) religion and morality; and (4) religion and metaphysics.

Yandell begins section 1 with his paper, “Is Philosophy of Religion Possible?” One of the things I enjoyed about studying under Yandell was the opportunity to see how philosophy is done. When one encounters Yandell, one gets to see philosophy in action. His paper exhibits those qualities by not only showing that philosophy of religion is possible, but by also showing how to go about doing high-quality work in philosophy of religion. He starts by considering a host of roadblocks to philosophy of religion and demonstrates that these are self-defeating. Some examples of self-defeating roadblocks are 'all language is metaphorical' and 'all our beliefs are culturally determined and thus not true.' With those self-defeating objections out of the way, he turns his attention to evidence, epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics. For Yandell, philosophy of religion must be done cross-culturally. When he gets to the task of examining each of these philosophical topics, he does so with this cross-cultural goal in mind by looking at issues that arise from Buddhism and Hinduism.

Section one ends with two papers. The first is Harold Netland's “Religious Pluralism as an Explanation for Religious Diversity,” and the second is Paul Copan's “The Naturalists are Declaring the Glory of God.” Netland describes the current situation of religious diversity before critiquing John Hick's religious pluralist hypothesis. Copan argues that theism can better explain the world than naturalism. Naturalists, he says, have done us a favor by clearly articulating their views to help us see this fact.

Section two contains four essays on religion and epistemology. Matthew Davidson and Gordon Barnes offer a rigorous defense of internalism. Charles Taliaferro considers objections to the trustworthiness of religious experience and refutes each in turn. William Wainwright presents a thorough treatment of theistic mystical experiences and enlightenment experiences, as well as attempts to defend ineffability against Yandell's objections to that doctrine. (It would have been fascinating to see Yandell's response to this paper.) Terence Penelhum ends the section by offering an interpretation of David Hume's views on religion and natural theology.

Section three contains three papers. Mark Linville discusses Bertrand Russell's departure from moral realism. He offers a careful argument to show the incompatibility of moral realism and naturalism. Michael Peterson offers an open-theist reply to William Rowe's evidential problem of evil. He argues that the approaches of skeptical theists fail to rebut the evidential problem of evil, as does Alvin Plantinga's O Felix Culpa theodicy. Ultimately, Peterson says that Christians should not be bound by the constraints of Rowe's argument. Instead, Christians should draw upon the resources of their own beliefs to answer the objection. Part of Peterson's open-theist approach is that God can allow gratuitous evil to occur. Paul Reasoner closes the section with a fascinating look at the similarities and differences between the Confucian doctrine of sincerity and the Christian doctrine of the imago dei. Reasoner shows a deep awareness of both religious traditions.

Section four closes the book with three papers on religion and metaphysics. William Hasker considers Jaegwon Kim's rejection of substance dualism. Hasker offers a point-by-point refutation of Kim's arguments before turning his attention to some alternatives to Cartesian dualism. He ends his paper by critiquing Timothy O'Connor's property emergentism and defending his own substance emergentism. Noel Hendrickson develops some new arguments for an incompatibilist account of free will. Most defenses of incompatibilism focus on moral responsibility. Hendrickson argues that an explanatory approach can offer a better defense than older approaches. In an effort to show the superiority of his approach, he tackles three objections to free will: the freedom-foreknowledge problem, moral responsibility, and a lack of evidence for the existence of free will. David Werther ends the section, and the book, by considering a problem that arises from the Christian doctrine of the incarnation. God is necessarily morally good, yet Jesus Christ is tempted in every way. It seems that a being that is necessarily morally good cannot be tempted. How is the Christian to respond? Werther considers and critiques answers from Thomas Flint and Thomas Morris before defending and extending the approach of Richard Swinburne.

It is often the case that a volume like this contains essays that are not worth reading. This volume, however, does not fit that mold. Every essay offers clear and interesting discussions on a wide variety of topics within philosophy of religion and theology. Werther and Linville have done a fine job at bringing together these contributors to offer a careful analysis and development of the Christian worldview while at the same time engaging in cross-cultural assessment. This book deserves a close read from philosophers and theologians.


R.T. Mullins

R.T. Mullins
University of St Andrews
St Andrews, Scotland, UK

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