Philosophy & the Christian Faith

I utilized this in seminary and found it very useful. Brown's review of the history of philosophy and critiques thereof are not overly authoritative. This book is an easy read for the non-philosopher or novice. It was broad in its reach but it could not plunge deep enough due to its format. If you are looking for a quick trustworthy reference from a Christian perspective, this is a must. It covers many of the important philosophers in history. Brown even provides short coverage of Van Til and Schaeffer. This is a good book for a beginner or a seminary student.

Colin Brown's Philosophy and the Christian Faith is a 320 page helicopter tour of the middle ages down to the mid twentieth century. Brown's survey profiles the men that have been significant markers on the intersection between philosophy and Christianity. Among these are Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Pascal, Locke, Hume, Rousseau, Voltaire, Kant, Schleiermacher, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Marx, Nietzsche, Mill, Bultmann, Tillich, Van Til, Barth, and Schaeffer (among others). Brown's writing style is easy to follow (a trait not usually found among historians). Some of his recaps of the men and movements included in the book are among the best I've read to date. In the book he makes a reference to Bertrand Russell's History of Philosophy and notes that it's the only one of its kind that can be read in bed. The gist is that it's a lively piece of writing that is far from dull or dry. Well, the same can be said of Brown's work. My only complaint is that Brown seems to have vastly overestimated the importance of some of the issues that he gives a lot of space to in his book. Writing in the 1960s, Brown devotes an inordinate amount of space and attention to works like John A. T. Robinson's Honest to God -- an important work at the time but one whose significance has dramatically dwindled as time has gone on. Perhaps it's not Brown's fault, for how could he have known that Robinson's influence was to diminish so considerably? But then again, Brown should've been more discerning as a historian, realizing that what is important one day may not be so important the next day. His chapter of the 20th century is longer than his chapters on the Medieval period and the Reformation and Enlightenment periods combined. As it stands, some of Brown's material is outdated. These criticisms notwithstanding, Philosophy and the Christian Faith is smoothly-written and informative. The back cover says that Brown manages to discuss the thought of about 450 philosophers. And indeed his greatest quality might be his ability to summarize movements so well. Those new to philosophy might benefit greatly from Brown's overhead view of the men responsible for merging philosophy and Christianity throughout history. For them Philosophy and the Christian Faith might be a very rewarding read indeed.

Work Scope: Dr. Brown starts by introducing his own reflective observations, on the tenuous liaison of philosophy and faith. Both theologians and philosophers had their respective doubts and frustrations. He pursues his goal by surveying the intellectual movements and their western thinkers during the second millennia. He categorizes his work thus; "Histories of philosophy are not normally designed to be read through in bed, and the present one is not necessarily intended to be read through consecutively." Views & Conclusions: Colin Brown exposes an insightful brief survey of alternative philosophical bases of Christian doctrine, that influenced the faith of Christian Churches in the course of history. This is a systematic work of an uncommonly talented, and deeply commited theologian to present an analytical history of philosophy, with an emphasis on the different interpretations of the sustained encounters of the fads and fashions of philosophy with Christian faith. Colin Brown concludes in the postscript with lessons from the past criticizing the incompleteness of philosophical systems. Although he warns against dependence on a particular philosophy, he recognizes the necessity of the philosophy's invigorating inquiry that drives Christian theologians to reconsider their positions. Unique treatment: In contrast to his intentional fast tour of medieval philosophy, he already started to interpret Anselm by Barth and Hartshorne. The author gave the Twentieth Century a relative elaborate and critical evaluation of new trends in logical positivism, and religious language before he reviews existentialism in the example of Bultmann and Tillich. He then introduces New Radicalism in Bonhoeffer, before his thorough exposition of J.A.T. Robinson's, Honest to God. He would not refrain from analyzing the 'Death of God' movement, but gives his debut on Cornilius Van Till and Francis Schaeffer. Biographical note: Colin Brown (D.D., U. of Nottingham; Ph.D., Bristol University) is professor of systematic theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena. He is an Episcopal minister, and has served as Associate Rector of his parish church for decades.

Brown provides a fine, brief survey of philosophy from the historical viewpoint. He begins with medieval thinkers, which set the pattern for so much of the thought that followed and still has its affect today. Covering Augustine to Aquinas, it is Augustine who sets the framework for the successors. Brown stresses a good point here, that the Middle Ages were focused not on the physical universe for its sake, but for the sake of the reality behind it. A strange mixture of Christinaity, pagan philosophy and a great portion of Greek philosophy. At the end, comes the major thinker Aquinas with his arguments that natural theology forms the intellectual basis for the philosophical arguments of the church.Moving to the 16th-18th centuries, Brown shows that this was the cradle for modern thought. Recovery here of world and man for their own sakes, and the Reformation turns away from natural theology to revealed theology. Thus, the development of the rationalists, empiricists, deists and to Kant, this is time of major turning in philosophy. Major directive to modern man's power of reason to understand his world.Creatively taking tagents off of this is the 19th century world of Schleiermacher, Hegel and Kierkegaard, spurning on the prominent 20th world of Barth, Tillich, Bultmann, etc.This is a great, general intro to philosophy and its relationship to Christianity. Brown warns against alignment with any particular philosophy too closely, but does see the need and value of the stimulus philosophy provides for Christian thinkers to rethink their position.Bibliography leans toward British publishing. Great reference is the five-volume "A History of Western Philosophy" by W.T. Jones.