Continuing discussion.

EPS Blog

This is the blog area for the Evangelical Philosophical Society and its journal, Philosophia Christi.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Christ-Shaped Philosophy: Wisdom and Spirit United

Paul K. Moser continues to offer an 'agenda-paving' focus on what 'Christian philosophy' should be about.

When I first interviewed Paul in 2008 about his "kerygmatic philosophy," I was struck (and delighted!) by how his perspective could help shape greater integrative work between philosophy and Christian spirituality. His latest paper, "Christ-Shaped Philosophy: Wisdom and Spirit United," will not disappoint in this area. Here is some of what Paul communicates: 
Christian philosophy is a distinctive kind of philosophy owing to the special role it assigns to God in Christ. Much of philosophy focuses on concepts, possibilities, necessities, propositions, and arguments. This may be helpful as far as it goes, but it omits what is the distinctive focus of Christian philosophy: the redemptive power of God in Christ, available in human experience. Such power, of course, is not mere talk or theory. Even Christian philosophers tend to shy away from the role of divine power in their efforts toward Christian philosophy.

The power in question goes beyond philosophical wisdom to the causally powerful Spirit of God, who intervenes with divine corrective reciprocity. It yields a distinctive religious epistemology and a special role for Christian spirituality in Christian philosophy. It acknowledges a goal of union with God in Christ that shapes how Christian philosophy is to be done, and the result should reorient such philosophy in various ways.

No longer can Christian philosophers do philosophy without being, themselves, under corrective and redemptive inquiry by God in Christ. This paper takes its inspiration from Paul’s profound approach to philosophy in his letter to the Colossians. Oddly, this approach has been largely ignored even by Christian philosophers. We need to correct this neglect.
To read the full text of this article, you can access it here.

Come this Fall, stay tuned at the EPS website as we seek to launch a new and unique online discussion around the themes of Paul's paper and its implications.

From Paul Moser's Spring 2012 presentation at Biola's Center for Christian Thought:

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2 Comments:

Blogger Mike Austin said:

For an example of this kind of philosophy, people might want to check out Mark McLeod-Harrison's book "Repairing Eden" (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2007). It deals with humility, mysticism, and the problem of religious pluralism.

By Blogger Mike Austin, at July 2, 2012 at 9:23 AM  

Blogger Aaron said:

Moser's paper/lecture is great!

One brief comment/question: Moser says that St. Paul's approach to philosophy has been largely ignored by Christian philosophers. But maybe this is because most Christian scholars who accept (perhaps implicitly) St. Paul's approach to philosophy are not considered "professional philosophers." Perhaps their work is categorized under "religion" or "theology"; their papers/books are not published in reputable philosophy journals. They have no voice, so to speak, among other professional philosophers. Professional philosophers take note of Moser's published work on religion/Christianity, however, because he has done well in other areas in philosophy (e.g. epistemology, metaphilosophy, serving as editor of journals and book series, etc.), and because his books are published by Oxford/Cambridge rather than Moody Bible Press.

By Blogger Aaron, at August 20, 2012 at 8:42 PM  

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