Before launching into his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul describes this local church as sanctified. What does that mean, for them and for us?

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For generations, evangelicals have been convinced that the works of Jonathan Edwards would remain indelibly in the American mind. In 1832, the young abolitionist Henry B. Stanton declared, “Edwards will live a thousand lives by means of his written works.”¹ The famous revivalist and reformer Lyman Beecher, noting the timeless quality of Edwards’s writings, called the Northampton theologian “the immortal Edwards.”²

Today, these assumptions have by no means proven false. In the past thirty years, the theology of Jonathan Edwards has — once again — enjoyed a renaissance. However, of all Edwards’s masterpieces, none has proven as long-lasting and as universally appealing as Religious Affections (1746), a text that one scholar has called “one of the most profound works of spiritual discernment in the history of the church.”³ Edwards’s most penetrating treatise has become his most enduring.

Religious Affections Revised

By the time Edwards passed in 1758, his most well-known work was The Life and Diary of David Brainard (1749), a biographical account of a missionary to the Delaware Indians of New Jersey. Going through thirty editions, it became one of the best-selling religious books in the nineteenth century. But Edwards had been inspired to write about Brainerd because the young missionary’s life provided a perfect case study of the religious affections. In fact, when it was first published, The Life of Brainerd was used as a companion volume to Religious Affections.⁴ Brainerd’s life modeled well Edwards’s idea that “True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections.”⁵

After the “great bodily agitations” of the Cane Ridge Revival were unleashed in Kentucky in 1801, many evangelicals reached for Religious Affections to assess whether the event was indeed a work of the Spirit of God. “O that the less informed among the Americans,” warned one Kentuckian in 1802, “were in possession of President Edwards’s excellent volume on the Affections, and would most seriously read it.”⁶ Nevertheless, it was not until decades later, during the later phases of the Second Great Awakening, that Edwards’s most enduring theological work was regularly reprinted.⁷

Ironically, the version of Religious Affections that many Americans were reading was not the original Religious Affections. Newly established denominational and interdenominational presses often printed abridged versions that cut out Edwards’s Calvinism along with aesthetic concepts like “moral beauty,” “excellency,” and “sweetness” that were deemed too perplexing for a lay audience. Unfortunately, these omissions eviscerated many of the basic ideas of the treatise.⁸ John Wesley famously described Religious Affections as a “dangerous heap, wherein much wholesome food is mixed with much deadly poison” (by which the staunchly Arminian Wesley meant Calvinism).

Nevertheless, Wesley still published his own ultra-edited, bowdlerized version of Religious Affections. Amazingly, Wesley’s version was only a sixth of the original size, reducing Edwards’s twelve signs of godly affections to eight.⁹ So taken was Wesley with Religious Affections that one scholar has submitted that it was key to his thinking.¹⁰ Methodist Bishop Francis Asbury’s praise of the work was very similar to Wesley’s. Except for “the small vein of Calvinism which runs through it,” Asbury found it to be “a very good treatise, and worthy [of] the serious attention of young professors.”¹¹

Religious Affections Repurposed

Due to Edwards’s power to capture the inner workings of the soul and “the springs of men’s actions,” it was seemingly inevitable that Religious Affections would be co-opted by those whose theological beliefs did not remotely resemble those of its author. The most well-known revivalist of the Second Great Awakening, Charles Grandison Finney, credited Edwards’s Religious Affections as a primary source of inspiration for his “new measures.” Incredibly, the man who contended that revival was “not a miracle” appealed to the man who insisted “that God alone can bestow it.”¹²

In 1827, for example, Finney cited Religious Affections against his detractor, Asahel Nettleton, to justify his novel brand of revivalism (while Nettleton himself quoted Edwards back to Finney). Finney had first perused the monumental work in the home of a friend during his ministry in the “Burned-Over District” of western New York. However, as Finney biographer Keith J. Hardman insists, “If Charles Finney claimed to derive his arguments from Edwards’ Religious Affections, the question can be legitimately asked, Had Finney read beyond the first thirty pages?” Hardman then concludes, “Finney skimmed the book, took from it what he agreed with, cast the remainder aside — and then claimed to be following Edwards!”¹³

Finney’s misuse of Religious Affections was not the only such example of theological tone deafness. In 1835, Unitarian minister John Brazer described Edwards’s magnum opus in the Christian Examiner as “a book which is now in unquestioned repute, and which . . . has been referred to and quoted, reprinted and circulated by the predominant class of Christians in this country, with a deference only less than that which is paid to the Bible itself.”¹⁴ Astonishingly, one of the most hearty endorsements of Religious Affections came from the mouth of a heretic. Edwards’s work was consumed not just by those who opposed Calvinism but by those who opposed the doctrine of the Trinity!

Still, the greatest testament to the wealth of moral theology contained in Religious Affections is its widespread reception among orthodox evangelicals in both the North and South during a time when Americans were finding less and less in common. In Georgia, Baptist Jesse Mercer published a lengthy excerpt of the treatise in the Christian Index.¹⁵ Calling Edwards “the ablest theologian of his time,” Francis Wayland, the president of Brown University and the leading ethicist of his generation, once asked his students at chapel, “Who of us have not examined his title to Heaven more carefully by the aid derived from the ‘Treatise on the Religious Affections’ of Edwards?”¹⁶ In 1852, an evangelical in the New Englander agreed that Religious Affections had become “the text-book of Christendom on experimental religion.”¹⁷ So much weight did Rev. S.C. Aiken in Utica, New York, ascribe to the masterpiece that he confessed that “next to the Bible, no book was read so much in my family” as Religious Affections.¹⁸ Even evangelicals in the Episcopal Church were influenced by the work, using it as a spiritual guidebook.¹⁹

Religious Affections Renewed

Traditionally, historians have recognized that interest in the writings and theology of Jonathan Edwards reached a nadir in the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a period of scholarly ebb that eventually flowed with the work of Harvard professor Perry Miller in the late 1940s.²⁰ However, Edwards was not forgotten during this time. In 1882, renowned Bible scholar Calvin Stowe (husband of Harriet Beecher Stowe) confessed to a friend, “I am, and always have been in the main, a Calvinist of the Jonathan Edwards school.”²¹ When it seemed that the study of many of Edwards’s works was marginal at best, Religious Affections still exerted an influence upon the American mind.

Whereas in the nineteenth century the famous spiritual textbook inspired pastors, revivalists, and laypeople, at the turn of the twentieth century it garnered interest in more philosophical and academic circles. For example, in 1900, when Harvard philosopher William James made his argument for pragmatism — the belief that ideas must be evaluated by their results or outcomes rather than by truth — he appealed to Jonathan Edwards’s Religious Affections: “There is not one grace of the Spirit of God of the existence of which, in any [believer], Christian practice is not the most decisive evidence.”²² Edwards was an unlikely source of inspiration for James, who rejected historic Christianity. Nevertheless, James respected Edwards’s reasoning ability and sometimes quoted him at length.²³

By the late 1930s, Yale theologian and ethicist Richard Niebuhr was writing about Jonathan Edwards’s notion of religious affections.²⁴ Acknowledging Edwards as an intellectual mentor, Niebuhr later drew from Religious Affections to defend the value of religious knowledge in relating to God.²⁵ However, it wasn’t until the 1960s, with the work of Presbyterian theologian John Gerstner and others, that “Edwards studies began to lift from the runway to the cruising altitude of 2003 levels of publication and interest,” a stretch of time that saw the publication of John Piper’s Desiring God (1986), a book deeply influenced by Edwards.²⁶

In the past twenty years, in large part because of Piper’s ministry, a movement of Calvinist evangelicals dubbed by Collin Hansen the “Young, Restless, and Reformed” has championed the works of the “immortal Edwards.” Recently, as the movement has faced theological, moral, and social challenges, Hansen himself has attempted to chart a “way forward” by consulting a long-trusted resource for holy living: Religious Affections.²⁷ It seems Edwards’s work has been passed down to another generation of American evangelicals as their favorite spiritual textbook.

Take Up and Read

One of the primary reasons Religious Affections has enjoyed such longevity in the American mind is that it seeks to answer a question with which many Americans are preoccupied: What is true religion? For as long as Christians have sought to make God their heart’s desire and to discern spiritual fruit in their own lives, Jonathan Edwards has offered a thorough blueprint of their own souls and a guide with which to understand the nature of biblical faith. The late Presbyterian theologian R.C. Sproul, for instance, modeled much of his 1992 book The Soul’s Quest for God after Religious Affections.²⁸ Edwards’s monumental work still offers a how-to manual in searching our own souls.

Therefore, for Christians today, Religious Affections is as relevant as the day it was written. While the language is not always of our own time, the subject remains the most important in the Christian life: living for God. Next to the scholarly edition by Yale University Press (edited by John E. Smith), Banner of Truth also offers a version faithful to the original. By diagnosing the exercises of the will and “the spring of men’s actions,” Edwards continues to aid believers in obeying the opening verse of the book: “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8 KJV).

What happens when believers meet together? Christians both give and receive grace from the God who gathers them in true fellowship.

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Dinner wraps up, and you hug your friends goodbye. Pulling out of their driveway, you feel caffeinated by all that your observant eyes noticed during dinner. You burst with “insightful” judgments, confident your spouse is thankful to be with someone so in tune with human nature.

In reality, you dissect your friends with an unfriendly scalpel, filleting their lives like frogs in biology class. Who knew they were suckers for organic groceries! Boy, chores would improve their kids! You reach home with three to five solutions for your frogs’ — I mean, friends’ — shortcomings. But somewhere deep, you know that dragging their names through the mud served to elevate your own.

There’s a thrill in pointing the finger, an addictive high in analyzing the supposed sins and oddities of others. American author Flannery O’Connor cast “misfits” across her short stories to serve as easy targets for the proud to trample. She recognized how often, in attempts to feel better about ourselves, we find so much wrong with others.

A critical spirit runs through the history of the world: The snake bad-talked God, Adam blamed Eve, Cain despised Abel, Ham shamed Noah, and so forth. Of course, criticism can be true and worth thoughtful mention. (Just think of Nathan with David.) But so often, our criticism tries to exchange the target on our backs for a crown that belongs solely on God’s head.

Let’s stop and confess: Playing judge and jury is antithetical to the gospel.

God, the Gracious Judge

Part of the gospel’s good news is that at our worst, Jesus’s blood “speaks a better word” (Hebrews 12:24). We are the ultimate misfits, but he wants us. God had every right to deliver us to final, instantaneous death. The Trinity could have delighted in our demise behind locked car doors. But instead, the Father went public with his love and grace when he “put forward [his Son] as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (Romans 3:25). Our redemption wasn’t a fluke, the result of catching God on a good day; rather, “he chose us in him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4). God doesn’t nitpick dead frogs. He brings them back to life.

The gospel is reason to move toward others with an awareness that we limp. Jacob didn’t have much good to say about Esau. Jealous of what belonged to his older brother, Jacob schemed with his mother behind tent flaps. A lot went down that made Jacob run far, far away from his family — until God met him in an unexpected tussle. With a dislodged hip and a new heart in place, Jacob declared, “I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered” (Genesis 32:30).

Sweat lingered on Jacob’s brow when he saw Esau approaching after a heated lifetime apart. Esau must have wondered at his brother’s changed appearance and manner: The proud schemer now limped like a horse broken in and at rest. If we have wrestled with God and received his mercy, it follows that we will extend that same mercy to others. We approach our Esau as a fellow sinner and sufferer, not Judge Judy.

Serve and Follow

Jacob limping toward Esau is a memorable script-flip, but Jesus limping toward us is a sight that kills the “fun” of high-and-mighty people-watching. Do we dare stand over our neighbor with arms crossed when Jesus limps toward us in his humanity — or, as John Calvin says, “stoops” to accommodate us like a nurse baby-talking the child in her arms?

In the Gospels, Jesus’s love has a limp as he “hopes all things” while he “endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7). He hopes the best for us while willingly suffering the worst. For our part, we can continue to analyze the fascinating behavior of others, but only if our analysis is baptized in the hopeful, enduring love of the gospel.

Remember, Jesus lived close to the earth, doing the day-to-day with his disciples. He heard plenty of “friendly gossip” and uncensored judgment. Look at how he redirects his disciples on two occasions.

Serve Others Instead

The first occurs in Matthew 20:20–28, when the mom of “the sons of thunder” (who must have been quite the firecracker herself) asks Jesus to assign her two boys the best seats in the kingdom. The other disciples huff and puff at such audacity. Jesus stops them, pointing out that they are no longer part of the world’s rat race; paradoxically, the kingdom of heaven honors the slave. Even the Son of God came to serve and “give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).

Here’s Jesus’s redirection: When tempted to cut friends down to size, or to justify annoyance with spot-on judgments, serve instead. Serve by listening, waiting, forgiving, believing the best. Serve by overlooking, asking more questions, confronting. Serve like Jesus, who did so unto death.

Follow Jesus Instead

The second redirection is in John 21:20–23. Jesus lets Peter in on some hard things ahead of him. Peter spots John nearby, who is especially close to Jesus, and wants to know if he’ll have it just as bad. Jesus responds, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” (John 21:22).

We cannot follow Jesus if our eyes follow everyone else. Chances are, if we spend significant time dwelling on our neighbors’ irksome habits and measuring their blessings against our own, we see little of God. Jesus redirects our gaze. If we study God’s infinite beauties, then when Jesus says, “Follow me!” no one will be able to stop us.

Love over Slander

Unless we actively view other people and ourselves in light of the gospel, our critical tendencies will balloon until we’re well-rehearsed faultfinders lying on our deathbeds. The gospel is the antidote. We declare to our neighbor and ourselves: Jesus loves the misfit (with 1 Corinthians 13 hope and endurance). We follow this lover to the ends of the earth, and serve people we’d rather slander. The world will stop and stare at the Jacobs who no longer rob their brothers, but limp to embrace them.

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ABSTRACT: Traditionally recognized as the handmaiden of theology, philosophy has fallen on hard times in some Christian circles. The discipline of philosophy, however, holds great value both for Christians in general and for pastors especially. Properly understood and pursued in submission to the word of God, the pursuit of philosophy can make pastors more able theologians who are better equipped to lead the church, building her up in the truth and guarding her from false doctrine.

Once honored as “the handmaiden of theology,” Lady Philosophy seems to have fallen on hard times. In a 2010 book, Stephen Hawking pronounced that “philosophy is dead” because it failed to keep up with modern science. Marco Rubio remarked in a 2015 presidential debate that America needs “more welders and less philosophers,” implying that the former are more useful and employable. Rubio later retracted his comments, but statistics show a marked decline in the number of philosophy majors over the last couple of decades. Accordingly, many universities have downsized their philosophy departments or, in some cases, eliminated their philosophy programs altogether. There is a growing perception that philosophy has little practical use in the modern world.

Christians might have their own reasons to doubt the value of philosophy. Many of us have heard stories of young believers who took some philosophy classes at college, started questioning their faith, and ended up leaving the church altogether. Didn’t the apostle Paul warn believers not to be taken “captive by philosophy” (Colossians 2:8)? Has not God exposed the foolishness of the philosophers of this world (1 Corinthians 1:20)? Tertullian’s ancient question still speaks for many Christians today: “What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem? What concord is there between the Academy and the Church?” The implied answer is “None!”

In this article, I will offer a defense of the discipline of philosophy and its value for Christians in general and for pastors especially. I’ll begin by clarifying what philosophy is. I’ll then give some reasons why studying philosophy can be very worthwhile for believers. Finally, I’ll suggest some ways in which philosophy can help equip pastors for ministry.

What Is Philosophy?

In the most literal sense, philosophy is simply “the love of wisdom” (from Greek: phileo, “to love”; sophia, “wisdom”). The earliest philosophers saw themselves as those who loved and pursued wisdom, who wanted to be wise about the world and the way it works. For the ancients, philosophy was not about knowledge and insight merely for their own sake; it was a means to a greater end: the well-lived life. They sought wisdom for the sake of human flourishing. Thus, as two contemporary Christian scholars put it, philosophy in the most general sense can be understood as “the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom for the sake of flourishing.”¹

But what does this look like in practice? What kinds of activities do philosophers engage in, and what do they seek to accomplish? One way to view the agenda of philosophy is as the search for truth, understanding, and meaning in order to grasp the “big picture” — to discern the ultimate nature of reality, our place and purpose within the universe, and how everything fits together. This lofty task has both theoretical and practical dimensions: It concerns not only what we should believe but also how we should live.

Philosophy thus involves seeking answers to the “big questions” of life, the universe, and everything. Where did the universe come from? Why does anything exist at all? Why are we here? What is the purpose of human life, assuming there is one? What is human nature? What distinguishes us from other animals? Do we have souls that survive the death of our bodies? Do we have free will? What does it even mean to have free will? Does anything exist beyond the material world, the world of immediate sense experience? Is there a God? If so, what is God like? How does God relate to us? What does it mean to live a good life? What is justice? What is beauty? Is it possible to know the answers to these sorts of questions? Is it possible to know anything at all?

In attempting to answer such questions, philosophers apply two kinds of tools: tools of analysis and tools of argumentation. Tools of analysis aim for clarity, precision, and deeper comprehension of philosophical ideas, theories, and systems of thought. How are terms being defined and concepts being applied? What distinctions need to be drawn to avoid ambiguity or confusion? What is being tacitly assumed or presupposed? Is the idea or theory being proposed internally coherent? Is it consistent with what we already know or believe to be true? Does it have explanatory power? What are its logical implications? What practical difference would it make if it were true?

Tools of argumentation aim to give good reasons for accepting or rejecting philosophical claims or theories. Arguments are the stock-in-trade of philosophers. An “argument” in the philosophical sense is not necessarily a debate, let alone a quarrel, but simply one or more reasons offered in support of a claim. Philosophers are in the business of constructing, refining, and critically evaluating arguments. Some philosophical arguments are very simple — “I think, therefore I am”! — while others involve lengthy and complex chains of reasoning from initial premises to final conclusions.

Philosophy at its most ambitious can involve developing and defending a comprehensive system of thought or “worldview.” At some level, all people already have a worldview insofar as they have a web of background beliefs or presuppositions about the universe and their place in it that shapes how they interpret their experiences and conduct their lives. For the more philosophically reflective, however, a worldview can be brought into the foreground as something like a “theory of everything” or “map of reality.” In that sense, a worldview will encompass the three major divisions of philosophy: metaphysics (theory of reality), epistemology (theory of knowledge), and ethics (theory of morality). The most impressive and influential philosophers in history tend to be the worldview-builders.

Why Study Philosophy?

If philosophy is the love of wisdom, then Christians of all people should be interested in philosophy. After all, God’s word exhorts us to pursue wisdom and understanding (Proverbs 3:13; 4:7). The person who acquires wisdom “loves his own soul” (Proverbs 19:8). Even so, one might object that most philosophers through history have championed “the wisdom of the world” rather than the wisdom of God revealed in the gospel (1 Corinthians 1:20–25). No doubt one can find a great deal of foolishness in the writings of unbelieving philosophers!

Still, the fact that many philosophers have sought wisdom in the wrong places, and by the wrong means, should not deter us from pursuing true wisdom. Christians know the ultimate source of wisdom. As Paul reminded the Colossians, “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” are “hidden” in Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:2–3). When Paul warned them to beware of philosophy that is “not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8), the proper implication is not that we should shun philosophy altogether but that we should pursue the kind of philosophy that is according to Christ. “Christian philosophy” is not a contradiction in terms. On the contrary, Christian philosophy is philosophy as it ought to be pursued: under the lordship of Christ, in submission to the word of Christ.

Let us consider, then, six reasons why Christians — and especially pastors — can benefit from studying philosophy.

PURSUING THE WELL-LIVED LIFE

First, as we have noted, philosophy is concerned with the search for truth, understanding, and meaning. Christians care deeply about all three. We know the importance of seeking the big picture and answering the big questions. We recognize the value of understanding and pursuing “the well-lived life.” Consequently, we should be interested in studying the writings of those who have committed themselves to these pursuits.

It makes good sense to prioritize the works of Christian philosophers who share our basic commitment to the lordship of Christ and the authority of God’s word. But there is also value in studying the works of non-Christian philosophers. According to the doctrine of common grace, even unbelievers can discern important truths on the basis of natural revelation (cf. Proverbs 31:1; Acts 7:22; 17:27–28), and their writings can prove useful for Christians in their own search for understanding. As Augustine argued, believers can “plunder the Egyptians” (Exodus 3:22; 12:36) as they study the works of pagan philosophers and benefit from their insights.²

LEARNING TO THINK CRITICALLY

Second, studying philosophy helps develop good critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is not negative thinking. Rather, it is the proper and effective use of our God-given intellectual faculties. Critical thinking is simply clear, careful, and consistent thinking: the art of good reasoning.

As I noted earlier, the primary tools of philosophers are those of analysis and argumentation. Critical thinking is therefore particularly important in the discipline of philosophy. Like any other skills, critical thinking skills need to be developed intentionally, both through observation (i.e., studying others who practice them) and through personal application. Reading the works of the great philosophers and grappling with their ideas and arguments will cultivate better critical thinking. The payoff is very practical: Having those skills will benefit us in every other area of life to which we apply our intellectual faculties.

CULTIVATING VIRTUE

Third, studying philosophy can help to cultivate intellectual virtues. Virtues are morally praiseworthy habits or character traits. Intellectual virtues are those that pertain to the way we use our minds, with a view to acquiring the “intellectual goods” of wisdom, knowledge, and insight. Examples of such virtues would be intellectual courage (the tendency to persevere in the face of obstacles to inquiry), introspective vigilance (the tendency to discern and correct one’s own bad patterns of inquiry), and interpretive charity (the tendency to construe the views and arguments of others in as positive and reasonable a light as possible). If non-Christian philosophers have understood the importance of identifying and developing intellectual virtues, how much more should those who heed Christ’s commandment to love God with all our mind (Matthew 22:37–38).³

ACQUIRING GOOD TOOLS

Fourth, studying philosophy will furnish us with a rich conceptual toolkit — an arsenal of useful concepts, definitions, distinctions, insights, and forms of argumentation that equip us to be more effective thinkers and that can be fruitfully applied in other disciplines, such as biblical exegesis, systematic theology, ethics, and apologetics.

For instance, philosophers often employ so-called “modal” concepts: necessity, contingency, possibility, and impossibility. Such concepts enable us to state precisely some of the distinctive differences between God and his creatures and to draw out the fuller implications of those differences (e.g., God exists necessarily, whereas creatures exist contingently; having false beliefs is a possibility for us but an impossibility for God). Philosophical work on free will offers distinctions that can help us reconcile divine sovereignty with human moral responsibility. The development of “speech-act theory” by twentieth-century philosophers provides a set of tools that enables us to think more precisely and deeply about “divine speech acts” — that is, the diverse ways in which God powerfully accomplishes his purposes by his words (Isaiah 55:11; Hebrews 1:3; 4:12). These are just three examples among many.

UNDERSTANDING THEOLOGY

Fifth, studying philosophy is practically indispensable for understanding the development of Christian theology over the centuries. For better or worse, the history of Christian theology is intertwined with the history of Western philosophy, from the ancient Greeks to the present day. Church fathers such as Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Augustine, and Maximus the Confessor were well-versed in the prominent philosophies of their day and critically engaged with them from a Christian perspective — forthrightly opposing some elements while critically appropriating others.

Some of the defining doctrines of the Christian faith, such as the doctrine of the Trinity, have been forged using terms and concepts co-opted from the world of Greek philosophy. Consider the central claim of the Nicene Creed that Jesus Christ is “of one substance” (homoousion) with the Father. The Greek term ousia was adopted (and adapted) to definitively capture the church’s conviction that the divinity of the Son is none other than the divinity of the Father. Knowing the philosophical background of the term “substance” helps us appreciate why it was so fittingly chosen for the task of refuting the heresy of Arianism.

If the history of Christian theology is important to us — and it should be — so also is the history of Christian engagement with philosophical thinkers and movements. Consider some of the great theologians of the church: Augustine, Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, John Owen, Francis Turretin, Petrus van Mastricht, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Hodge, Herman Bavinck, and Cornelius Van Til. All were well-educated in philosophy and adept at incorporating philosophical insights into their articulation and defense of Christian doctrines.

DEENDING OUR FAITH

Last, studying philosophy is invaluable for understanding and critically engaging with non-Christian thought in our day. If we want to understand why modern culture is the way it is, why people in our society think the way they do, and why so many are skeptical about the claims of Christianity, we need to know something of the philosophical ideas, arguments, and movements that have cast their shadows over our present moment.

Modernism, rationalism, empiricism, materialism, idealism, Hegelianism, Marxism, utilitarianism, romanticism, positivism, existentialism, postmodernism, social constructivism — each of these “isms” has played a role in the evolution of contemporary Western culture. Christians who have a basic familiarity with them will be better equipped to diagnose, for example, why so many people today have no moral objection to the widespread practice of abortion or how we reached the point where the categories of “male” and “female” could become detached from the reality of biological sex. These rotten cultural fruits are the product of diseased intellectual roots, and the most effective remedy will involve exposing and refuting the underlying philosophical pathogens. As C.S. Lewis aptly observed, “Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered.”⁴

How Can Philosophy Help in Ministry?

Perhaps these six reasons persuade you of the general value of studying philosophy. But what about specific application to pastoral ministry? Does philosophy have any practical value for the everyday work of the minister or church leader? Let me briefly suggest five areas where the study of philosophy can bear good fruit.

EXEGESIS

Biblical exegesis is the lifeblood of pastoral ministry, not only for pulpit preaching but also for teaching, counseling, discipleship, and evangelism (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Above all, we want to be faithful and accurate in interpreting God’s word and applying it appropriately to our own lives and the lives of those under our care. Among other things, responsible exegesis of Scripture involves the following:

1. carefully discerning the arguments of the biblical writers (especially Paul!)
2. tracing the logical structure and progression of a biblical passage or book
3. drawing out the logical implications of a text (those of “good and necessary consequence,” to use the language of the Westminster Confession)
4. identifying conceptual connections between one text and another
5. attending to the diverse ways in which words can be used to communicate ideas and perform “speech acts”
6. synthesizing the teachings found across the biblical canon in light of the divine authority and organic unity of Scripture
7. reasoning by analogy from the original cultural context to our own contemporary situation
8. recognizing and avoiding fallacies such as equivocation and hasty generalization
9. discerning the presuppositions that we and others (e.g., the authors of biblical commentaries) bring to the work of exegesis.

The tools of analysis and argumentation employed by philosophers, along with the critical thinking skills promoted by the study of philosophy, are beneficial in all these respects.

PREACHING

You’re probably familiar with Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s description of preaching as “logic on fire.” Perhaps, like me, you’ve experienced sermons that featured more fire than logic! Of course, preaching that aims to convict the heart as well as convince the mind needs more than logic. Nevertheless, a sermon with a clear logical structure and progression of thought, with points of insight and application that are reasoned cogently from the inspired text, is more likely to have a deep and lasting impact on the hearers. Any logical implication of a biblical teaching is itself a biblical teaching. But only genuine implications carry the divine authority of Scripture. Insofar as the study of philosophy can sharpen one’s understanding and application of logic, it can help pastors improve the structure and the content of their sermons.

THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION

For their own spiritual health and the spiritual health of their flock, it is paramount for pastors to hold and teach sound doctrine (1 Timothy 4:16; Titus 1:9; 2:1). While philosophy should not be treated as a source of Christian doctrine, the study of philosophy can promote a deeper understanding and appreciation of Christian theology and can assist in teaching and defending it.

As I noted earlier, a solid understanding of the history of Christian theology requires some familiarity with the history of Western philosophy given the close relationship between the two. Moreover, the discipline of systematic theology, as its name indicates, involves developing a consistent and coherent system of doctrine based on “the whole counsel of God” in Scripture (Acts 20:27). It invites us to trace out the logical implications of each doctrine and to grasp the logical connections between doctrines (e.g., how the doctrine of divine providence provides a foundation for the doctrines of biblical inspiration and inerrancy). Applied theology takes matters further by reflecting on the implications of Christian doctrines for everyday life and ministry. These important tasks of theological reflection depend on precisely the kind of conceptual insights and reasoning skills that the discipline of philosophy encourages.

APOLOGETICS

At some level, all Christians are called “to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). But it is especially important for pastors to have some proficiency in apologetics, both for evangelizing unbelievers (addressing intellectual objections and giving arguments in support of a biblical worldview) and for protecting and strengthening the faith of believers (especially those wrestling with intellectual questions and doubts).

The relevance of philosophy to Christian apologetics should be obvious. The majority of issues addressed in apologetics today are philosophical ones, touching matters of metaphysics (e.g., the existence and attributes of God, the doctrine of creation, the possibility of miracles), epistemology (e.g., Christian claims about natural and special revelation), and ethics (e.g., the foundations of morality, the problem of evil, the biblical view of human sexuality). Christian philosophers over the centuries have produced a wealth of material that is invaluable for defending and commending a Christian worldview.

Philosophy, more than any other discipline, is concerned with the art of reasoning and the science of argumentation. Insofar as apologetics involves offering a rational justification for Christian beliefs, as well as refuting the arguments of unbelievers (2 Corinthians 10:4–5), the value of philosophy for apologetics hardly needs to be stated.

ETHICS

Pastoral ministry frequently involves addressing ethical questions and providing clear and well-reasoned moral guidance. Ethics is one of the three traditional divisions in the discipline of philosophy, and a considerable amount of philosophical reflection over the centuries has been directed toward moral reasoning and the practical application of moral principles. This has been especially true of Christian philosophers — not surprisingly, given the emphasis the Bible places on the moral attributes of God and the moral duties we have toward God and our fellow humans.

Consider some of the ethical questions we face today that were virtually inconceivable to previous generations, such as modern fertility treatments, artificial intelligence technologies, and “gender-affirming surgeries.” As the modern world grows increasingly complex and seemingly far removed from the world of the biblical writers, it becomes even more important to have a firm grasp of Christian moral theory and the ability to reason carefully from biblical principles to contemporary situations. The pastor who has devoted some time and attention to studying philosophy will be better equipped to wrestle with today’s challenging issues in Christian ethics. If nothing else, such studies will cultivate the critical thinking skills necessary for reaching sound conclusions.

Where Should I Start?

If you’ve never studied any serious philosophy before, you may wonder where to begin. I recommend starting with a reliable one-volume history of philosophy written from an orthodox Christian perspective, such as John Frame’s A History of Western Philosophy and Theology or C. Stephen Evans’s A History of Western Philosophy, which will introduce you to the major philosophers and their ideas. After that, read a systematic, topically arranged introduction to Christian philosophy, such as The Love of Wisdom by Steven Cowan and James Spiegel, or Philosophy: A Christian Introduction by James Dew and Paul Gould. Working through a solid introduction to logic and critical thinking will also be helpful for coming to grips with philosophical works; the one I recommend to seminary students is Ryan Byerly’s Introducing Logic and Critical Thinking.

Eventually you’ll want to dive into some of the classic works of Western philosophy by thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, René Descartes, Blaise Pascal, G.W. Leibniz, John Locke, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Søren Kierkegaard, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. (Yes, that is a highly selective and opinionated list!) There are various anthologies of primary sources, so find one with a selection of philosophical readings that sound most interesting to you. Many original works (or English translations of them) are in the public domain and freely available online.

To gain some insight into present-day work in Christian philosophy, peruse some recent issues of the journals Philosophia Christi and Faith & Philosophy (the latter is open-access online). Finally, for both intellectual and spiritual edification, dine upon the writings of four brilliant Reformed philosophers: Cornelius Van Til, Alvin Plantinga, Paul Helm, and John Frame.

Seek Wisdom Wisely

Does studying philosophy come with risks? Yes, of course — that’s true of virtually any field of study! But conducted with discernment, from a stance of faith in Christ and submission to God’s word, and in community with fellow believers, the study of philosophy can reap considerable rewards, as I’ve sought to argue here. Philosophy, like science, makes for a terrible master, yet it can be an eminently useful servant. If the apostle Paul (who possessed “a first class philosophical mind,” according to the late Antony Flew⁵) saw the value in understanding and critically engaging with the philosophies of his day, then I trust so can we. Rather than denigrating and dismissing the value of philosophy, Christians ought to pursue and promote the best kind of philosophy — that which is “according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8).

Come play!

My children beckon me before I’ve even crossed the threshold. But with shoes still on, mind still at work, heart still anxious about a laundry list of potential problems, I can’t play. I politely decline their invitation before trudging away to accomplish who knows what.

This happens more than I’d like to admit. But why? What prevents me from playing? A poet once said, “It is a happy talent to know how to play.” He’s surely right, and yet, if we’re honest, we find it a hard talent to acquire, part of the “arduous discipline” of hedonism that C.S. Lewis talks about (Letters to Malcolm, 122). It’s a talent my toddlers far surpass me in. I’m tempted to ask if you can even remember the last time you played, but I won’t. I’m content to ask, Why don’t we play more?

But I can hear your question loud and clear, so before we get to those reasons and remedies, consider God’s design for homo ludens — man at play.

Play — Seriously?

Yes, seriously. And we should be serious about it. So, what is play, and why does it matter?

You might think nothing could be less playful than the Summa Theologica (and you may be right), but Thomas Aquinas has a helpful definition of play as “words or deeds wherein nothing further is sought than the soul’s delight” (2.168.2). In other words, play involves doing activities simply for the joy of them. Aquinas recognizes play as a kind of rest for the soul. Just as the body needs rest, the soul needs rest, and “the soul’s rest is pleasure.” We call play re-creation for this reason: It helps make us new. It turns out a playful heart is good medicine (Proverbs 17:22).

Scripture helps fill out the picture. The Hebrew word most often translated as “play” (śāḥaq) comes from a verb meaning “to laugh.” Intensify that verb, and you get “to sport, play, or celebrate.” So we can say play is to action as laughter is to sound. At its best, laughter is a sound that both expresses and intensifies joy; similarly, play is an action that expresses and intensifies joy. Thus, play can involve almost any activity — running, reading, cooking, eating, board games, sports, make-believe, gardening, even conversation (for those extroverts out there) — as long as it is done from joy and for joy. (Writing the Summa was probably play for Aquinas, though certainly not child’s play.)

The “happy talent” of knowing how to play is, according to the ancients, a virtue. Imagine that! They called it eutrapelia, the habit of using play for recreation, but with wisdom and temperance. As a virtue, playfulness is the mean between two vices: playlessness (think Ebenezer Scrooge) and what we might call play gluttony (like the gamer who never leaves the basement). In A Theology of Play, Kevin Gushiken warns that there is a way to play that pleases God and a way that doesn’t. However, at its best, “play is the God-given ability and permission to fully enjoy moments in life as God intended, with freedom and pleasure” (20). Sounds delightful, doesn’t it?

When we come to Scripture, we find a playful God. The triune God is the source and sovereign of merrymaking. In some sense, God is always at play, doing everything for his pleasure (Psalm 115:3), but in a more specific sense, we see God’s glad gaming in the world he made. The world began in wise play (Proverbs 8:30–31); the world is full of laughter and play (Job 39:18, 22; 40:20; 41:5, 29; Psalm 104:26); and the world will end in childlike play (Zechariah 8:5; Isaiah 11:8; Jeremiah 30:19; 31:4; Malachi 4:2).

God packed his world with play, and as his image-bearers, we should imitate his playfulness. He made us, among other things, to recreate, to game and sport, to romp and revel, to toy and lark, to adventure coram Deo. Unlike the normal pattern in my home, where kids call their father to play, we find our Father calling his kids to play.

So, again, why don’t we play more?

Control Doesn’t Play Well

For one, we are too often racked with anxiety; modernity is drunk with the stuff. And though there are many poisons that contribute to this toxic brew, perhaps none is more potent than the illusion of control. Our wealth of technology tempts us to believe we are in control of our bodies, our lives, our world — everything. And sons of Adam that we are, we fall for it! But although we feel we should be in control, our experience is very different. Like trying to hold sand in our hand, the tighter we grasp, the more control slips through our fingers. Thus control can beget more anxiety when that control inevitably falls away.

Of course, we can imagine ourselves to be in control only as long as we forget that God is. To the extent that we don’t trust God, we must trust ourselves (or someone else who also isn’t in control). And the results are what you’d expect. You will either anesthetize the angst with play gluttony or let it paralyze you into playlessness.

But providence is a playground for the Christian. If God is in control (he is!), and if God is for me in Christ (he is!), I am free from bearing the weight of the universe on my shoulders. I can release my grip on control, which didn’t work anyway, and revel in God’s exhaustive sovereignty. I can play before the throne with Romans 8:28 flying high overhead.

This sporting under sovereignty gets right at the heart of the Sabbath. God instituted the seventh day of rest to help his people see through the illusion of control. They could enjoy leisure precisely because Yahweh was King and the King was for them. Godward play functions in much the same way today; it is a taste of Sabbath rest.

Ultimately, it is God’s providence put on display in the gospel that enables recreation in a fallen world, because the gospel guarantees that evil and suffering are, even now, on the way out, passé, fading quickly (1 John 2:8). Satan is on borrowed time in conquered territory. Play is an act of exuberant defiance against the tyranny of darkness — a dancing denial of the ultimate triumph of evil. Gushiken says it right:

God is not God if play is only permissible when life is good. What makes God so powerful, holy, lovely, beautiful, and gracious is that he gives us the ability to play even in the darkest moments of life. (A Theology of Play, 165)

If you can’t play, perhaps your view of God is too small.

All Work, No Play

But there is another problem that inhibits our play: work. Not work in the biblical sense, balanced with God’s rest, building God’s kingdom, dependent on God’s strength. But work as a way of life, sixty-hours-a-week work, “total work” as Joseph Pieper calls it in his famous essay on leisure.

Pieper argues that modern society (catechized by Kant and others) has come to believe the ridiculous notion that difficulty makes something good. If it comes easily or is given freely, it can’t have much value. Anything worthwhile must be earned, both ways uphill in the snow. Thus, if we are to get anywhere in life, we must be involved in perpetual activity. We must be workers. Busyness becomes a mark of virtue.

This total-work mindset despises play, which, by definition, is done purely to delight the soul. The worker has no time for anything so impractical. He cannot rest because everything rests on his work. He changes 1 Corinthians 4:7 from “What do you have that you did not receive?” into “What do you have that you did not earn?” Pieper warns that this mindset leads to “the inner impoverishment of the individual” and that “everyone whose life is completely filled by his work . . . has shrunk inwardly, and contracted” (Leisure: The Basis of Culture, 58). All work and no play makes Jack a dull man, one who can receive nothing as gift.

Kids Dance Before Dad

But all the best things in life come free. In fact, all things are gifts (Acts 17:25). Beloved children know this. They work, but they are not fundamentally workers. Their work (and play) flows from love received; it does not aim to earn love. They know that because of the Beloved Son, our Father will “graciously give us all things” (Romans 8:32). No earning. No contract. All gift.

Play thrives in the presence of a happy Father, whose love is freely given and cannot be earned. It demonstrates that we put our hope not in work or wealth, “but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17). Remember how often Jesus taught that the kingdom of heaven belongs to the childlike? Surely, part of what he meant to capture is the reality that children who trust their Father cavort in his presence. Like the prodigal son, they dance before Dad.

When we stop white-knuckling life and rest in God’s sovereign, paternal care for us, we demonstrate our satisfaction in God. Play does this magnificently. It expresses our contentment in God, our confidence in his work, and our delight in his creation.

So, Christian, come play! I won’t lay out a regime for your recreation (what could be less playful?), but here are three practical tips. First, find out what kind of activities are fun for you. We don’t all play the same. Running ten miles is a romp for me, but maybe not for you. What activities are rest for your soul? In his book Play, Stuart Brown lists eight “play personalities” that capture common categories of play: artist, collector, competitor, director, explorer, joker, kinesthete, and storyteller. Look those up if you’re interested. They are a good place to start.

Second, make space for those activities. If you’re too busy to play, you’re too busy to glorify God as fully as he intends you to. So schedule time for recreation, even if it’s only half an hour. Try to play every day. Smell a flower, jump down some stairs, read a book, throw a ball. Be free to enjoy the moments God gives you as they come. He wants you to.

Third, facilitate play for others. Rolling around with my kids after work may not feel like play for me, but it sure does for them. Their play preferences may be different from mine, but the impulse is the same. We can love others well (especially our kids and spouses) by giving them the freedom to romp and rest, to dance and delight in God. Play, as it turns out, is often a shared pleasure.

Saint, heed your Father’s call and come play before the throne.

How did a church come to exist in the carnal, immoral, idolatrous city of Corinth, and why did Paul love it enough to write it a letter?

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