As many of you know, my undergraduate degree is in Mechanical Engineering. Engineers deal with what they see in the real world, with equations and calculations—with things. Engineers are concerned with making things work, leveraging energy and materials to make the world a better place.
Yet, in God’s Providence, I was called into the realm of philosophy and theology, into the arena of attempting to discover the nature of being and the cosmos. Thus, part of my role as a pastor is to understand the challenging questions of life: who we are, why we are, what we are, and where we are going. My call to this walk came from a transcendent God who is the Creator of all and who has chosen to reveal Himself to us through His creation; but, even more importantly, through His Word. It is through His Word that we are able to make sense of the challenging questions of life, and where we come to see our sin and our need for a redeemer.
Yet, in addition to God’s Word, it is important that I also have some knowledge of other responses to these challenging questions. These questions have perplexed men through the ages. Intellectual struggles with these questions have resulted in multiple worldviews all claiming to have answers to these questions, as well as others. Some ask whether or not we even exist or, if we do exist, how can we know for sure? Indeed, how can we know at all?
Striving to answer the challenging questions of life has driven men to develop worldviews that confront us every day. The worldviews of Marx and Hume, of Nietzsche and Descartes, of Aquinas and Kierkegaard, of Darwin and Freud, and so many more, fuel the policies of our politicians and businessmen, our educators and our economists, our authors and our theologians. And many of these worldviews directly challenge the authority of Scripture and the mission of the Church of Jesus.
And so, I must make it a priority to understand the worldviews of the day and their foundation, which often means seeking to know their architects. I do this by trying to look at philosophers as engineers—engineers of ideas. And, as a mechanical engineer might seek to create a better mousetrap, the philosopher seeks to use ideas to create a different world.
If you are interested in knowing more about these philosophies, I encourage you to pick up a copy of R.C. Sproul’s book, The Consequences of Ideas. In this work, Dr. Sproul tackles a daunting task of explaining a multitude of worldviews, from Plato to Jean-Paul Sartre in just over 200 pages. And he does a remarkable job! Spanning over 2500 years of philosophical history, thoughts of men sometimes collide into one another in an almost cerebral conflict.
Some of our worldviews have been built one upon another; and, since the superstructure have been constructed on an erroneous premise, we have a house of cards ready to tumble. Dr, Sproul writes in an engaging style that communicates complex ideas in a straightforward manner. This is a great text to help develop a basic understanding of some of the most important worldviews and philosophies across the centuries.
Yet, it is not without a few defects. While Dr. Sproul manages to convey the ideas of many famous Western philosophers, I often found that I had to construct applications of these thoughts in our world. It would have been very helpful for Dr. Sproul to have developed a few more real world examples for the lay reader. In addition, a series of study questions would be very helpful for use with groups or home school families.
The book could have more applications for Christian apologetics as well. While Dr. Sproul’s penchant for classical apologetics comes across clearly at times, I felt a good dose of presuppositional apologetics could have been used to pull down the strongholds, the imaginations, and the high things that were exalted against the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).
Lastly, I found his selection of philosophers to be a bit lacking. One of the major worldviews facing the church today is that of postmodernism, yet there was no mention of Michel Foucault or other postmodern philosophers.
Still, this is a solid book to present philosophical ideas and constructs to even a dullard like this old mechanical engineer turned pastor. There was a day when I would have felt more at home with differential equations; but, God has called me to a new walk. And in my walk, I am thankful for men like Dr. Sproul who are committed to developing such important tools and resources. I am grateful for his efforts.
Ideas do indeed have consequences. To understand ideas we must be prepared to think. And thinking is the responsibility of every Christian. Pick up a copy of this book and think.
My grade for The Consequences of Ideas: B+
The Consequences of Ideas: Understanding the Concepts that Shaped our World
Dr. R.C. Sproul
Crossway Books
And to make it legal, the opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the other elders or members of Providence Church.
