Ran across this great opening paragraph from philosopher Brian Leftow today:
I’m a philosopher because I am a Christian. To many intellectuals, this probably sounds like saying that I am a dog because I am a cat. Dogs hate cats, and otherwise polite philosophers have said to my face, with vigor, that “Christian philosopher” is a contradiction in terms. Cats are not fond of dogs, either. Christian friends have often reminded me that Luther call reason a whore. Well, reason is a whore. It will serve any master who can pay its price. But a whore was first to the empty tomb on the day of the Resurrection. Reason will serve God if given the chance; philosophy can be a work of Christian service. And Christian belief (I want to suggest) is far more a help than a hinderance to serious intellectual work. (Brian Leftow, “From Jerusalem to Athens,” in God and the Philosophers, emphasis and link added.)
I’m not sure he’s right about Mary, but it’s a great line. 🙂
It’s a great essay – he tells the story of his transition from secular Jew to Christian, and philosophizes about philosophizing as a Christian.
Thank you for alerting us to this again, Chad. I have now read the link Dale provided, and I think I will order the book.
I suspect the “cat and dog” image could be applied to Christians versus scientists, as well. But in a similar way, scientists who actually think about what they are seeing are very likely to be theists, if not Christians.
Leftow’s article in that book is brilliant. I use part of it for my ‘about’ page. Good to see his book on divine necessity finally up on Amazon!
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