Thank God for Philosophy!

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“Thank God for Philosophy!”—the first words of Paul Copan’s exploration of philosophy’s role in theology in his work Loving Wisdom: A Guide to Philosophy and Christian Faith. This provocative statement brings to life what is often underappreciated in Christian disciplines—that is, the study of philosophy.

During my time as a Master of Divinity student, methodologies and theories were foundational to coursework across a wide variety of theological disciplines. Courses on theological education, missiology, pastoral ministry, hermeneutics, and others, almost always include sections on proper methodology or differing theories. Regardless of the theological discipline, surveying these philosophical elements is paramount to understanding the discipline itself.  

The reality is that all Christian fields of study will involve philosophy, either directly or by utilizing tools present in philosophy. What do I mean by the tools of philosophy? Within philosophy, certain focused skills are practiced and refined, including conceptual analysis, critical evaluation, defining terms, organizing ideas, supporting arguments with evidence, identifying fallacies, constructing premises, and refuting objections.

Overall, these skills are not only helpful but necessary to theological studies and discourse. One obvious example is the work of translators and textual critics (those who examine manuscripts to reconstruct the original writings to the best possible extent). For you to have access to any English Bible translation, scholars had to spend countless hours studying and analyzing. To take a word in Greek and replicate the meaning of that word into a different language takes a great deal of conceptual analytical skill. Yes, I am saying that you would not have access to God’s Word without the tools of philosophy.

Moreover, how we understand Scripture is through a process of interpretation, which also requires conceptual analysis. By conceptual analysis, I mean understanding the connections between different ideas and information and coherently tying them all together to comprehend the big picture.

Moreover, without philosophy, we would not have any understanding of Christian doctrine. You will not find any Christian doctrine that has not been formulated or expressed using philosophical language. Think of the early church debate over the Trinity—it was riddled with philosophical terms such as person, being, substance, essence, nature, and homoousion.[1] Understanding the teachings of Christianity requires some knowledge of philosophy.

This leads Copan to believe that “We shouldn’t be intimidated by philosophy’s close connection to theology. We should simply acknowledge this fact and do our theological best as we forge ahead. The church has benefited from philosophy from the first century onward and still stands to benefit from it today.”[2]

I’ll take it one step further than translating, interpreting, or formulating Christian doctrine based on Scripture, but all beliefs about God and the nature of reality correspond to metaphysics—a branch of philosophy. As Stuart Hackett taught, “Everyone is a philosopher.” The major question is whether we’ll be a good or bad philosopher. That is, will you think about God and the nature of reality rationally? Copan writes, “Bad thinking—as well as unthinking—is downright disastrous personally and hazardous to our spiritual and moral lives.”[3] Evidently, our spiritual health and formation are dependent upon thinking well.

Philosophia (or, for most English speakers, philosophy) literally means “the love of wisdom.” One scholar defined philosophy as “thinking really hard about something.” Another defines it as “thinking about thinking.” Perhaps a more appropriate definition would be “the study of reality.” Although philosophy can be defined differently, what is crucial to grasp is the benefits of philosophy.

Copan summarizes the benefits of philosophy this way: “Whether we have had formal or informal exposure to philosophy or just become more reflective Christians, we’ll be able to steer clear of fallacious reasoning, junk arguments, bad philosophies, and confused worship. So whoever finds a more thoughtful Christian faith finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.”[4]

[1] Paul Copan, Loving Wisdom: A Guide To Philosophy and Christian Faith (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids: MI, 2020), 3.

[2] Paul Copan, Loving Wisdom, 4.

[3] Paul Copan, Loving Wisdom, 5.

[4] Paul Copan, Loving Wisdom, 6.