Table Of ContentLoving Wisdom
A Guide to Philosophy and Christian Faith
Second Edition
Paul Copan
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
4035 Park East Court SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546
www.eerdmans.com
© 2020 Paul Copan
All rights reserved
Published 2020
First edition published by Chalice Press 2007
Printed in the United States of America
26 25 24 23 22 21 20 1234567
ISBN 978-0-8028-7547-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Copan, Paul, author.
Title: Loving wisdom: a guide to philosophy and Christian faith / Paul Copan.
Description: Second edition. | Grand Rapids, Michigan : William B. Eerdmans Publish
ing Company, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary:
“Presents a biblical philosophy of religion, addressing a wide range of topics and
questions as they arise in scripture”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019047949 | ISBN 9780802875471 (paperback)
Subjects: LCSH: Christianity—Philosophy. | Theology.
Classification: LCC BR100 .C77 2020 | DDC 230.01—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2o19o47949
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the NEW AMERICAN STAN
DARD BIBLE*, Copyright © i960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by
The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Christ... in whom are hidden all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:2b-})
To Stuart C. Hackett—my first philosophy professor,
whose wisdom, intellect, and faithfulness to God
inspired me and so many others
Contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
PRELIMINARIES ON PHILOSOPHY AND FAITH i
The Blessings of Philosophy 3
2. Philosophy and Scripture 11
3- Faith and Religion 17
4- Kings and Priests 25
5- The Need for God 32
6. Wired for God 42
I GOD 51
7- The Triune God 53
8. Talking about God and Knowing God 61
9- The Divine Attributes (I):
Perfection, Necessity, and Self-Sufficiency 68
io. The Divine Attributes (II):
God and Time, Omniscience, and Human Freedom 74
11. The Attributes of God (III):
Omnipresence, Incorporeality, Beauty, Omnipotence 85
12. The Attributes of God (IV):
Immutability, Impassibility, Simplicity (?), Humility 93
vii
CONTENTS
13. The God ofTruth (I): Truth on the Decline 102
14. The God ofTruth (II): The Inescapability ofTruth 108
II CREATION 117
15. Moving toward God:
Reasoning, Imagining, Seeking 119
16. God—the Best Explanation (I):
The Problems with Naturalism 130
17- God—the Best Explanation (II):
The Naturalists Are Declaring the Glory of God 138
18. The Reasons for God (I):
God as the Cause of the Universe 150
19- The Reasons for God (II):
God as the Designer of the Universe 158
20. The Reasons for God (III):
God as the Source of Goodness 170
21. Science, Nature, and God 185
22. Miracles 198
Ill FALL 209
23. The Problem of Evil (I): Introductory Matters 211
24. The Problem of Evil (II):
Evils Logical and Probabilistic 217
25. The Problem of Evil (III): Evils Natural and Demonic 226
26. Primal Sin 232
27- Original Sin 237
28. HeU 246
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Contents
IV REDEMPTION AND RE-CREATION 259
29. The Incarnation 261
30. The Cross of Christ 270
31- Jesus’s Uniqueness and the Plurality of Religions 281
32. Body, Soul, and Immortality 294
Afterword 305
Discussion Questions 307
Notes 323
Index 351
ix
Preface
Despite the claim that philosophy of religion isn’t really philosophy, such a
view ignores the philosophy’s actual history going back to ancient times.1
What’s more, the number of Christian philosophy of religion volumes has
burgeoned over the past few decades and shows no signs of letting up. Many
of them are well written and are characterized by rational coherence and clarity
of expression, and they exhibit just how intellectually fruitful the Christian
faith is. So why a new one then?
Well, it isn’t quite new. This is a second edition, although very thoroughly
revised and expanded. A lot has happened since the first edition in 2007.
On Philosophy and the Biblical Metanarrative
The book has certain key emphases. First, this book is a guide to Christian
philosophy that engages with the biblical story or metanarrative and with texts
of Scripture. I have a background in biblical studies and theology, and I find
this quite helpful as I reflect and write on philosophical topics. Though many
fine Christian-authored philosophy of religion books exist, I try to interact
more with biblical texts and with scriptural themes as they have a bearing on
philosophical topics and discussions.2
To reinforce this Scripture-philosophy combination, I’ve structured the book
around the biblical “grand story” or “metanarrative”—beginning with the triune
God and moving from creation and then the fall to redemption and re-creation
in Christ. This is indeed “the story of reality.” Various philosophical topics are
incorporated into the structure of this book. For example, part III on the fall
includes topics such as the problem of evil, primal sin, original sin, and hell.
Second, this book attempts to make important philosophical themes accessible
to a popular audience and present them from a distinctively Christian perspective.
Over the years as a Christian philosopher, I’ve engaged in the task of reading,
reflecting on, distilling, and summarizing the work of other philosophers in
order to reach a wider, more popular-level audience. One key subgroup is the
church. I’ve attempted to show how ideas have consequences, how the academy
influences the culture, and how Christians should be attuned to these realities
in order to think through and live out their faith before a watching world.
As is evident in this book, I greatly appreciate the work of Christian phi-
xi
PREFACE
losopher Alvin Plantinga. He has observed that many academicians have a
disdain for the term popularizer. However, he urges Christian philosophers
not to leave their work “buried away in professional journals” but to make it
available to the broader Christian community. If they don’t connect their work
to the life of the church, then they “neglect a crucial and central part of their
task as believing philosophers.”3
Third, this book offers insight on how to think Christianly about important
philosophical matters in our day—and to live out their implications personally
and existentially, in relationships, and in our spheres of influence. “Jesus is Lord”
(see Rom. 10:9) was a very early Christian confession. The implications of this
terse declaration are immense. Jesus is ruler over all things—from every choice
we make in life and how we use our time to every discipline in the academy
to every particle in the universe. The earth is the Lord’s, and everything it
contains (Ps. 24:1). Yet plenty of Christians engage in “sacred-secular" com
partmentalizing: “Reading the Bible and praying are spiritual while painting
houses or repairing cars isn’t,” or, “Being a pastor or missionary is sacred, but
studying biology or being a politician is secular.” This is a huge error. C. S.
Lewis noted that while personal holiness and evangelism are important, they
can’t be cordoned off from the broader culture. If we do that, we’ll just create
a narrow, inferior, irrelevant subculture of our own. If Jesus is Lord over all
things, we must bring him into the marketplace, the academy, and the politi
cal realm to show how in Christ all things hold together and are illuminated.
The wisdom of Christ, the foundation of his Word, and the power of
the Spirit present us with robust resources to be world-engaging. Ours is a
faith seeking understanding (fides quarens intellectum), as the philosopher
theologian Anselm maintained. All creation belongs to God; we can appreciate
and study this world, and God can reveal something of himself through even
the birds of the air and the lilies of the field (Matt. 6:26-28). The hymn “This
Is My Father’s World” fittingly declares: “He speaks to me everywhere.” Even
the lessons a farmer learns about how to plant and harvest can be said to be
the result of God’s instruction and teaching (Isa. 28:23-29), whether the farmer
is a believer or not.
The church father Augustine affirmed that all truth is God’s truth. Yes, God
has spoken to us through his incarnate Son (Heb. 1:3) and in his written Word
(2 Tim. 3:16-17); this is special revelation. Here God reveals himself about his
specific workings in history through national Israel and the Christ-event to
reconcile hopelessly lost human beings to himself; along with this, he shows
us how to live increasingly transformed lives shaped by the life, cross, and
resurrection of Christ. But that’s not all. God’s revelation has an even wider
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