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Martyred for the Gospel

Martyred for the Gospel
The burning of Tharchbishop of Cant. D. Tho. Cranmer in the town dich at Oxford, with his hand first thrust into the fyre, wherwith he subscribed before. [Click on the picture to see Cranmer's last words.]

Daily Bible Verse

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

The Great Dane: Gordon H. Clark Assesses Kierkegaard

The conclusion is now more than plain. There is no need to complain that Kierkegaard has neglected to define a few terms, that he uses more ridicule than thought, or that his illustrations are beside the point. The fatal flaw is his rejection of logic. When once a man commits himself to contradictions, his language, and therefore his recommendations to other people become meaningless. He tells us, Don't trust Hegel. But if contradictions are in order, we can trust Hegel and refuse to trust him at the same time. If God could become incarnate and could not possibly become incarnate, could not Hegel's and Kierkegaard's books be equally true and valuable? Then if this sort of truth does not matter -- and this sort of nonsense indeed does not -- and everything depends on a purely subjective passion, why cannot we direct our passion toward the devil as well as toward God? We can. The what is unimportant; only the how counts. And what good is the how? Will the most passionate belief in vinegar cure warts if there is no vinegar? Will the deceived fiancee achieve marital bliss by marrying her dissolute beau? Gordon H. Clark, Christian Philosophy, (Trinity Foundation: Unicoi, 2003), p. 84. The Trinity Foundation.

3 comments:

Aaron said...

What's the context of that quote? Is the author looking at the sum of Kierkegaard's writing, or just a particular piece?

Charlie J. Ray said...

Most of the comments are directed toward Kierkegaard's remarks in his work, Concluding Unscientific Postscript. Gordon H. Clark puts Kierkegaard in the category of "Irrationalism" versus "Rationalism", "Empiricism", and "Dogmatism". Of course this is a critical evaluation. Karl Barth and Emil Brunner and the other neo-orthodox theologians are also irrationalists. Barth in particular bases his theology of paradox and contradiction on the philosophy of Kierkegaard.

Charlie J. Ray said...

You can listen to some of the same material in Gordon H. Clark's mp3 lecture, Irrationalism

You'll need an mp3 player installed to hear it.

The complete list of lectures is available here: Trinity Lectures

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