The Love of Wisdom: A Christian Introduction to Philosophy

by James Spiegel, Steven Cowan

Philosophy is defined as the love of wisdom, and college students will certainly admire this Bible-informed introductory level textbook’s fun approach to an often heady subject. The Love of Wisdom is made distinct in its engaging style that includes humor and copious popular culture illustrations to heighten reader interest and clarify important concepts. The book even addresses two key topics often omitted by other political philosophy and aesthetics (beauty and the arts). Students and teachers can also make great use of the study questions for each chapter, a glossary of terms, and further reading suggestions“Well-written, well-argued and highly accessible, The Love of Wisdom is a marvelous example of what an introductory philosophy text should be. Not only do Cowan and Spiegel provide an up-to-date map of the often perplexing philosophical landscape, but they do so in a way which encourages readers to take every thought captive for Christ.”



-Doug Blount, Professor in Theological Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary



“Cowan and Spiegel provide a thorough, yet accessible, overview of important philosophical themes from a biblical point of view while engaging non-Christian perspectives . . . an instructive, even-handed guide that sets forth fairly the relevant philosophical range of orthodox Christian views. A fine resource!”



-Paul Copan, Professor and Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics, Palm Beach Atlantic University

Genres: Philosophy, Christian, Theology, Christianity, Nonfiction, Christian Living, Religion

483 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 16, 2009

Reviews

[Nadiya Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

8 weeks down - woohoo! Overall, really enjoyed the class. Toward the end I found myself disinterested in the arguments I had to make for discussion posts but enjoyed the context of the book.

[Chandler Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read all but the final two chapters for my course on Christian Philosophy. Loved this book—especially the section on knowledge and truth. The glossary at the end also makes the work extremely accessible and a helpful reference.

[Maxime N. Georgel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une bonne introduction aux divers sujets abordés par la philosophie. Particulièrement bon dans son chapitre sur les lois de la Logique et dans les critères sur l’esthétique.

J’ai été déçu tout d’abord car je venais de lire Éléments de Philosophie de Maritain qui est, à proprement parler, une introduction à la philo car ce livre apprend à penser à partir du réel pour philosopher. Tandis que cette intro procède autrement et cela me semble moins pertinent pour l’étudiant en philosophie. Ce livre, en effet, présente chaque grand thème philosophique puis les différentes positions et arguments puis laisse le lecteur choisir. Ce n’est pas ainsi que l’on devient philosophe. Le philosophe ce n’est pas celui qui étudie ce que les philosophes ont pensé pour faire un choix, c’est celui qui étudie la réalité et la saisit par la raison. Pour cela, il consulte les philosophes, mais l’approche est différente.

Donc ce n’est pas une introduction à la philosophie mais une introduction aux questions philosophiques. Et dans cette catégorie c’est un excellent livre.

[Ian Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the most insightful book on philosophical fundamentals that I've ever read. I felt that Cowan and Spiegel did a great job broadly summarizing the many theories for different philosophical areas of thought, while at the same time, explaining in depth which theories are compatible and incompatible with the Christian worldview. The book is quick and easy to read and the authors provide helpful, modern examples for philosophical concepts. I highly recommend this book for any Christian (or non-christian) interested in understanding the fundamentals of philosophical thought and how they interact with the Christian worldview.

[Keith Skrdlant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for the art of presenting viewpoints in an objective manner.

That said, the chapter on art (which is the last chapter) single-handedly brought the book down a star. I had high hopes for that chapter and yet, not only was it much shorter than any other chapter but the authors treated the topic as if it was the most difficult point of discussion (nevermind that this book also covers knowledge of God, ethics and philosophy of government, and epistemology). Also, they suddenly abandon their style and make a lot of generalized, unsupported opinions on the merit/quality of certain artworks in an effort to rush a criteria for evaluating art. Needless to say, I was not impressed.

[G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant book on Philosophy from a Christian perspective. Quite broad in the areas it discusses. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on Logic, Metaphysics and Epistemology. Also good were the discussion on Identity and Being. Very readable yet at the same time is rigorous and balanced. Highly Recommended!

[Laurent Dv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent thematic introduction to philosophy from a christian perspective. It explores each branch of philosophy : epistemology, metaphysics and aesthetics. For each subject, it gives the different views. Very clear and understandable.

[Cort]

Great book about philosophy and within a Christian perspective. Great view of all the views of philosophy though the lenses of Christ.

[Drew Van Gorder · Rating 3 out of 5]

The majority of this book was purely academic in that it examined nearly every philosophical paradigm under a microscope to determine its history, claims, strengths, and faults. I suppose the reason I have given it a 3 star rating is because I (wrongly) presupposed there would be more of Cowan's views about philosophy in a more general sense represented throughout. However, I was entirely disappointed.

I imagine this book would work great as a textbook in an introduction to philosophy course, but probably isn't the best book for someone (such as myself) who is looking for something to feed the soul.

[Zak Metz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. While my philosophy class left something to be desired, the reading, this reading, opened a whole new world to be. I have that freshman feeling that the world is so much bigger than I've been told all my life.

[Jordan Kasiske · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't assigned to read the last chapter. Most of my books i will not read 100% of it but I will put finished on good reads so it doesn't annoy me with its presence on my screen.

Good overview of philosophy. Looks long, really isn't.

[Nickolas Hartman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great introduction to logic and philosophy. Written from a Christian worldview, the authors do a good job of balancing all and putting them forward as a reminder to the reader there’s more than just this but not all of it makes sense. A good read for anyone interested in philosophy!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to Philosophy!

[Nate Weis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to philosophy

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very basic introduction. Makes too many sweeping, unsubstantiated statements. Otherwise, pretty solid introduction to philosophy for a Christian. It was the first philosophy book I read.

[Jordan Litts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful.

[Drake Hyman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic book in many respects, and a fascinating introduction to philosophy from a Christian perspective. The book feels largely free from bias, and it does an excellent job of outlining the fundamental concepts of philosophy. At times it feels heady and deep for an introductory text, but I am grateful to the authors for giving us a challenge.

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for my philosophy class this past semester and found it fascinating. It's the type of textbook I would read for fun.

My only complaint would be the pop culture references--way too many! I realize that I'm the odd one out in that I know very, very little about pop culture but I really shouldn't have to do google searches to figure out the examples. They just went a little overboard.

However, one of those was LotR. Win!

[J Yakel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first introduction to philosophy book I have read and as such it seems pretty good. My only disagreement is that it doesn't develop a biblical view in the various areas but comments on which secular views are the most biblical. A better approach is to develop a biblical position as John Frame has done in The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gives a wonderful introduction of the overarching themes of Philosophy and its influence and permeations into theology. This book's strength is in putting philosophy in its historical context and being fair to the major and minor players. A good read for the beginner theologian as well as a good refresher for the experienced.

[Ahn, Hang San · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book

The only one part I wasn’t persuaded on was about Bonhoeffer. Other than that, I found each chapter and example of this book immensely helpful! Thank you for writing such an awesome textbook!

[Rebecca Pate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read Intro through 7 for my philosophy class. May go back and do chapters 8 and 9 later, but this was a good and clear Christian philosophy intro textbook. I found it easy to understand and the authors presented all the views fairly overall.

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took way too long to finish. This is the best Philosophy intro text I've read - definitely better than the one by Moreland and DeWeese.

[Logan Vlandis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great textbook that systematically presented philosophical theories in consistent schema.