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The Incarnation
Book by Clark, Gordon H.
- GenresPhilosophyTheology
110 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1988
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About the author
Gordon H. Clark
93 books54 followersGordon Haddon Clark was an American philosopher and Calvinist theologian. He was a primary advocate for the idea of presuppositional apologetics and was chairman of the Philosophy Department at Butler University for 28 years. He was an expert in pre-Socratic and ancient philosophy and was noted for his rigor in defending propositional revelation against all forms of empiricism and rationalism, in arguing that all truth is propositional and in applying the laws of logic. His system of philosophy is sometimes called Scripturalism.
The Trinty Foundation continues to publish his writings.
The Trinty Foundation continues to publish his writings.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 28, 2011
(Disclaimer: This review is only intended for my fellow sisters of the fairer sex.)
I never thought very deeply about the incarnation before reading this excellent book by Dr. Clark. Having read the ancient creeds regarding the person and nature of Jesus for church membership class, I must agree with the author that the church has done a much better job with a negative definition of what the incarnation "isn't" rather than what the incarnation "is." Reading through the book, I found it a very slow read, as the author traced the development of the doctrine of the incarnation through the centuries, rather than provide an easy solution. By the time I was ready to cry from countless obscure theological figures, references and latin terms, Clark brought all of it together to provide a biblical and reformed view that has been a big help to my understanding of the greatest miracle of history: the Incarnation.
p.s. Not a very long read, but I had to take lots of breaks as it's quite a deep subject for a novice like myself, so I would recommend lots of deep breaths when you think your brain is going to overload and blow... like mine almost did! :-)
I never thought very deeply about the incarnation before reading this excellent book by Dr. Clark. Having read the ancient creeds regarding the person and nature of Jesus for church membership class, I must agree with the author that the church has done a much better job with a negative definition of what the incarnation "isn't" rather than what the incarnation "is." Reading through the book, I found it a very slow read, as the author traced the development of the doctrine of the incarnation through the centuries, rather than provide an easy solution. By the time I was ready to cry from countless obscure theological figures, references and latin terms, Clark brought all of it together to provide a biblical and reformed view that has been a big help to my understanding of the greatest miracle of history: the Incarnation.
p.s. Not a very long read, but I had to take lots of breaks as it's quite a deep subject for a novice like myself, so I would recommend lots of deep breaths when you think your brain is going to overload and blow... like mine almost did! :-)
May 28, 2015
Clark's "The Incarnation" is probably his most controversial book. But I am convinced that, if the reader really considers the arguments and understands the attempt to define every word precisely, he will at least consider it to be a brilliant overview of the subject. The problem of the incarnation includes the nature of the God-man Christ Jesus and the definition of a "person." My biggest prayer for anyone reading this book is that they do not let previously undefined and ill-defined words prevent them from understanding Clark's conclusions.
April 1, 2023
Thought-provoking, idiosyncratic, unfinished
July 17, 2024
A FAMOUS CALVINIST APOLOGIST/PHILOSOPHER DEALS WITH THIS DOCTRINE
Gordon Haddon Clark (1902-1985) was an American philosopher and Calvinist theologian, who was chairman of the Philosophy Department at Butler University for 28 years. He wrote many books, such as 'The Holy Spirit,' 'The Trinity,' etc.
He justifies Christians studying philosophers such as Locke by saying, "Locke gives a detailed answer of what SUBSTANCE is and how human beings arrive at the concept. This is what the Church Fathers should have done, but didn't. Therefore again, let us listen to Locke." (Pg. 26-27) He adds, "The aim is to gather suggestions from whatever source, the good Bishop Berkeley or the anti-Christian Hume, that will help in formulating a more complete Christian theology than the church has hitherto known." (Pg. 28) Still later, he suggests that "The aim in discussing Locke and Hume is to learn from our enemies, and sometimes learn valuable lessons.' (Pg. 39)
He states forcefully that "the first conclusion is the necessity of excluding meaningless terms such as substance and subsistence, and either deleting or defining essence, nature, person, being and any other ambiguous term which will submit to definition." (Pg. 51)
He deals with numerous difficulties (biblical, and otherwise) in the doctrine: "one must say something about the relationship between the divine and the human. Was the omniscience of one related to the actual ignorance of the other in essentially the same way that divine omniscience is related to anyone's ignorance?... It is difficult to believe that the divine knowledge of the incarnate Son had no effect on or relationship to the human knowledge of Jesus; but it is equally difficult to decide what that relationship was." (Pg. 72)
Clark's philosophical approach to many of the difficulties in this doctrine is illuminating.
Gordon Haddon Clark (1902-1985) was an American philosopher and Calvinist theologian, who was chairman of the Philosophy Department at Butler University for 28 years. He wrote many books, such as 'The Holy Spirit,' 'The Trinity,' etc.
He justifies Christians studying philosophers such as Locke by saying, "Locke gives a detailed answer of what SUBSTANCE is and how human beings arrive at the concept. This is what the Church Fathers should have done, but didn't. Therefore again, let us listen to Locke." (Pg. 26-27) He adds, "The aim is to gather suggestions from whatever source, the good Bishop Berkeley or the anti-Christian Hume, that will help in formulating a more complete Christian theology than the church has hitherto known." (Pg. 28) Still later, he suggests that "The aim in discussing Locke and Hume is to learn from our enemies, and sometimes learn valuable lessons.' (Pg. 39)
He states forcefully that "the first conclusion is the necessity of excluding meaningless terms such as substance and subsistence, and either deleting or defining essence, nature, person, being and any other ambiguous term which will submit to definition." (Pg. 51)
He deals with numerous difficulties (biblical, and otherwise) in the doctrine: "one must say something about the relationship between the divine and the human. Was the omniscience of one related to the actual ignorance of the other in essentially the same way that divine omniscience is related to anyone's ignorance?... It is difficult to believe that the divine knowledge of the incarnate Son had no effect on or relationship to the human knowledge of Jesus; but it is equally difficult to decide what that relationship was." (Pg. 72)
Clark's philosophical approach to many of the difficulties in this doctrine is illuminating.
October 2, 2020
****1/2
Clark echoes some of my own thoughts about the (im)possibility of an 'impersonal man' while following the argument to somewhat different conclusions and giving less diffidence to the form of words of the ancient creeds than I am wont, while arguing convincingly that key technical terms in them - as obscure as 'hypostasis' and as seemingly obvious and everyday as 'being' and 'person' - were never defined and are used equivocally in theological argument. The greatest value of this work inheres in his bringing attention to the need for definition of these terms, and for his preliminary attempt to define them.
Clark echoes some of my own thoughts about the (im)possibility of an 'impersonal man' while following the argument to somewhat different conclusions and giving less diffidence to the form of words of the ancient creeds than I am wont, while arguing convincingly that key technical terms in them - as obscure as 'hypostasis' and as seemingly obvious and everyday as 'being' and 'person' - were never defined and are used equivocally in theological argument. The greatest value of this work inheres in his bringing attention to the need for definition of these terms, and for his preliminary attempt to define them.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews