Impulse of
Power: An
analysis of Western man's guiding presuppositions
A
Review by Jack Kettler
After having had the
pleasure of reading Dr. Michael W. Kelley's two
previous works, On Stone or Sand, the Ethics of
Christianity, Capitalism & Socialism and The
Burden of God: Studies in Wisdom and Civilization from
the Book of Ecclesiates, I eagerly awaited the
publication of this present volume. I was not
disappointed. Dr. Kelley has emerged as a scholar par
excellence. In this present work, Dr. Kelley
demonstrates his comprehensive knowledge of the
philosophy and history of Western Civilization. Of
noteworthy value is Dr. Kelley's examination of the
enormous influence Greek philosophy, particularly
Plato's, has had on Western man's view of government:
ran by an elite group of philosopher wise-men or
experts with its oftentimes accompanying tyranny.
His analysis of Christianity's unique contribution to
Western Civilization, both positive as a moral force
and negative when infused with pagan ideas, is
particularly notable. Man has been accurately
described as incurably religious, or a religious
creature. Consequently, it is not a question of
whether mankind will be religious; it is the question
of which religion will man follow. Similarly, Dr.
Kelley argues "that man has a natural-born `impulse'
to power" (308). In other words, basic to man's
created nature, man among other things is destined to
be a cultural-creature. It then becomes a conflict
between which religion will inspire man's "impulse" to
build culture. Will mankind self-consciously attempt
to build culture upon his own ideas (humanism) or upon
the revelation of God in Scripture?
Dr. Kelley in this most excellent elucidation of
Western Civilization and its formative ideas
challenges the adherents of Christianity to build
culture with consistency and faithfulness to its
covenantal presuppositions in the areas of
epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics with the goal of
fulfilling God's ordained purposes in history.
Note: Dr. Kelley's book may be out of print at this
time. However, a search on the Internet may turn up a
used copy. It is well worth tracking down a used copy
of this book if a new copy cannot be found.
Are non-Christians influenced by Greek
Philosophy?
In his book The
Reformed Pastor and Modern Thought, Dr. Van Till says
the following concerning Greek philosophy:
The ultimate concern of the Reformers was to bring
the fullness of grace in its purity to men. They
therefore sought to set it free from the encrustations
of Greek metaphysics which are the metaphysics of
fallen man. (171)
Van Til's use of the word encrustation shows how
pervasive he believed Greek philosophy to be. The
philosophical positions advanced by the Greeks
influenced to such a large extent the areas of
epistemology, ontology, ethics, and teleology that the
Greek argumentation is a sufficient cause for positions
that have been adopted by western religions and
philosophy.
While admitting
that many aberrational religions and philosophers may
not be aware of the original source of some of their
positions, they nevertheless are dependent upon Greek
philosophical ideas at numerous points. Apostate
thinking down to present day has never escaped entirely
from Greek thought. I believe that many forms of
paganism are related, too, and are the result of the
superior apostate thinking of the Greek philosophers.
Has
Christianity been influenced by Greek Philosophy?
See Ronald Nash's Was
Christianity Influenced by Pagan Religions?
Only Christianity
has been able to break free from Greek apostate
thinking. This is true insofar as the Christian follows
the Reformers in placing the self attesting Christ,
speaking authoritatively in the Scriptures of the Old
and New Testaments, as paramount in all thought. One of
the battle cries of the Reformation was “sola
scriptura.” Paul describes it this way: "Casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself
against the knowledge of God, and bringing into
captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2
Corinthians 10:5). Every other form of western
philosophy has to a large extent resulted from the
thinking of the Greeks. The religions of the west have
suffered from the same problem.
There is a relationship between religion and philosophy.
Philosophy deals with how we know things, the nature of
reality, ethics, and concepts of history. The Bible also
deals with these same questions although there is a
different emphasis.
Some comments from Gordon Clark's Thales To Dewey
may be helpful concerning Christianity and pagan
influence. Clark makes the following summary in his
section on paganism and Christianity:
For such reasons as these it may be concluded that
paganism and Christianity are radically distinct. Any
points of similarity are superficial and trivial. To
speak of them as alike is no better than indentifying
Epicureanism and Platonism on the ground that both
were founded by men. This conclusion is not weakened
by two cautions that should be observed. First, since
the New Testament was written in Greek, it uses words
found in pagan writings. John even used the term
Logos. But the point in question is not the use of
words but the occurrence of ideas. Logos in John and
hypostasis in Hebrews are not evidences of pagan
ideas. Nor should one find Aristotle in the Nicene
Creed because it says God is a substance or reality.
One cannot forbid Christian writers to use common
words on pain of becoming pagans. The second caution
is that while Christianity and the Greek philosophies,
as systems, have no element in common, the Christians,
as people, often held pagan ideas. They had been
converted from paganism and could not divest
themselves of familiar modes of thought all at once.
Therefore when they came to expound and defend
Christianity, they inconsistently made use of
Platonism or Stoicism. By a long and arduous struggle
these inconsistent elements were gradually removed
from a few fundamental areas, and thus a purely
Christian Nicene Creed came into being. But on other
topics, and especially in cases of individual
authorship, the struggle was not so successful. Then,
too, as time went on, the attempts to escape pagan
ideas and to preserve the purity of New Testament
thought grew weaker, and one might say, almost ceased.
(195)
Mr. Kettler
is an ordained Presbyterian Elder and the owner of the http://www.Undergroundnotes.com
web site where his theological, philosophical and
political articles can be read. He has worked in
corporate America for over 30 years. Mr. Kettler can be
contacted by e-mail at: jack@kettlerwellness.com
Jack Kettler
Top 20 Global Business Builder Award Winner!
Curious, go http://www.YourGoldenKey.com
|