Gordon Haddon Clark (August 31, 1902-April 9, 1985) 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 Platonic realism against all forms of empiricism, in arguing that all truth is propositional and in applying the laws of logic. August 31 is the 243rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (244th in leap years), with 122 days remaining, as the final day of August. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... April 9 is the 99th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (100th in leap years). ... This article is about the year. ... A philosopher is a person devoted to studying and producing results in philosophy. ... In an unadorned church, the 17th century congregation stands to hear the sermon. ... Theology is reasoned discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, word or reason). It can also refer to the study of other religious topics. ... Presuppositional apologetics is a school of Christian apologetics, a field of Christian theology that attempts to (1) present a rational basis for the Christian faith, (2) defend the faith against objections, and (3) attack the alleged flaws of other worldviews. ... These five broad types of question are called analytical or logical, epistemological, ethical, metaphysical, and aesthetic respectively. ... Butler University is a private liberal arts university in Indianapolis, Indiana (USA), founded by abolitionist and attorney Ovid Butler in 1855. ... The Pre-Socratic philosophers were active before Socrates, who exerted tremendous influence on later thought. ... This page lists some links to ancient philosophy. ... According to Platonic realism, universals exist in a realm (often so called) that is separate from space and time; one might say that universals have a sort of ghostly or heavenly mode of existence, but, at least in more modern versions of Platonism, such a description [[Media:is probably more... Empiricism (greek εμπειρισμός, from empirical, latin experientia - the experience), is the philosophical doctrine that all human knowledge ultimately comes from the senses and from experience. ... Propositional knowledge or declarative knowledge is knowledge that some proposition is either true or false. ... These laws of classical logic are valid in propositional logic and any boolean algebra. ...

Biography

Clark was raised as a Christian and studied Calvinist thought from a young age. In 1924, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree and earned his doctoral degree from the same institution in 1929. The following year, he studied at the Sorbonne. 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The University of Pennsylvania (Penn is the nickname used by the university itself; UPenn is also common) is a private, nonsectarian, research university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ... A bachelors degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts three or four years. ... A doctorate is an academic degree of the highest level. ... -1... The Sorbonne, Paris, in a 17th century engraving The Sorbonne today, from the same point of view The Sorbonne is frequently used in ordinary parlance as synonymous with the faculty of theology of Paris or the University of Paris in its entirety. ...

He began teaching at the University of Pennsylvania after receiving his bachelor's degree and also taught at Reformed Episcopal Seminary in Philadelphia. In 1936, he accepted a professorship in philosophy at Wheaton College, where he remained until 1944, when he accepted a position at Butler University. In 1974, he left Butler and taught at several institutions, including Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia and Sangre de Cristo Seminary in Westcliffe, Colorado. Independence Hall, as it appears today. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Wheaton College is a private, interdenominational Christian college located in Wheaton, Illinois. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... Covenant College is a small, accredited four-year liberal arts college in Lookout Mountain, Georgia and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America. ... Lookout Mountain is a city located in Walker County, Georgia. ... Westcliffe is a town located in Custer County, Colorado. ...

In 1944, Clark was ordained as a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In the years that followed, Clark would change denominations several times: first to the United Presbyterian Church of North America in 1948 following the Clark-Van Til Controversy and then to the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, General Synod in 1957, where Clark was instrumental in arranging a merger with another Presybterian denomination to form the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod in 1965. When this last denomination merged with the Presbyterian Church in America in 1983, Clark refused to join and instead entered the Covenant Presbytery in 1984. Holy Orders in the modern Roman Catholic Church and in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Assyrian, Old Catholic, and Independent Catholic Churches, includes three degrees: bishop, priest, and deacon. ... Along with Westminster Seminary, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) was founded by conservative Presbyterians who revolted against the modernist theology within the Presbyterian Church (USA) (PCUSA) during the 1930s. ... A religious denomination, (also simply denomination) is a large, long-established subgroup within a religion that has been in existence for many years. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link goes to calendar). ... The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second largest Presbyterian Protestant church body in the United States, after the Presbyterian Church (USA). ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

He died in 1985 and was buried in Westcliffe, Colorado. This article is about the year. ... State nickname: The Centennial State Official languages English Capital Denver Largest city Denver Governor Bill Owens (R) Senators Wayne Allard (R) Ken Salazar (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 8th 269,837 km² 0. ...

Publications

Clark was a prolific author who wrote around forty books ranging from texts on ancient and contemporary philosophy to volumes on individual Christian doctrines to essays on education and politics to commentaries for laymen on the epistles of the New Testament: // What is the New Testament? The New Testament, sometimes called the Greek Testament or Greek Scriptures, is the name given to the part of the Christian Bible that was written after the birth of Jesus. ...

Philosophy

• An Introduction to Christian Philosophy (ISBN 0940931389), in which Clark's thought is well summarized in three lectures given at Wheaton College, reissued in Christian Philosophy (ISBN 1891777025)
• Three Types of Religious Philosophy, reissued in Christian Philosophy (ISBN 1891777025)
• Thales to Dewey, a history of philosophy (ISBN 1891777092)
• Ancient Philosophy, Dr. Clark's section of a History of Philosophy, which he co-published with three other authors; also includes eleven major essays, including his doctoral dissertation on Aristotle (ISBN 0940931494)
• William James and John Dewey (ISBN 0940931435)
• Behaviorism and Christianity (ISBN 0940931044)
• Philosophy of Science and Belief in God (ISBN 0940931850)
• Historiography: Secular and Religious (ISBN 0940931397)
• A Christian View of Men and Things, which develops Clark's Christian worldview (ISBN 1891777009)
• A Christian Philosophy of Education (ISBN 1891777068)
• Logic, a text book on logic for students (ISBN 0940931710)
• Essays on Ethics and Politics (ISBN 094093132X)
• Lord God of Truth printed with Concerning the Teacher by St. Augustine (ISBN 0940931400)
• Selections from Hellenistic Philosophy edited by Clark (ISBN 0891973966)
• Readings in Ethics edited by Clark and T. V. Smith (ISBN 0390195456)
• Clark Speaks from the Grave written just before Clark died and published posthumously responding to some of his critics (ISBN 0940931125)

Aristotle, marble copy of bronze by Lysippos. ... A world view, also spelled as worldview is a term calqued from the German word Weltanschauung (look onto the world). The German word is also in wide use in English, as well as the translated form world outlook. ... St. ...

Theology

• In Defense of Theology (ISBN 0880621230)
• Religion, Reason, and Revelation, Clark's major work on apologetics (ISBN 0940931869)
• God's Hammer : The Bible and Its Critics (ISBN 0940931885)
• What Do Presbyterians Believe?, a commentary on the Westminster Confession of Faith (ISBN 0940931605)
• Predestination, the combined edition of Biblical Predestination and Predestination in the Old Testament; a study of the idea of election in the Bible (ISBN 087552169X)
• Karl Barth's Theological Method, a book critical of Barth (ISBN 0940931516)
• Language and Theology (ISBN 0940931907)
• The Johannine Logos, on John the Evangelist's use of the term Logos (ISBN 0940931222)
• Faith and Saving Faith (ISBN 0940931958); reissued as What is Saving Faith? (ISBN 0940931656)
• Today's Evangelism: Counterfeit or Genuine? (ISBN 0940931281)
• The Biblical Doctrine of Man (ISBN 0940931915)
• The Incarnation (ISBN 0940931230)
• The Holy Spirit (ISBN 0940931370)
• The Atonement (ISBN 0940931877)
• Sanctification (ISBN 0940931338)
• The Trinity (ISBN 0940931923)

Apologetics is the field of study concerned with the systematic defense of a position. ... The Westminster Confession of Faith is the chief doctrinal product of the Protestant Westminster Assembly. ... Predestination is a religious idea, under which the relationship between the beginning of things and the destiny of things is discussed. ... The Bible (sometimes The Book, Good Book, Word of God, The Word, or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βιβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the classical name for the Hebrew Bible of Judaism or the combination of the Old Testament and New Testament of Christianity (The Bible actually refers to at least two... Karl Barth on the cover of TIME magazine Karl Barth (May 10, 1886–December 10, 1968) (pronounced Bart) was the most influential Reformed Christian theologian since John Calvin. ... St John the Evangelist, imagined by Jacopo Pontormo, ca 1525 (Santa Felicità, Florence) John the Evangelist (? - c. ... The Greek word λόγος or logos is a word with various meanings. ...

Commentaries

• First Corinthians: A Contemporary Commentary (ISBN 094093129X)
• Ephesians (ISBN 0940931117)
• Philippians (ISBN 0940931478)
• Colossians (ISBN 0940931257)
• First and Second Thessalonians (ISBN 0940931141)
• The Pastoral Epistles on the first and second letters to Timothy and Titus (ISBN 1891777041)
• New Heavens, New Earth on the first and second letters of Peter (ISBN 0940931362)
• First John (ISBN 094093194X)

Additionally, Ronald Nash edited a Festschrift The Philosophy of Gordon H. Clark (Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1968), which presented a summary of Clark's thought (viz., the Wheaton lectures mentioned above), critiques by several authors, and then a response by Clark. This article or section should be merged with Second Epistle to Timothy The First Epistle to Timothy is a book of the canonic New Testament, one of the three so-called pastoral epistles (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and the Epistle to Titus). ... This article or section should be merged with First Epistle to Timothy The Pastoral Epistles are often considered together, as each throws light upon the others. ... The Pastoral Epistles are often considered together, as each throws light upon the others. ... In Christianity, the First Epistle of Peter is a book of the New Testament. ... The Second Epistle of Peter is a book of the New Testament of the Bible. ... In academia, a Festschrift is a book honouring a respected academic. ...

External links

• The Trinity Foundation reprints Clark's works and publishes those of his followers. They have books for a fee, and articles and audio available for free.
• Summaries of Clark has chapter-by-chapter summaries by Dr. C. Matthew McMahon of some of Clark's most well-known works.
• The Gordon Clark Papers, archived by the Presbyterian Church of America.

Miscellaneous Articles

• "Natural Law and Revelation", a paper by Gordon Clark, published by The Christian Statesman.
• The Trinity Review, a publication of the Trinity Foundation that has articles by Clark and his followers.

Audio

• The Trinity Lectures in MP3 format free for download (but not streaming), including Clark's Lectures in Apologetics, Lectures on Theology, and Lectures on the Holy Spirit.