Tag Archives: plato

Review: Torrance, Space, Time, and Incarnation

Posted on November 10, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

Torrance, Thomas F. Space, Time, and Incarnation.  Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1969 [1997]. At barely 90 pages of text, Thomas Torrance wrote a book on cosmology that shocked the theological world.  If his arguments in this book obtain, then all … Continue reading →

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Old Van Til reviews

Posted on September 3, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

I know this is going to be a long post, but it is mainly for research purposes.  I am not a Van Tillian. I am closer to Klaas Schilder, so I sort of transcend these debates. Introduction to Systematic Theology … Continue reading →

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Horton: Lord and Servant–A Covenant Christology

Posted on July 24, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

This is Mike Horton’s second installment in his Covenant series. He reframes Christology around “covenant” and is stunningly successful. His genius is in using the covenant to contrast two ontologies: overcoming estrangement (classical metaphysics) and meeting a Stranger. Horton shows … Continue reading →

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Horton: Covenant and Eschatology

Posted on July 24, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

Thesis: We live in Paul’s Two Ages, not Plato’s Two Worlds. It is this which structure the rest of theological prolegomena. Horton is not giving us a systematic theology, but showing what theology would look like using the Covenant. Eschatology … Continue reading →

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Review: Horton, Covenant and Salvation

Posted on July 12, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

Horton attempts to give a full-orbed defense of Reformed soteriology, utilizing current scholarship, identifying potential weaknesses, and communicating this in a new and cogent manner. And he has largely succeeded. Similar to other projects, Horton places salvation within a covenantal … Continue reading →

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De Regno Christ (Review, Bucer)

Posted on June 25, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

Bucer, Martin. This selection of Bucer’s *De Regno Christi* is useful, if incomplete. It omits most of his exposition of the 7th Commandment. I understand why, for space reasons. The drawback is that the reader is not engaged with Bucer’s … Continue reading →

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Review: He is there and he is not silent (Schaeffer)

Posted on June 12, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

Schaeffer, Francis.  He is There and He is Not Silent.  Tyndale.  1979 reprint. On page 1 Schaeffer defines metaphysics as “the existence of Being.”  That’s an ambiguous statement at best. Does he mean that there is an entity called Being which … Continue reading →

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Notes on Plato’s Dialogues

Posted on June 11, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

I’ve reread these several times.  I am not a pure Platonist.  I do believe in universals, but I don’t think we need to get bogged down in Plato’s specifics.  In any case, did Plato believe that relations were universals?  I’m … Continue reading →

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Review: Gordon Clark, A Christian View of Men and Things

Posted on June 5, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

This book isn’t perfect but it does exhibit all of Dr Clark’s strengths as a communicator  My main problem with the book is the chapter lengths: they are excessively long. This isn’t too much of a problem, except Clark will … Continue reading →

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Chain of Being (Review)

Posted on October 20, 2016 by J. B. Aitken

Arthur Lovejoy analyzes a powerful if flawed concept’s “control” over Western mind since Plato. The chain of being is the continuum of “substance/essence/stuff” beginning with God (or Plato’s Good) and ending with either inorganic life or nothingness itself. The chain … Continue reading →

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