Gordon Haddon Clark (August 31, 1902 – April 9, 1985) was an American

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

. He was a leading figure associated with

presuppositional apologetics Presuppositionalism is an epistemological school of Christian apologetics that examines the presuppositions on which worldviews are based, and invites comparison and contrast between the results of those presuppositions. It claims that apart from ...

and was chairman of the Philosophy Department at

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study in six colleges: the Lacy School of Business, College of Communic ...

for 28 years. He was an expert in

pre-Socratic Pre-Socratic philosophy, also known as early Greek philosophy, is ancient Greek philosophy before Socrates. Pre-Socratic philosophers were mostly interested in cosmology, the beginning and the substance of the universe, but the inquiries of thes ...

and

ancient philosophy This page lists some links to ancient philosophy, namely philosophical thought extending as far as early post-classical history (). Overview Genuine philosophical thought, depending upon original individual insights, arose in many culture ...

and was noted for defending the idea of propositional revelation against

empiricism In philosophy, empiricism is an epistemological theory that holds that knowledge or justification comes only or primarily from sensory experience. It is one of several views within epistemology, along with rationalism and skepticism. Empir ...

and

rationalism In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".Lacey, A.R. (1996), ''A Dictionary of Philosophy' ...

, in arguing that all truth is propositional. His

theory of knowledge Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Ep ...

is sometimes called ''scripturalism''.

Biography

Clark was raised in a Christian home and studied Calvinist thought from a young age. In 1924, he graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in French and earned his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in Philosophy from the same institution in 1929. The following year he studied at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

. He began teaching at the University of Pennsylvania after receiving his bachelor's degree and also taught at the Reformed Episcopal Seminary in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. In 1936, he accepted a professorship in Philosophy at

Wheaton College, Illinois Wheaton College is a private Evangelical Christian liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois. It was founded by evangelical abolitionists in 1860. Wheaton College was a stop on the Underground Railroad and graduated one of Illinois' first bl ...

, where he remained until 1943 when he accepted the Chairmanship of the Philosophy Department at

in Indianapolis. After his retirement from Butler in 1973, he taught at

Covenant College Covenant College is a private, liberal arts, Christian college in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, located near Chattanooga, Tennessee. As the college of the Presbyterian Church in America, Covenant teaches subjects from a Reformed theological w ...

Lookout Mountain, Georgia Lookout Mountain is a city entirely within Walker County, Georgia, United States. Bordering its sister town of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, Lookout Mountain is part of the Chattanooga metropolitan statistical area. The population was 1,641 at t ...

, and Sangre de Cristo Seminary in

Westcliffe, Colorado Westcliffe is a statutory town that is the county seat of Custer County, Colorado, United States. At the 2010 U.S. Census, the population was 568, up from 417 in 2000. History Westcliffe had its start in 1881 when the Denver and Rio Grande Wes ...

. Clark's denominational affiliations would change many times. He was born into and eventually became a ruling elder in the

Presbyterian Church in the United States of America The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) was the first national Presbyterian denomination in the United States, existing from 1789 to 1958. In that year, the PCUSA merged with the United Presbyterian Church of North Americ ...

. However, he would eventually leave with a small group of conservatives, led by

John Gresham Machen John Gresham Machen (; 1881–1937) was an American Presbyterian New Testament scholar and educator in the early 20th century. He was the Professor of New Testament at Princeton Seminary between 1906 and 1929, and led a revolt against modernist ...

, to help form the Presbyterian Church of America (renamed the

Orthodox Presbyterian Church The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) is a confessional Presbyterian denomination located primarily in the United States, with additional congregations in Canada, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. It was founded by conservative members of the Presbyter ...

in 1938) and would be ordained in the OPC in 1944. However, in 1948, following the Clark- Van Til Controversy, he joined the

United Presbyterian Church of North America The United Presbyterian Church of North America (UPCNA) was an American Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a pri ...

. Following the UPCNA's 1956 merger with the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (the same denomination from which the OPC had separated from in 1936) to form the

United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America The United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA) was the largest branch of Presbyterianism in the United States from May 28, 1958, to 1983. It was formed by the union of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of Ameri ...

, Clark joined the

Reformed Presbyterian Church, General Synod The Reformed Presbyterian Church, General Synod was a Presbyterian denomination that came about due to a split amongst the Reformed Presbyterians, or Covenanters and existed between 1833 and 1965. History The division had come about in 1833 betw ...

in 1957. Clark was instrumental in arranging a merger between the RPCGS and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church to form the

Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod The Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod was a Reformed and Presbyterian denomination in the United States and Canada between 1965 and 1982. Formation The RPCES was formed in 1965 with the union of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, ...

in 1965. When the RPCES became part of the

Presbyterian Church in America The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second-largest Presbyterian church body, behind the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the largest conservative Calvinist denomination in the United States. The PCA is Reformed in theology and presb ...

in 1982, Clark refused to join the PCA and instead entered the unaffiliated Covenant Presbytery in 1984. Clark was also elected president of the

Evangelical Theological Society The Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) is a professional society of Biblical scholars, educators, pastors, and students "devoted to the inerrancy and inspiration of the Scriptures and the gospel of Jesus Christ" and "dedicated to the oral exch ...

in 1965. He died in 1985 and was buried near

Philosophy

Clark's philosophy and theology has been summarized as:. *

Epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Episte ...

: propositional revelation in the Bible *

Soteriology Soteriology (; el, σωτηρία ' "salvation" from σωτήρ ' "savior, preserver" and λόγος ' "study" or "word") is the study of religious doctrines of salvation. Salvation theory occupies a place of special significance in many religio ...

faith alone ''Justificatio sola fide'' (or simply ''sola fide''), meaning justification by faith alone, is a soteriological doctrine in Christian theology commonly held to distinguish the Lutheran and Reformed traditions of Protestantism, among others, fr ...

Metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

theism Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of a supreme being or deities. In common parlance, or when contrasted with ''deism'', the term often describes the classical conception of God that is found in monotheism (also referred to ...

Ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

: the superiority of divine law over human law/Christian

egoism Egoism is a philosophy concerned with the role of the self, or , as the motivation and goal of one's own action. Different theories of egoism encompass a range of disparate ideas and can generally be categorized into descriptive or normative ...

. *

Politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

: constitutional republic

Personal life

Clark met his future wife Ruth Schmidt during his graduate studies at the

; she had actually been baptized by Gordon's father as a baby. They married in 1929 and stayed together for 48 years until Ruth's death from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

in 1977. They had two daughters, Lois Antoinette (later Lois Zeller, b. 1936) and Nancy Elizabeth (later Betsy Clark George, b. 1941). At the time of his death, Clark was survived by his two daughters and their husbands, 12 grandchildren, and one great grandchild.Douma, Douglas (2017). ''The Presbyterian Philosopher: The Authorized Biography of Gordon H. Clark''. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock. Clark was well known as a keen

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player. In 1966, he won the championship of the King's Men Chess Club in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

Publications

Clark was a prolific author who wrote more than forty books, including texts on ancient and contemporary philosophy, volumes on Christian doctrines, commentaries on the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

and a one-volume history of philosophy:

Philosophy

* ''An Introduction to Christian Philosophy'' (), in which Clark's thought is well summarized in three lectures given at Wheaton College, reissued in ''Christian Philosophy'' () * ''Three Types of Religious Philosophy'', reissued in ''Christian Philosophy'' () * ''Thales to Dewey'', a history of philosophy () * ''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 Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

() * ''William James and John Dewey'' () * ''Behaviorism and Christianity'' () * ''Philosophy of Science and Belief in God'' () * ''Historiography: Secular and Religious'' () * ''A Christian View of Men and Things'', which develops Clark's Christian

worldview A worldview or world-view or ''Weltanschauung'' is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. A worldview can include natural ...

() * ''A Christian Philosophy of Education'' () * ''Logic'', a textbook on logic for students () * ''Essays on Ethics and Politics'' () * ''Lord God of Truth'' printed with ''Concerning the Teacher'' by St. Augustine () * ''Selections from Hellenistic Philosophy'' edited by Clark () * ''Readings in Ethics'' edited by Clark and T. V. Smith () * ''Clark Speaks from the Grave'' written just before Clark died and published posthumously, responding to some of his critics ()

Theology

* ''In Defense of Theology'' () * ''Religion, Reason, and Revelation'', Clark's major work on

apologetics Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and ...

() * ''God's Hammer: The Bible and Its Critics'' () * ''What Do Presbyterians Believe?'', a commentary on the

Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the " subordinate standard" ...

() * ''Predestination'', the combined edition of ''Biblical Predestination'' and ''Predestination in the Old Testament''; a study of the idea of

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

in the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

* ''Karl Barth's Theological Method'', a book critical of Barth () * ''Language and Theology'' () * ''The Johannine Logos'', on

John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης, Iōánnēs; Aramaic: ܝܘܚܢܢ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ; ar, يوحنا الإنجيلي, la, Ioannes, he, יוחנן cop, ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ or ⲓⲱ̅ⲁ) is the name traditionally given t ...

's use of the term ''

Logos ''Logos'' (, ; grc, wikt:λόγος, λόγος, lógos, lit=word, discourse, or reason) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric and refers to the appeal to reason that relies on logic or reason, inductive and deductive ...

'' () * ''Faith and Saving Faith'' (); reissued as ''What is Saving Faith?'' () * ''Today's Evangelism: Counterfeit or Genuine?'' () * ''The Biblical Doctrine of Man'' () * ''The Incarnation'' () * ''The Holy Spirit'' () * ''The Atonement'' () * ''Sanctification'' () * ''The Trinity'' ()

Commentaries

* ''First Corinthians: A Contemporary Commentary'' () * ''Ephesians'' () * ''Philippians'' () * ''Colossians'' () * ''First and Second Thessalonians'' () * ''The Pastoral Epistles'' on the

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

letters to Timothy and

Titus Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September 81 AD) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death. Before becoming emperor, Titus gained renown as a mili ...

() * ''New Heavens, New Earth'' on the

and

letters of Peter () * ''First John'' () Additionally, Ronald Nash edited a

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

''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 rejoinders by Clark.

References

External links

The Gordon H. Clark Foundation
Working with Dr. Clark's family and friends to release previously unpublished material. Scanned original sources included often.
The Trinity Foundation
reprints Clark's works and publishes those of his followers. They have books for sale and articles and audio lectures available for free.
The Trinity Lectures
in

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

format free for download (but not streaming), including Clark's ''Lectures in Apologetics,'' ''Lectures on Theology,'' and ''Lectures on the Holy Spirit.''
The Gordon Clark Papers
archived by the Presbyterian Church in America. {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Gordon 1902 births 1985 deaths Calvinist and Reformed philosophers Supralapsarians American Presbyterians American Calvinist and Reformed theologians Christian apologists Writers from Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania alumni Wheaton College (Illinois) faculty 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians Reformed Episcopal Seminary faculty Butler University faculty Orthodox Presbyterian Church ministers Critics of atheism

Biography

Philosophy

Personal life

Publications

Philosophy

Theology

Commentaries

References

Further reading

External links