Book Review: Essentials of Christian Thought by Roger E. Olson

Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that is concerned with the nature of reality around us. All of life’s ultimate questions, whether about the nature of reality, the nature of man, the distinction between good and evil, or the possibility of the afterlife, they are all metaphysical questions. In Essentials of Christian Thought published by Zondervan, Roger Olson attempts to show that the Bible is not only a trustworthy source of spiritual and ethical guidelines, but also contains an accurate account of metaphysics, and this must be the lens through which a Christian must interpret reality (12). He says that many Christians wrongly assume that the Bible has no implicit philosophy, and hence try to interpret the Bible with metaphysics from worldviews that contain elements contradictory to Christianity, a phenomenon called syncretism (13).

In Chapter 1, Olson delves into epistemology, or the study of knowledge. First, he attacks the most common account of knowing in philosophy, called foundationalism, which claims that only objective truths of reason are indubitable and all other truths are either induced or deduced from them; he argues that such an approach often reduces metaphysics and religion to the realm of subjectivism (26-29). Olson adopts a ‘postfoundationalist’ and ‘perspectival’ approach to knowledge.He argues that nothing can be known objectively; they are known as they are seen by us through bliks or subjective lenses. If one defines epistemology in this way, then metaphysics becomes ‘existential map-making’ or mapping out a full picture of reality on the basis of what you perceive through the totality of your bliks (32-34). Olson argues that Christians do have a good reason to believe that they have the right blik because it is ‘supported by universal human experience’ and ‘better answers life’s ultimate questions than its competitors’ (36). Thus, while Christianity, like every other worldview, cannot be rationally proved with certainty, it does not entail that it is not true. In his first interlude, Olson explicates his own position of post-liberal soft fideism, which is the view that while Christian truth cannot be known through reason, it is not irrational (50).

In Chapter 2, Olson returns to Biblical metaphysics to examine the nature of Ultimate Reality or God. He argues that the Bible presents God as being supernatural, that is “beyond nature”, but also as personal without being human (51-62). He compares this to various non-biblical philosophies that have permeated Christianity, including Platonism and Aristotelianism. Olson argues that these philosophies have led to a hellenization of Christian thought, drawing it away from its Biblical roots (63-67).

In Chapter 3, Olson continues on his mission to ‘retrieve’ Christian conceptions of ultimate reality from worldly philosophies. He lays out theologian Claude Tresmontant’s arguments for why Greek-inspired Christian philosophies fail to provide an adequate metaphysical framework consistent with the Bible (80-89). He goes on to consider the views of other theologians like Cherbonnier, Brunner, and Heschel, all of whom agreed that the Bible has an implicit philosophy distinct from other ancient philosophies (91-99). In his third interlude, Olson attempts to explain what he considers to be the correct use of apologetics. He says that since no blik can be proven, the role of Christian apologetics is not to rationally prove Christianity, but to show that Christianity is not irrational (105-107).

In Chapter 4, Olson delves into non-Biblical views of ultimate reality. He first addresses Manicheism, which is a dualistic philosophy that believes in two opposing ultimate realities, one good, one evil. He then examines pantheism, emationism, and absolute idealism, which are all monistic views that argue that God is all there is, and everything that is either emanates from God or is a part of Him (112-117). Finally, he examines naturalism, which is the scientistic view of ultimate reality (119-127). After examination, he dismisses each of them as unbiblical and incoherent.

In the following interlude, he attacks the classical theistic view of God as being simple, immutable, and impassible, particularly because he feels scripture does not support such a view; instead, it is a result of the strong influence of Greek philosophy in Christian thinking ever since the Early Church Fathers (128-136).

In Chapter 5, Olson returns to biblically examine the nature of God. He establishes that there exists an irreducible ontological interval between God and man in the Christian worldview, without being dualistic like Manicheism (142-145). He also spends time explaining what the Biblical perspective means when it shows God as both self-sufficient and vulnerable; despite God being all powerful, through creation God ‘opened himself to our world’, making himself vulnerable to passions (155-156). He also hints at a temporal view of God rather than a timeless one, stating that God’s immutability shouldn’t be interpreted beyond his ‘faithfulness’ (156-160).  In his next interlude, he delves further into God’s ‘self-limitations’ and also discusses his take on the problem of evil (164-172).

In Chapter 6, Olson considers the Biblical conception of the world. He presents the world as God’s “good but corrupted creation, dependent but real” (175). He explains the story of Genesis 1-3 as neither history nor myth, but an account of the nature of the world as described by the Biblical metaphysic, specifically to show how the corruption of creation began from the creature, not the Creator, although as a result of the Creator’s will (186-187). He also endorses both the Calvinist and Wesleyan views of why God created the world, saying nature both displays God’s glory and declares his love (191-192).

In the final chapter, Olson discusses Biblical humanism, or the answer to the question, ‘What is man?’ He answers this question with the help of Psalm 8 and Psalm 14. Through Psalm 8, he concludes that man is created good and is essentially good. Psalm 14 presents a counterpoint by displaying man as corrupted, broken, and depraved (207-211). This ‘damaged’ status, he says, is due to man’s exercise of his freedom (212-213). After discussing alternative ‘humanistic’ views, Olson reiterates his view that true humanism can only be found in the Bible, and diluting this idea of humanism with external humanistic philosophies, especially for political purposes, is dangerous (214-223).

In his final interlude, Olson examines historical Christian beliefs regarding free-will and sin, particularly the debate between Augustine, who emphasized God’s sovereignty, and Pelagius, who emphasized human free-will. He concludes that both were right; both God’s sovereignty and human free-will and responsibility are involved in determining responsibility for actions; while humans are primarily responsible, God allows man to act according to his free-will, even if it is against his own will (224-235).

One thing I would like to remind the reader is to keep Olson’s theological views in mind; he comes from the Arminian tradition, and every theologian he uses as a ‘guide’ to interpret Biblical metaphysics is from that tradition. There might be several aspects that someone from a Reformed tradition might strongly disagree with and find incompatible with their theological views. Olson also has strong views regarding incorporating ideas from non-Christian philosophies into Christian philosophy, as seen in his criticism of classical theism. While syncretism is not a good thing, we must also realize that all things that are true are true regardless of the source they come from, because all truth is God’s; we must not dispense with a certain idea of God simply because Greek philosophy influenced it. Several Christians have written biblical defenses of ideas that Olson rejects as unbiblical and hellenized, such as divine timelessness or impassibility, and readers might want to take a look at those counter-perspectives as well. That said, Olson has produced a well-written book that both shows the importance of Christian philosophy and attempts to construct a biblical metaphysic, albeit from within his own theological viewpoint.

If you’d like to support Apologetics315 and purchase The Essentials of Christian Thought, you may do so through this link.