John Warwick Montgomery does it yet again. The work is a magnificent argument for the Christian faith, that leaves no stone unturned.
The Title of the book is a fitting homage to Wittgenstein. I was a bit skeptical at first when I saw the title I’ll admit. It almost came off to me as if a pat on the back trying to claim the same IQ or something. I only mention my original skepticism to assure the would-be reader that that is not what was meant by the title. Rather, Montgomery wanted to salute one of the great thinkers, if not the greatest thinker of the Twentieth Century, and maybe alert a new generation to the man’s work. This is probably no where more needed than in the church today, which often has a tendency to go anti-intellectual, and be suspicious of higher learning in general, and Philosophy specifically.
Montgomery sets about 7 propositions and argues for all of them, though leaving the last one to stand on its own as Wittgenstein did in his own work. The Seventh of the propositions is a twist on Wittgenstein’s own admonishing Christians to share the faith, presumably in a manner worthy of consideration.
The Title is even more fitting though, not only because it takes on the same format as Wittgenstein’s great work, but in that Montgomery borrows and explains from the works of the great analytical thinkers of the Twentieth century, his book may not only be a great apologetic for the Christian faith, but even more so the best primer on Analytical philosophy I have seen in print! Seriously, I would hand this book to a person who just wanted to know who the ins and outs of Analytic Philosophy, what it is about, and who was who, not to mention why it matters.
The book is brilliant in its use of quotes and explanations from philosophers, theologians and literary giants, letting others make the argument. Montgomery almost does nothing more than play the editor assembling the quotes in a logical order. In the end, the framework around which the quotes are assembled is the Historical argument those familiar with Montgomery are already familiar with, but if it is a little longer than “History and Christianity” it is also more entertaining, and more in depth. It is both a refutation of common arguments against Christianity, and a positive argument for Christianity based on historical data and legal/ logical reasoning, but interspersed with great quotes and quips that help make the argument for him.
If there is a frustration with the book, it is lack of footnotes and bibliographical data. Montgomery explains this omission in a preface to the index of names. He does not want others to use the citations in a lazy unscrupulous fashion, and out of their contextual connections. Fair enough, but some of us would just like to know the titles even if the page numbers are left off. Some of the people cited were prolific writers themselves, and guessing which work Montgomery is quoting from could be quite the task, perhaps even hindering a person from reading anymore from the person cited. I can’t help to think that even though this was intentional, it was still a mistake.
That said, the reader will find the work to be intellectually rigorous and stimulating on its own, and well worth the read.
2 comments:
These magnum opusee Latinish title kind of things just sound intimidating, like they're written at the 50,000 foot level for the intellectual heavyweights and theoloical giants. Just doesn't resonate with your average bubba. Lutheranism 101 and now, The Lutheran Difference, were more my speed.
I hear you Jonathan, I do.
But there are two caveats to this.
The first is, someone needs to write to the intellectual.
Two, you'd be surprised what you can grasp if you just do away with your hesitation.
I figure if you can read L 101, you can probably make it through Tractatus Logic-Theologicus.
Post a Comment