Gordon Clark and Theonomy

I basically consider myself a “Reformed Libertarian,” and regularly read C.Jay Engel’s blog http://reformedlibertarian.com. Recently there has been a lot of questions about Reformed Libertarianism and how it compares with Theonomy.  I haven’t studied Theonomy too aggressively but have this week read a few books on the topic.

A question I’ve been dealing with since this summer when I spoke at the Christian Libertarian’s conference is: what did Gordon Clark think about Theonomy?

I mentioned at this talk that Dr. Clark’s son-in-law told me that Clark was opposed to Theonomy. However, Dr. Clark never seemed to address the topic in his many writings.

Dr. Clark’s distaste for Theonomy can at least partially be explained but the fact that Theonomy grew out of Van Tillian circles. In fact, Theonomists claim to be the rightful heirs of Van Til’s philosophy. (a fact, which oddly enough, Van Til always denied).

Anyways, here at the Sangre de Cristo Seminary I am very fortunate to have access to Dr. Clark’s personal books and some of his papers. In his collection is a copy of “By What Standard” by Rousas Rushdoony. This seems to be THE book which started off the Theonomy movement. Contained in Dr. Clark’s copy of this book are some scattered notes and a review of another Rushdoony book. If only there were a review by Clark of “By What Standard” itself, we would know Clark’s opinion of it. But, we are not so fortunate.

There is perhaps one enlightening note of Dr. Clark’s written in the margins of the book. Rushdoony critiques Clark and praises Van Til, which likely did not contribute to win the graces of Clark to the Theonomy movement.
On page 127, Rushdoony writes, “If all facts are created facts, then no facts are neutral in their witness to the Creator, least of all man, not only a creature but formed in the image of God. To presuppose a neutrality of date, and to presuppose a neutrality of witness on man’s part, is to deny that God created all things and to deny that man is created in His image. The basic question is this: is man faceless? Is he no more than a blank? If he is faceless and a blank, then neutrality is possible. But if man is truly created in God’s image, then neutrality is an impossibility and the pretense to it no more than disguised hostility. To hold that neutrality is possible is to eliminate God as Creator and relegate Him, at best, to a position of another fact among many miscellaneous and manginess facts, a fact, moreover, which, like some strange species of life, remains unknown until discovered. This, in fact, is precisely what Clark does with God.”

Rushdoony then quotes Clark: “For an illustration, suppose that the discoverer of an uninhabited island in some remote ocean should search it to determine whether a particular form of animal life ever existed in that place. It is quite possible for him to search carefully and, discovering no evidence, still remain in ignorance. He could not be sure, however, that the particular animal had never lived on the island, because, even though the search had been diligent, still tomorrow the remains might be discovered. Similarly, aside from the question whether much or little evidence is needed to lead one to a belief in God, it is clear that no finite amount of searching could rationally lead one to deny the existence of God. During the time of the atheist’s investigation of this earth, it just might be that God was hiding on the other side of the moon, and if some rocket should take the atheist to the moon, there is no reason to hold that God might not go over to Jupiter – for the express purpose of inconveniencing the atheist.”
This quote is footnoted: “Gordon H. Clark: A Christian Philosophy of Education, p. 44 (Eerdman’s) On the other hand, Clark wisely observes, ‘instead of beginning with facts and later discovering God, unless a thinker begins with God, he can never end with God, or get the facts either’ (p. 38).”

Clark notes at the end of the chapter, referring to this paragraph and footnote of Rushdoony, “The author’s admission here shows that he misunderstood what he quoted on p. 127. In particular the author omitted the first sentence of my paragraph and hence failed to state what I was illustrating.”

This ‘first sentence’ in Clark’s book is “Now this denial [Atheism’s denial of the existence of God] results in such curious complications that it is hardly a tenable or choice-worthy theory.”

Well, this is all quite confusing I admit, even having these books in front of me. I would have to read them each more thoroughly and see the context of the argument. But, this is not the main point of this blog post. Rather, the main point is, the movement of Theonomy, coming out of Van Tillian circles (even though it didn’t have Van Til’s approval) was unlikely to receive the approval of Gordon Clark. Knowing Clark, I’m sure he would have had specific arguments against Theonomy, but as of yet, I don’t know what these were. And hence Theonomy’s greatest statement – “By What Standard?” – surely to the great delight of theonomists, remains unanswered by Clark at least.