Notes on the thought of Gordon H. Clark
The Consent of MOST of the Parts
Many who follow the theology of Cornelius Van Til also support strict subscription to the Westminster Confession of Faith. Examples include Morton H. Smith1and R. Scott Clark.2 Even a whole denomination, the recently-defunct RPCUS (1983-2020) was committed to both Strict Subscriptionism and Van Tillian Apologetics.3 But for all the support of the Westminster Confession among …
Scriptural Reference Combined Index of Gordon H. Clark Books
Scriptural Reference Combined Index of Gordon H. Clark Books ACPE – A Christian Philosophy of Education, 1946, 2nd ed. 1988 AT – The Atonement, 1987, 2nd ed. 1996 BP – Biblical Predestination, 1974 CP – An Introduction to Christian Philosophy, 1968, 2nd ed. 1993 EP – Essays on Ethics and Politics, 1992 FC – First …
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Anthropopathism and God’s Desire of Salvation
Anthropopathism and God’s Desire of Salvation By Douglas J. Douma and Benjamin Wong THESIS: The doctrine of divine anthropopathism provides a sufficient though not necessary reason for denying the well-meant offer; the teaching that God desires the salvation even of the reprobate. A disagreement regarding the extent and nature of God’s desire of salvation which …
Gordon Clark’s Theory of Divine Illumination
In The Light of the Mind Ronald Nash notes four major interpretations of Augustine’s theory of Divine Illumination: the Thomist, the Franciscan, the Formal, and the Ontologist. (p. 94 ff.) As Gordon Clark was a proponent of Divine Illumination, it is proper to ask which, if any, of these interpretations did he subscribe to? Or …
Why I am a Clarkian
[I’m glad to present this post with the contributions of several individuals each writing on the question “Why I am a Clarkian.” – DJD] Rev. Doug Douma, M.B.A., M.Div. – Pastor of First Presbyterian Church (BPC), Unionville NY. While I’m not keen on promoting myself as a “Clarkian” any more than a “Calvinist,” there is …
Gordon Clark’s Apologetic Methodology
As the biographer of the noted presbyterian philosopher Gordon H. Clark, a number of students of Christian apologetics have asked me to explain his apologetic methodology. In recent decades, buoyed by the great number of internet forums for endless argumentation and debate, the topic of apologetics seems to have overtaken in popularity the study of …
Notes on Gordon Clark and Probability
1. Clark defined probability as the fraction of favorable cases over total number of cases. In good Clarkian fashion it is of primary importance to first define the term at hand. As for “probability,” Clark twice provided a definition in his debate with David Hoover. In the first occasion he said “Probability is the fraction …
Nash on Van Til
From The Word of God and the Mind of Man by Ronald H. Nash. “For twenty years or so, as a friendly critic of Van Til’s views, I have maintained that Van Til’s position entails scepticism. …” (p. 100) “Only recently, however, have I come to understand that Van Til had developed his own version …
1981 at Faith Seminary
From Left to Right: Gordon Clark, Cornelius Van Til, Carl McIntire, Norris Clark, R. J. Gore
Alvin Plantinga reviews Gordon Clark
[5/9/1969] The Philosophy of Gordon H. Clark, by Ronald H. Nash (Presbyterian and Reformed, 1968, 516 pp., $9.95), is reviewed by Alvin Plantinga, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California. This Festschrift in honor of Professor Gordon H. Clark contains an expanded version of his 1965 Wheaton Lectures, some twelve essays in …
The Grand Old Doc
[You can listen to my recorded speech here: tinysa.com/sermon/102519161232368] “The Grand Old Doc” or “Gordon Clark: A Presbyterian Philosopher and His Influence on American Evangelicals” by Rev. Douglas J. Douma Presented at the Presbyterian Scholars Conference Wheaton College October 22, 2019 In the numerous extant letters from Edward J. Carnell to Gordon H. Clark the …
Letter of GHC to Floyd Hamilton, Jan. 28 1947
[I’m glad to have received this letter from Wayne Sparkman of the PCA Historical Center who has been working on the newly acquired papers of Floyd Hamilton. This is the first new discovery of a Gordon Clark letter in a while. And it is an important letter as it was written during the Clark – …
The Gravesite of James Armstrong Clark
While driving through western Pennsylvania this morning I stopped in the town of Prospect where there is buried Rev. James Armstrong Clark, the paternal grandfather of Gordon H. Clark. The gravesite is at the cemetery of the Presbyterian Church of Prospect where an obelisk marks the location. A number of other family members are apparently …
Γορδονος Κλαρκος Απομνημονευματα (Gordon Clark Remembrances)
[Here is something that to my knowledge I haven’t posted previously. It is a transcript of a document of Gordon Clark’s remembrances, given in his later years.] Γορδονος Κλαρκος Απομνημονευματα (Gordon Clark Remembrances) though they are not so memorable My earliest memory is of a vacation trip to Niagara Fall when I was just …
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Gordon Clark’s Half-Preformation Theory
In this article I contend that philosopher Ronald Nash erred when he claimed that Gordon Clark held to the Preformation Theory. I believe it is better said that Clark held to only half of this theory. It seems likely that Nash erred by reading his own view into Clark. Nash’s contention that Clark held to …
Two Erroneous Epistemological Distinctions
In The Word of God and the Mind of Man, Ronald Nash contends for the existence of both propositional revelation and “personal revelation.” Though to this idea of “personal revelation” Nash gives various other terms—including “encounter” and “event”—nowhere does he provide a definition. What he means then by “personal revelation”is impossible to know. It is …
A Distinction in Gordon Clark’s View of Man
There is an important distinction to understand in Gordon Clark’s view of man. That is, for Clark, while humans are a combination of body and soul, man (i.e. “person”) is merely soul. The first of these two points — that humans are a combination of body and soul — is called “dichotomy.” This is to …
Did John Robbins modify Gordon Clark’s writings?
A question not uncommonly asked is whether John Robbins, the first editor of the Trinity Foundation, modified Gordon Clark’s writings in some substantial way when revising and/or reprinting them. To answer this question I’ve made a quick look over the original published versions of Clark’s books and then compared with them the Trinity Foundation revisions …
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Clark – Van Til and "Greek Specifications"
A frequent contention Cornelius Van Til made against Gordon Clark was that the latter’s theology is in some way based on “Greek specifications.” Though this precise contention is not made in the official Complaint against Clark’s ordination, it does appear in a letter of Van Til’s from the time of the Clark – Van Til …
GHC to Carl Henry, March 19, 1957 (contra natural law)
March 19 1957 Dear Carl, First Marcellus sends me a book to review; then you send me Carnell’s galleys, and then you send me 50 pages on natural law with a request to write an editorial on the subject. Well, I’ll try. You do not state how you want me to use the paper you …
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Clark and Agnosticism
After giving a speech at the Gordon H. Clark Philosophy Symposium held at Covenant College earlier this year I confessed to being somewhat stumped when an audience question came to me about Clark’s view of agnosticism. The exact question was as follows: “What was his opinion on the rationality or the appropriateness of agnosticism with …