Anarcho-Creationism.com

An Anarchist Defense of Six-Day Creationism

And a Creationist Defense of Anarchism

Why you should become a Bible-believing anarchist
 who also believes the universe was created around 4004 B.C.

Frame: History of Philosophy and Theology

Let's compare the Table of Contents of Osborn's book with the Table of Contents from another book, A History of Western Philosophy and Theology by John M. Frame. This is a terrific book from a Christian perspective. Frame is a theologian who dabbles in philosophy (studied philosophy at Yale; I'd call him an "expert," not just a "dabbler"). Frame follows the Christian philosopher Cornelius Van Til, who summed up the entire history of philosophy by saying,

"There is no alternative but that of theonomy and autonomy."

Either you're "thinking God's thoughts after him" as Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) put it, or you're thinking your own thoughts, making up your own religion and your own science as you go along.

The issue is authority: Is God your God, or are you your own god?

Frame defines "theology" more broadly as “the application of God’s Word by people to all areas of life.” This would include philosophy and science as subsets of "theology" when both are done in a  faithful rather than rebellious manner. "Evolution" is rebellious "philosophy," rebellious "science," and ultimately rebellious "theology.")

If you compare these two lists, you'll see many names on both lists. "Philosophers" who wrote about evolution are on Osborn's list, and "philosophers" who wrote about religion are on Frames list, and they are the same people. Here's Frame's list:

FULL ANALYTICAL OUTLINE 1. Philosophy and the Bible a. Why Study Philosophy? b. Philosophy, Theology, and Religion c. Subdivisions of Philosophy i. Metaphysics ii. Epistemology iii. Value Theory d. Relations of the Three Subdivisions e. Biblical Philosophy i. Creator and Creature ii. Absolute Tripersonality iii. Lordship f. Perspectives of Human Knowledge g. Sin and Philosophy h. Christian and Non-Christian Philosophy i. The Antithesis in Metaphysics j. The Antithesis in Epistemology k. The Antithesis in Values 2. Greek Philosophy a. Greek Worldviews: One and Many b. The Greek Way of Worship c. Philosophy, the New Religion d. A Survey of Greek Philosophy i. The Milesians ii. Heraclitus iii. Parmenides iv. The Atomists v. Pythagoras vi. The Sophists vii. Socrates viii.Plato ix. Aristotle x. Stoicism xi. Plotinus e. Conclusion 3. Early Christian Philosophy a. The Apostolic Fathers b. The Apologists c. Justin Martyr d. Irenaeus e. Tertullian f. Clement of Alexandria g. Origen h. Athanasius i. Augustine i. Manichaeism ii. Epistemology iii. The Trinity iv. Pelagianism v. The City of God vi. The Confessions 4. Medieval Philosophy a. Boethius b. Pseudo-Dionysius c. John Scotus Erigena d. Anselm of Canterbury i. Faith and Reason ii. Monologium iii. Proslogium iv. Cur Deus Homo e. Toward Scholasticism f. Thomas Aquinas i. Faith and Reason ii. The Existence of God iii. The Nature of God iv. Epistemology v. Language g. John Duns Scotus h. William of Occam i. Eckhart von Hochheim j. Epilogue 5. Early Modern Thought a. The Renaissance b. The Reformation i. Martin Luther ii. John Calvin c. Post-Reformation Protestantism i. Protestant Scholasticism ii. Pietism d. Rebirth of Secular Philosophy e. Continental Rationalism i. Rationalism and Empiricism ii. René Descartes iii. Baruch (Benedict) Spinoza iv. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz f. British Empiricism i. Thomas Hobbes ii. John Locke iii. George Berkeley iv. David Hume g. Summary 6. Theology in the Enlightenment a. The Birth of Liberal Theology i. Deism ii. Gotthold E. Lessing b. Biblical Christianity in the Enlightenment i. Blaise Pascal ii. Joseph Butler iii. Jonathan Edwards iv. William Paley v. Thomas Reid c. Summary 7. Kant and His Successors a. Immanuel Kant i. Phenomena and Noumena ii. The Transcendental Method iii. The Synthetic A Priori iv. The Mind Structures Experience v. Kant’s Assembly Line 1. The Transcendental Aesthetic 2. The Transcendental Analytic 3. The Transcendental Unity of the Apperception 4. The Transcendental Dialectic a. Paralogisms b. Antinomies c. Ideals vi. Kant’s Ethics vii. Kant’s Theology viii. Conclusions on Kant b. Georg W. F. Hegel c. Arthur Schopenhauer d. Ludwig Feuerbach e. Karl Marx 8. Nineteenth-Century Theology a. Friedrich D. E. Schleiermacher b. Albrecht Ritschl c. Wilhelm Herrmann d. Adolf von Harnack e. The Rise and Fall of Ritschlianism f. Søren Kierkegaard 9. Nietzsche, Pragmatism, Phenomenology, and Existentialism a. Friedrich W. Nietzsche b. Charles Sanders Peirce c. William James d. John Dewey e. Edmund Husserl f. Martin Heidegger g. Jean-Paul Sartre h. Other Existentialists i. Evaluation 10. Twentieth-Century Liberal Theology, Part 1 a. Karl Barth b. Emil Brunner c. Rudolf Bultmann i. Form Criticism ii. Demythologization iii. Existential Analysis d. Paul Tillich e. Dietrich Bonhoeffer f. The New Hermeneutic g. New Quests h. Heilsgeschichte i. Christian Atheism j. Secular Theology k. The Hartford Declaration 11. Twentieth-Century Liberal Theology, Part 2 a. Jürgen Moltmann b. The Theology of Liberation c. Wolfhart Pannenberg d. Process Thought e. Open Theism f. Postliberal Theology 12. Twentieth-Century Language Philosophy a. G. E. Moore b. Bertrand Russell c. Ludwig Wittgenstein d. Logical Positivism e. Other Philosophies of Science f. Ordinary-Language Philosophy g. Other Analytic Philosophers h. Structuralism i. Poststructuralism, Deconstruction, Postmodernism 13. Recent Christian Philosophy a. Abraham Kuyper b. Herman Dooyeweerd c. Gordon H. Clark d. Cornelius Van Til e. Alvin Plantinga f. Other Christian Language-Analysis Philosophers in North America g. British Christian Philosophers h. Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy i. Radical Orthodoxy j. Esther Lightcap Meek k. Vern S. Poythress l. Epilogue

OUTLINE OF NAMES up to Darwin   2. Greek Philosophy c. Philosophy, the New Religion d. A Survey of Greek Philosophy The Milesians Heraclitus Parmenides The Atomists Pythagoras The Sophists Socrates Plato Aristotle Stoicism Plotinus 3. Early Christian Philosophy a. The Apostolic Fathers b. The Apologists c. Justin Martyr d. Irenaeus e. Tertullian f. Clement of Alexandria g. Origen h. Athanasius i. Augustine 4. Medieval Philosophy a. Boethius b. Pseudo-Dionysius c. John Scotus Erigena d. Anselm of Canterbury e. Toward Scholasticism f. Thomas Aquinas g. John Duns Scotus h. William of Occam i. Eckhart von Hochheim 5. Early Modern Thought a. The Renaissance b. The Reformation i. Martin Luther ii. John Calvin d. Rebirth of Secular Philosophy e. Continental Rationalism i. Rationalism and Empiricism ii. René Descartes iii. Baruch (Benedict) Spinoza iv. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz f. British Empiricism i. Thomas Hobbes ii. John Locke iii. George Berkeley iv. David Hume 6. Theology in the Enlightenment a. The Birth of Liberal Theology i. Deism ii. Gotthold E. Lessing b. Biblical Christianity in the Enlightenment i. Blaise Pascal ii. Joseph Butler iii. Jonathan Edwards iv. William Paley v. Thomas Reid 7. Kant and His Successors a. Immanuel Kant b. Georg W. F. Hegel c. Arthur Schopenhauer d. Ludwig Feuerbach e. Karl Marx 9. Nietzsche, Pragmatism, Phenomenology, and Existentialism a. Friedrich W. Nietzsche

Darwin was not the first to "postulate" a long history of evolution (instead of the relatively-short history in the Bible, the product of a Creator and Judge). All the people in this list were evolutionists, except a few who identified as Christians, but who were infected with the Evolution Idea. Start with The Milesians and go down the list. That link is to an AI summary. You can ask Grok or ChatGPT or any other AI bot how these thinkers helped develop a theory of evolution in opposition to a Biblical theory of creation. You will see that the issue, as Van Til summed it up, is Theonomy vs. Autonomy. God as God vs. Man as god. The issue is not just "scientific facts," but philosophy, religion, worldview, and ethics: being your own god.

There are Christians and "Church Fathers" on that list, but far too often they did not understand Van Til's dichotomy -- Theonomy vs. Autonomy. They did not have an effective apologetic against Autonomy. Van Til covered the "Church Fathers" in chapter 4 of his book A Christian Theory of Knowledge. They accepted the Greek philosophers and tried to incorporate their thinking into their Christian teachings. Theirs was a crippled defense of the Christian faith, Van Til concludes. "The Church" generally followed that lead. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Christianity became culturally dominant in many ways, but Greco-Roman thinking experienced a "rebirth" ("renaissance") and that list above is a reflection of the church's inability to prevent the resurgence of Greco-Roman autonomy. Van Til surveyed many of the names on that list in his book A Survey of Christian Epistemology. Frame simply builds on Van Til's foundation.

Were these thinkers "scientists?" Not exactly. They would more likely be called "philosophers." But they paved the way to Darwin.

The ordinary Christian should ask: why should I believe these people? Why should I trust them rather than the Bible?

Some Christians want to be "influencers." They want to defend the faith. But they are influenced (by evolutionists) more than they influence. Bloggers, podcasters, and even seminary professors all assume that evolution is a proven scientific fact. But it is a rival religion.

William Jennings Bryan died on July 26, 1925, six days after the Scopes Trial ended. The trial ended with Bryan being examined on the stand by atheist attorney Clarence Darrow. Bryan's testimony was pathetic.

The confrontation between Bryan and Darrow was reported by the press as a defeat for Bryan. According to one historian, "As a man and as a legend, Bryan was destroyed by his testimony that day." His performance was described as that of "a pitiable, punch drunk warrior." Darrow, however, has also not escaped criticism. Alan Dershowitz, for example, contended that the celebrated defense attorney "comes off as something of an anti-religious cynic."
State v. John Scopes ("The Monkey Trial"): An Account

Bryan's defense of the Bible in the Scopes Trial was as pathetic as the Church's in the last 2000 years. That would be Frame's and Van Til's assessment. The Church has failed to defend the faith. A rival faith has conquered.

"Evolution vs. Creation" is really "Creature vs. Creator." It's not a conflict over "scientific facts," but over the interpretation of all facts.