Gordon Clark

thumbnail|Gordon H. Clark
Gordon Haddon Clark (1902-1985) was a philosopher and Calvinist theologian and taught philosophy at the college level for most of his life. He was an expert in pre-Socratic and ancient philosophy and was noted for his rigor in defending Platonic realism against all forms of empiricism, in arguing that all truth is propositional, and in applying the laws of logic. The Trinity Foundation continues to publish his writings and other books as well.
"Gordon Clark was not primarily an apologist for the Christian faith, but rather a professional philosopher critiquing what secular philosophers have said concerning ultimate reality. Through rigorous logic, he continually sought to evaluate and expose the weaknesses of secular philosophy, and to espouse Christian theism as dominantly superior. Although he touches on all areas of philosophy in his works, he is predominately taken up with understanding and evaluating thoughts about epistemology – how it is that men know, and how they know what they know." (Dr. C. Matthew McMahon )
__TOC__
thumbnail|180px|Gordon Clark early in his career
==Biographical sketch==
Clark graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1924 with a bachelor's degree and earned his PhD from the same institution in 1929. The following year, he did postgraduate work at the Sorbonne in Paris.
He began teaching at the University of Pennsylvania and also taught at Reformed Episcopal Seminary in Philadelphia. In 1936, he accepted a professorship in philosophy at Wheaton College, where he remained until 1944, at which time he accepted a position at Butler University. In 1974, he left Butler and taught at several institutions, including Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia and Sangre de Cristo Seminary in Westcliffe, Colorado.
In 1944, Clark was ordained as a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Clark left the OPC in 1948 following what has become known as the Clark-Van Til Controversy. He first changed to the United Presbyterian Church of North America and later to the Reformed Presbyterian Church. He died in 1985 and was buried in Westcliffe, Colorado.
==The Clark-Van Til controversy==
In 1943 Dr. Gordon H. Clark, who was to become one of the foremost Christian philosopher of the twentieth century, sought ordination in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, a small denomination barely seven years old at that time. 
Dr. Clark was immediately opposed by the faculty of Westminster Theological Seminary, led by Professor Cornelius Van Til. Despite their zealous opposition, Dr. Clark was ordained by the OPC. In 1944 the Westminster Seminary faculty tried to remove Dr. Clark from office, not by filing charges against him, but by arguing that the procedure the OPC used to ordain him was irregular. They were struggling, not merely to prevent Dr. Clark from gaining influence in the denomination, but to retain their control of the Seminary as well. 
The related theological issues, revolving around the relation of knowledge to the incomprehensibility of God, continue to resonate in Christian philosophical discussions today.
:See main article Clark-Van Til Controversy
== Publications ==
=== Philosophy ===
* An Introduction to Christian Philosophy (ISBN 0940931389), in which Clark's thought is well summarized in three lectures given at Wheaton College, reissued in Christian Philosophy (ISBN 1891777025)
* Three Types of Religious Philosophy, reissued in Christian Philosophy (ISBN 1891777025)
* Thales to Dewey, a history of philosophy (ISBN 1891777092)
* Ancient Philosophy, Dr. Clark's section of a History of Philosophy, which he co-published with three other authors; also includes eleven major essays, including his doctoral dissertation on Aristotle (ISBN 0940931494)
* William James and John Dewey (ISBN 0940931435)
* Behaviorism and Christianity (ISBN 0940931044)
* Philosophy of Science and Belief in God (ISBN 0940931850)
* Historiography: Secular and Religious (ISBN 0940931397)
* A Christian View of Men and Things, which develops Clark's Christian worldview (ISBN 1891777009)
* A Christian Philosophy of Education, a fairly short book focused on refuting the myth of neutral education and showing the importance of a Christian worldview (ISBN 1891777068)
* Logic, a text book on logic for students (ISBN 0940931710)
* Essays on Ethics and Politics (ISBN 094093132X)
* Lord God of Truth printed with Concerning the Teacher by St. Augustine (ISBN 0940931400)
* Selections from Hellenistic Philosophy edited by Clark (ISBN 0891973966)
* Readings in Ethics edited by Clark and T. V. Smith (ISBN 0390195456)
* Clark Speaks from the Grave written just before Clark died and published posthumously responding to some of his critics (ISBN 0940931125)
=== Theology ===
* In Defense of Theology (ISBN 0880621230)
* Religion, Reason, and Revelation, Clark's major work on apologetics (ISBN 0940931869)
* God's Hammer : The Bible and Its Critics (ISBN 0940931885)
* What Do Presbyterians Believe?, a commentary on the Westminster Confession of Faith (ISBN 0940931605)
* Predestination, the combined edition of Biblical Predestination and Predestination in the Old Testament; a study of the idea of election in the Bible (ISBN 087552169X)
* Karl Barth's Theological Method, a book critical of Barth (ISBN 0940931516)
* Language and Theology (ISBN 0940931907)
* The Johannine Logos, on John's use of the term Logos (ISBN 0940931222)
* Faith and Saving Faith (ISBN 0940931958); reissued as What is Saving Faith? (ISBN 0940931656)
* Today's Evangelism: Counterfeit or Genuine? (ISBN 0940931281)
* The Biblical Doctrine of Man (ISBN 0940931915)
* The Incarnation (ISBN 0940931230)
* The Holy Spirit (ISBN 0940931370)
* The Atonement (ISBN 0940931877)
* Sanctification (ISBN 0940931338)
* The Trinity (ISBN 0940931923)
=== Commentaries ===
* First Corinthians: A Contemporary Commentary (ISBN 094093129X)
* Ephesians (ISBN 0940931117)
* Philippians (ISBN 0940931478)
* Colossians (ISBN 0940931257)
* First and Second Thessalonians (ISBN 0940931141)
* The Pastoral Epistles on the first and second letters to Timothy and Titus (ISBN 1891777041)
* New Heavens, New Earth on the first and second letters of Peter (ISBN 0940931362)
* First John (ISBN 094093194X)
== See also ==
* Problem of evil
* Clark-Van Til Controversy
== External links ==
*The Trinity Foundation reprints Clark's works and publishes those of his followers. They have books for a fee, and articles and audio available for free.
*Summaries of Clark has chapter-by-chapter summaries by Dr. C. Matthew McMahon of some of Clark's most well-known works.
*The Gordon Clark Papers, archived by the Presbyterian Church of America.
=== Miscellaneous articles ===
* "Natural Law and Revelation", a paper by Gordon Clark, published by The Christian Statesman.
* The Trinity Review, a publication of the Trinity Foundation that has articles by Clark and his followers.
Clark
Clark