A Book Review from Books At a Glance
by Daniel L. Arter
R.C. Sproul is known for his vast amounts of teachings concerning areas of philosophy, theology, and apologetics; so, it should come as no surprise that he would author a book like his The Consequences of Ideas: Understanding the Concepts that Shaped Our World. In this book, Sproul traces major ideas that have influenced our current culture throughout the history of western philosophy for an admittedly unique audience—it is not quite for the average churchgoer, and it is not for the philosophical scholar, but rather for someone in-between. This book is written for “educated laypersons” (11), which implies that the person has some sort of theological and philosophical foundation or at least preliminary knowledge of both fields. From this point forward, the book then gives accessible summaries of various philosophers integral to western philosophy and explains what their contributions to western thought were. The strength of the book is that it achieves precisely what Sproul says it will in his opening remarks; however, the primary weakness of the book is that it does not outrightly state how the various philosophical thoughts mentioned affect Western thought. Sproul’s intent is fulfilled in the book, but the book’s title does not match what Sproul’s intent actually is.
After the introduction, the book is divided into fourteen chapters. Each chapter takes a significant philosopher or occasionally group of philosophers that represent a significant school of thought in western philosophical history. Those familiar with western philosophy will not be surprised by the philosophers that Sproul chose to write about. In chapter one, Sproul starts with the typical preliminary philosophers such as Thales of Miletus (15-18), Pythagoras (18-20), Heraclitus (20-21), Parmenides (21-23), Zeno of Elea (23-24), Empedocles (24-25), and Anaxagoras (25-26). Working through so many philosophers in one chapter may seem rapid, but Copleston does something similar in his A History of Philosophy (albeit Copleston is more comprehensive because of his chosen audience). As Sproul continues through the history of western philosophy, the chapters are mostly divided by philosopher: (2) Plato, (3) Aristotle, (4) Augustine, (5) Aquinas, (6) Descartes, (7) Locke, (8) Hume, (9) Kant, (10) Marx, (11) Kierkegaard, (12) Nietzsche, (13) Sartre, and (14) Darwin and Freud.
Each chapter follows essentially the same pattern—Sproul starts with a brief biography of the philosopher and then he jumps into some of the philosopher’s main ideas that are significant. For instance, with Aquinas, Sproul gives a brief biography (65-67), and explains Aquinas’ thoughts concerning nature and grace (67-70) before spending the rest of the chapter focused on Aquinas’ proofs for God’s existence (70-77). This pattern is repeated throughout the book with Sproul referencing primary source materials as he explains the significance of each philosopher in their respective eras.
The Consequences of Ideas: Understanding the Concepts that Shaped our World is helpful for those who want a basic knowledge of western philosophy without necessarily spending a significant amount of time reading the primary source materials. Sproul deals with ideas that have heavily influenced western culture in a way that is accessible and easy to understand. Considering Sproul’s purpose for the book in his introduction, he does exactly what he planned to do. However, the book seems to be lacking in the area of how exactly these ideas influenced and shaped our world, which negates the title of the book. Though the author provides a good reference book for the lay person concerning philosophical thoughts, he does not actually explain how these ideas shape our modern world.
Daniel L. Arter