In summing up what he has explored in Descartes, Frederick Copleston complains that many later philosophers have ignored “the most important aspects of [Descartes] philosophy when we consider it in its historical setting.” They insist, he says, on depicting Descartes as replacing “the ancient and medieval problem of reason, [with] the modern problem of consciousness.”
Through an engagement with Copleston, this essay offers up a significant contribution by Descartes to the history of philosophy despite common criticisms in the history of philosophy and theological anthropology.
The full-text of this paper is available for FREE by clicking here. The paper is part of an ongoing EPS web project focused on a Philosophy of Theological Anthropology.
This paper discusses two matters that are of enduring theological importance, especially today: (a) the cogito and (b) mind-body interaction.
The former poses a problem for naturalism and the second gives us reason to reject the naturalist case against theism on the grounds that it involves non-physical causal power(s).
The paper concludes with a note for Christian philosophers: We should be wary of Christian physicalists who charge that ‘dualism’ involves a radical bifurcation of person and body.
With the recent and very tragic death of EPS member, Ben Arbour, and his dear wife, Meg, EPS President, Mike Austin, has invited friends and colleagues of Ben to offer their reflections on Ben’s life, his care for philosophy, and his ministry to others.
Ben’s friend and colleague, Greg Trickett (Associate Professor of Philosophy at Weatherford College) offers this personal reflection:
On the night of Thursday, November 5th, just after midnight, Ben and Meg Arbour were tragically killed while coming home from a date. They were hit by a street racer less than two blocks from their home. I heard the news of their deaths on Friday morning at around 10am. In that instant, time slowed and my world changed. Those of you who met Ben know that he didn’t know a stranger. You also know that he and Meg touched and positively impacted so many lives. If you didn’t know him, chances are you knew others who did. Within the Christian Philosophical community, there were far fewer than six degrees that separated Ben from any other person. Personally, for me he was one of a handful of my closest friends.
Ben thrived on his friends, they were like oxygen for him, and he was in his element in large crowds where he knew lots of people. I went to several conferences with him and it was typical to find Ben at lunch or dinner trying his best to gather every single one of his friends to go somewhere for a meal. I think he enjoyed those gatherings more than the presentations, and he really enjoyed the presentations.
But I enjoyed the smaller gatherings, especially when just the five of us, Ben and I along with Jay Howell, Brad Palmer, and David Williams, would hang out. The last thing we did was go golfing for Brad’s and my birthdays. Two weeks before that, we’d gathered at my house to play the board game, Pandemic which Ben thoroughly enjoyed.
It hurts. And I know his family is hurting exponentially more. Please pray for Ben and Meg’s four children as they cope and begin to face a life without their parents. (If you are wanting to help, please consider contributing to a fund set up for their kids through Wedgewood Baptist Church at Arbourfund.org. Make sure to designate your donation to “Arbour fund.”) But there is comfort in all this. It is a comfort found in the faith and hope to which Ben and Meg held. Their faith was in Christ who came so that all may be saved and find hope; their hope was in the resurrection. I look forward to seeing Ben again. Much to Ben’s pleasure, it’ll be a bigger group next time, but I know I’ll see him again, because my faith and hope are the same.
With the recent and very tragic death of EPS member, Ben Arbour, and his dear wife, Meg, EPS President, Mike Austin, has invited friends and colleagues of Ben to offer their reflections on Ben’s life, his care for philosophy, and his ministry to others. Ben’s friend and colleague, Joshua Farris (Executive Director, Alpine Christian School; Director of Trinity School of Theology), offers this personal reflection:
“Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;” (2 Corinthians 1:10)
Ben Arbour, and his wife Meg, passed away on Friday November 6, 2020. Their death seems to have been sudden, and it was certainly tragic. They were the victims of a drag race early in the morning that Friday.
I am still dismayed by Ben’s (and Meg’s, but I will focus on Ben) death. The feeling of shock has stayed with me since I first heard the news early Friday morning shortly after waking up.
Ben, as many have stated already, was an extrovert. He was outgoing and loved a good discussion or a bit of banter. He would call you up randomly and delineate an argument he had been turning over in his head that day. Often the argument had something to do with Higher-Ed, politics, theology, or, his favorite topic—metaphysical idealism.
Ben was an important figure in Christian philosophy. Investing himself primarily in the Evangelical Philosophical Society, he broadened his influence internationally through his writings on Anselmian theism and Open Theism. Both conservative and traditional, Ben was rightly discouraged and critical of the left leaning trend in the world of “Christian Philosophy”—something he saw as ironically the beginning of the end for the community. Ben lived out his convictions and was unafraid to challenge the convictions of others—even when it meant speaking against the trends of our times. Ben, for all the reasons here mentioned, was an important fixture in the Christian philosophy community. He challenged ideas and, most importantly, he brought people together for philosophical discussion (at times those with quite disparate perspectives). He organized several philosophical conferences for EPS and others. For this reason alone, he is a significant figure in our community and his absence will be noticed by all.
More importantly, Ben was a friend. Good friends are hard to find. Ben often challenged me in ways that I found frustrating, but after some time I knew it came from a heart that loved me and my virtue—whether it be intellectual or volitional. His life was instructive in this way in that he prodded his friends toward virtue.
His death has been instructive. When I heard others jump to the hope before properly processing his untimely death, I was discouraged. His death was and is devastating. While I am weary of easy believ-ism, my resolve is to trust that He will deliver us from the grave. He has been faithful in the past, and he will be faithful again. I will see Ben again.
With the recent and very tragic death of EPS member, Ben Arbour, and his dear wife, Meg, EPS President, Mike Austin, has invited friends and colleagues of Ben to offer their reflections on Ben’s life, his care for philosophy, and his ministry to others.
Ben’s friend and colleague, John Gilhooly (Director of Honors Program, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Theology, at Cedarville University), offers this reflection:
Ben was a wonderful, relentless, indefatigable advocate for clarity in our speech about God, purity in our devotion to Christ, and charity in our conduct by the Spirit. He was a loyal friend: equal measures bold and honest. He knew no strangers because he showed no partiality. He argued fiercely because he cared deeply. He took his work seriously but he could laugh at himself. His friends knew that even a causal joke directed his way would provoke a serious response – even as he chuckled at the absurdity.
I realized when I met Ben that I did not love analytic philosophy. I wouldn’t do it for free or as a hobby. But, Ben’s professional accomplishments were something he happened to do when the more pressing business of his work or family or church was complete. He had a passion in his pursuits that was contagious, even if his grit and tenacity for argument were so surpassing that few could imitate the frenzied pace of his joyous life. Ben was a hurricane that could argue.
I will miss him until the Day, and the academic community is poorer for the vacuum of personality and insight that Ben leaves behind.
In 2020, Cascade Books published Outgrowing God? A Beginner’s Guide to Richard Dawkins and the God Decade, written by Peter S. Williams. Peter S. Williams is an English philosopher, author, and Assistant Professor in Communication and Worldviews at NLA University College at Gimlekollen in Kristiansand, Norway.
From the publisher’s description:
Join a cast of characters, with different perspectives, thinking through some of the biggest questions in life, as they discuss atheist Richard Dawkins’ book Outgrowing God: A Beginner’s Guide. Written in the form of a dialogue between members of a student book club, Outgrowing God? A Beginner’s Guide to Richard Dawkins and the God Debate encourages critical thinking about Professor Dawkins’ arguments concerning God, Jesus and the Bible.
Learn more about the book by visiting PeterSWilliams.com, along with links to supplemental resources, including various videos and papers presented by Williams.
As many of you have likely heard, one of our members and his wife, Ben and Meg Arbour, were tragically killed in an automobile accident on November 6.
When I first heard the news, I was, of course shocked and saddened. I was also reminded of the brevity of life, and that each of our days is a gift from God. James 4:14 immediately came to my mind, a hard truth, but a truth nonetheless: “Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” This reminds me of the importance of being faithful today, and each day we are given. This is the sort of faithfulness that Ben demonstrated in his own life as a follower of Jesus, husband, father, and philosopher.
Ben was a very active and devoted member of the EPS. He was involved in our annual and regional meetings, contributed to Philosophia Christi and EPS web projects, and produced several publications, including the recent edited volume, Philosophical Essays Against Open Theism (Routledge, 2018). He worked as a finance manager in Fort Worth, and also taught at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. His devotion to philosophy done in Christ and for the sake of Christ was exemplary.
On a more personal note, I had several great conversations with Ben over the past few years, both in person at our annual meetings and over the phone. We discussed the EPS, politics, and some of the controversial issues in contemporary America. We had talked about writing something together on some of these issues. I wish we had done so. Ben stands out to me as a tough-minded, tender-hearted man who loves God, his family, and philosophy. He will be missed by so many.
For those who are interested in helping out Ben and Meg’s four children, there is a GoFundMe set up that will be administered by the grandparents.
There are several forthcoming tributes to Ben that will be available at the EPS website and in other EPS venues from several of his friends. In the meantime, please keep Ben and Meg’s family and friends in your prayers.
In 2020, Brazos Press will release Jesus the Great Philosopher: Rediscovering the Wisdom Needed for the Good Lifeby Jonathan T. Pennington. Jonathan T. Pennington (PhD, University of St. Andrews), a popular speaker, teacher, and preacher, is associate professor of New Testament interpretation and director of research doctoral studies at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also on staff as a preaching pastor at Sojourn East Church in Louisville, Kentucky.
From the publisher’s description of Jesus the Great Philosopher:
Many of us tend to live as though Jesus represents the “spiritual part” of our lives. We don’t clearly see how he relates to the rest of our experiences, desires, and habits. How can Jesus, the Bible, and Christianity become more than a compartmentalized part of our lives?
Highly regarded New Testament scholar and popular teacher Jonathan Pennington argues that we need to recover the lost biblical image of Jesus as the one true philosopher who teaches us how to experience the fullness of our humanity in the kingdom of God. Jesus teaches us what is good, right, and beautiful and offers answers to life’s big questions: what it means to be human, how to be happy, how to order our emotions, and how we should conduct our relationships.
This book brings Jesus and Christianity into dialogue with the ancient philosophers who asked the same big questions about finding meaningful happiness. It helps us rediscover biblical Christianity as a whole-life philosophy, one that addresses our greatest human questions and helps us live meaningful and flourishing lives.
In 2020, Cascade Books published 
