The Death of Meaning
Overview
For centuries, humanistic philosophers have produced an endless array of books and treatises that attempt rationalize man and his thought processes without acknowledging God, the mediatory work of Jesus, or man’s sin. God holds all such efforts in derision and subjects their authors and adherents to futility. Philosophers who rebel against God are compelled to abandon meaning itself, for they possess neither the tools nor the place to anchor it.
In The Death of Meaning, Rushdoony clearly articulates each major philosopher’s position and its implications, identifying the intellectual and moral consequences of each school of thought and tracing the dead end to which each naturally leads. This penetrating volume provides clear guidance, even for laymen unfamiliar with philosophy.
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- Text from three different lecture series
- Explanation of the different schools of philosophical thought
Top Highlights
“In contrast, the non-Christian thinker denies in principle the total meaning and rationality of the cosmos, because he denies that it is the unified work of the sovereign God; in consequence, he insists on the ultimacy of his own mind and its ability to recognize what element of meaning there may be, and he imposes his own meaning upon reality.” (Page 12)
“I think, therefore I am.’ Not even the physical universe enters into this first principle, let alone God. The mind of man reigns alone, autonomous, and supreme in this first principle.” (Page 10)
“Hume did not deny that the physical universe exists; he denied that it could be known.” (Pages 24–25)
“In reality, with Descartes, modern man began a retreat into the confines of the mind.” (Page 8)
“The principle of Kant is that only in experience is there truth.” (Page 28)
- Title: The Death of Meaning
- Author: Rousas John Rushdoony
- Publisher: Ross House Books
- Publication Date: 2002
- Pages: 180
Rousas John Rushdoony (1916–2001) was was a well-known American scholar, writer, and author of over thirty books. He earned degrees from the University of California, received theological training at the Pacific School of Religion, and received an honorary Doctorate from Valley Christian University for his book The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum.
Rushdoony was an ordained minister and served as pastor at two California churches. He served for almost nine years as a missionary to the Shoshone and Paiute Indians in a remote area of Nevada. It was during this time as a missionary that Rushdoony began writing. The Institutes of Biblical Law and Commentary on the Pentateuch are just a few of the titles that Rushdoony has penned.
The Chalcedon Foundation, an educational organization devoted to research, publishing, and cogent communication of a distinctively Christian scholarship to the world at large, was founded by Rushdoony in 1965. He served as the editor of The Chalcedon Report, the monthly magazine of the Chalcedon Foundation.
Rushdoony also published the Journal of Christian Reconstruction and was an early board member of the Rutherford Institute which was founded by John W. Whitehead.