The Consequences of Ideas: Understanding the Concepts that Shaped Our World

by R. C. Sproul

Publisher:

Crossway

, 2000

R. C. Sproul's survey of the ongoing impact of history's most influential philosophies urges readers to take prevailing cultural mind-sets seriously, because ideas do have consequences. The greatest thinkers of all time are impacting us still.

From public-policy decisions and current laws to world events, theology, the arts, education, and even conversations between friends, history's most influential philosophies have wrought massive consequences on nearly everything we see, think, and do. Thus it is critical for Christians to understand the ideas that are shaping them. The greater their familiarity with the streams of thought that have saturated Western culture through the ages, the greater their ability to influence this culture for Christ.

With The Consequences of Ideas, Sproul expertly leads the way for thoughtful readers. Tracing the contours of Western philosophy from the ancients to the molders of modern and postmodern thought-including Plato, Aquinas, Descartes, Kant, and Freud-Sproul proves that ideas are not just passing fads; they endure for generations to come and demand our serious attention.

Contents

Top Highlights

“The chief principle of logic is the law of noncontradiction: Something cannot be what it is and not be what it is at the same time and in the same sense or relationship.” (Pages 41–42)

“According to Aristotle, however, there can, indeed must, be something that is pure or absolute actuality. This is Aristotle’s ‘god,’ or his notion of pure being. A being of pure and absolute actuality has no unrealized potential. It is not open to change, growth, or mutation. A being with no potentiality and with pure actuality, since it has no change, must have no motion of any kind. This concept formed Aristotle’s idea of the ‘unmoved mover.’” (Page 49)

“These causes are 1) the formal cause, which determines what a thing is; 2) the material cause, that out of which a thing is made; 3) the efficient cause, that by which a thing is made; and 4) the final cause, that for which a thing is made, or its purpose.” (Page 48)

“Thomas believed that philosophy and theology play complementary roles in the quest for truth. Grace does not destroy nature but fulfills it.” (Page 69)

“For Plato, knowledge that is restricted to the material world is at best mere opinion and at worst ignorance” (Page 35)

Product Details

• Title: The Consequences of Ideas: Understanding the Concepts that Shaped Our World
• Author: R. C. Sproul
• Publisher: Crossway
• Print Publication Date: 2000
• Logos Release Date: 2011
• Pages: 224
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Christianity › Philosophy; Philosophy › History
• ISBNs: 9781433563775, 1433563770
• Resource ID: LLS:DEB7FF9C0CAD9A5D4DCB412E6410D756
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2023-10-19T18:22:58Z

About R. C. Sproul

R. C. Sproul (1939– 2017) was a respected teacher, theologian, pastor. He was the founder and chairman of Ligonier Ministries in Orlando FL. He was also first minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew’s Chapel, first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine. His radio program, Renewing Your Mind, is still broadcast daily on hundreds of radio stations around the world and can also be heard online.

Sproul held degrees from Westminster College, Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary, Free University of Amsterdam, and Whitefield Theological Seminary. He taught at several colleges and seminaries including Reformed Theological Seminary and Knox Theological Seminary. He served as senior minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew’s Chapel, in Sanford, Florida. Sproul’s teaching can be heard daily on the “Renewing Your Mind” radio broadcast which plays in over 40 countries.

Sproul wrote over 70 books and articles including the classic The Holiness of God and several theological articles in Tabletalk magazine.