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Heidegger, Derrida and Levinas: Redeeming the Philosophical Blacklist

Center for Faith and Culture | March 28, 2017
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Martin Heidegger. Jacques Derrida. Emmanuel Levinas.

Evangelical Christians have often placed these and other philosophers on “the philosophical blacklist.” We dismiss their influence, assuming that we could find nothing redeeming in their ideas.

Yet, according to Amber Bowen, we can actually learn from these blacklisted philosophers. In a series of articles, she argues that we don’t have to agree with everything they write in order to benefit from their insights.

Here are those three articles:

Twentieth century German philosopher Martin Heidegger once said, “What was Aristotle’s life? Well, the answer lies in a single sentence: He was born, he thought, he died. And all the rest is pure anecdote.”

Christians have roundly dismissed Heidegger’s voice. But maybe they have dismissed him too quickly. Perhaps he is not saying something all that different from the writer of Ecclesiastes. Read More>>

If given the choice, would you prefer to read God’s word or to hear him speak? Which would make you feel closer to God? Which would give you greater sense of certainty? My guess is that we would prefer the latter.

Why is it we intuitively think that hearing God’s voice would somehow be superior to reading his word? I believe the best person to help us answer this question is a contemporary, post-structuralist philosopher named Jacques Derrida. Read More>>

One afternoon I was talking with a particularly racially homogenous group, and the conversation suddenly turned to the Black Lives Matter movement.

“I understand there are two different perspectives,” one person said, “and I see from both perspectives. I just think the Black Lives Matter perspective is wrong.”

Since I had recently been reading the works of French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1995), I wondered how he would address that comment. In light of the racial injustices in our society, Levinas’ voice is one the Church needs to hear. Read More>>

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Center for Faith and Culture

The L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture seeks to engage culture as salt and light, presenting the Christian faith and demonstrating its implications for all areas of human existence.

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