Who was the greatest Christian thinker of the 20th Century?

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Iakobos_1071 said:
Arthur W. Pink
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The problem with Pink is that you cannot overlook his dismal view of the visible Church, when he flirted with the concept of encouraging Christians to leave the Church and failed to attend Church himself he left the path of Christian orthodoxy.

I do like Pinks lack of originality, anything novel is usually wrong and reconecting with past wisdom is much more valuable than speculating where the Apostles were silent.
 
All these assessments are based on writings. It is possible that the greatest Christian thinker never wrote a thing, and perhaps even did so out of principle.
 
I am surpised no one has mentioned Martyn Lloyd-Jones. He may not have been a theologian, yet his sermons are full of wisely applied theology. He may not have written any books (all his books are collections of his sermons) the way Schaeffer, van Til, CS Lewis etc did, but books bearing his name are a rich legacy for us to enjoy as he had his finger on the pulse of the contemporary church scene sounding out the alarm calls with clarity when necessary. He had a big influence on the resurgence of reformed literature in the last century. He was a doctor of medicine but his ability to diagnose the problem and proclaim the cure for hard, distant, cold, rebellious, complacent, proud hearts made him a spiritual doctor. He certainly meets the criteria given in the thread.
 
Tim said:
Who was the greatest Christian thinker of the 20th Century?

Please pick who you think is the greatest according to the following criteria.
1. He is able to see things that others cannot, or connects things in a new way (while still being faithful to revealed Truth of old);
2. He is able to articulate his ideas well and make them understood;
3. His ideas have real meaning for people (i.e., they make a difference).

My vote would be Francis Schaeffer for helping us understand our history and our possible future. A close second would be Greg Bahnsen for his ability to explain apologetics.
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I would go with R.C Sproul-I just love that Man!,
1) I'm not so sure that he's seeing things that others have not,however, he made the best use of the available technology in the 20th century,Radio,Internet etc.,and in doing so opened up multitudes to the beauty of God in Reformed Theology,so I suppose he utlilized this medium wonderfully
and should recieve credit for this
2+3)Given his intellectual brilliance,the fact he is able to articulate the deepest truth and bring them to the simplest person (people like me)is massive,I deeply respect any man that can have the God given talents like R.C and humbly,lovingly care enough for his hearers to go to great lengths and reach their level,from the Theologian to the common laborer (me)I believe that cannot be underestimated,I often think of William Tyndale in this light with his "ploughboy edition" of the New Testament
 
jambo said:
I am surpised no one has mentioned Martyn Lloyd-Jones. He may not have been a theologian, yet his sermons are full of wisely applied theology. He may not have written any books (all his books are collections of his sermons) the way Schaeffer, van Til, CS Lewis etc did, but books bearing his name are a rich legacy for us to enjoy as he had his finger on the pulse of the contemporary church scene sounding out the alarm calls with clarity when necessary. He had a big influence on the resurgence of reformed literature in the last century. He was a doctor of medicine but his ability to diagnose the problem and proclaim the cure for hard, distant, cold, rebellious, complacent, proud hearts made him a spiritual doctor. He certainly meets the criteria given in the thread.
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For me, yes, he was a great influence and I know many others who can say the same.
 
I still want to argue more for Machen. He used his academic credentials to take on the 20th century Liberals and beat them at their own game. Point for point, he used sound exegesis, the wisdom of historic Christianity and profound communication skills to effectively point out what others had missed--the obvious point that theological liberalism is NOT Christianity.

I would say that this makes him not only an original thinker (in his approach to confronting the issues of the time) but also a man who avoided the sins of so many of his Reformed peers. He fought for the faith once delivered and avoided the fads of shallow fundamentalism, dispensationalism and intellectual malaise.

And he did it with style! More than you can say for the pretenders like Barth or Niebuhr!
 
On my shelf & looking forward to digging into:

Kuyper
Machen
Schaeffer
(only gave Machen & Schaeffer brief readings so far)

For me the most influential has been Dr. Bahnsen. Can't wait to meet him and give him a great big man-hug for being faithful to his calling. Since I am always driving, I have between 300 - 400 hours of his lectures on CD.

I've listened to so much Bahnsen, I'm almost convinced to become Presbyterian... almost! :D
 
MMasztal said:
Van Til, Rushdoony, and Bahnsen (whose full potential was not realized due to his untimely death).
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Just a quick comment on Bahnsen. I would actually say that Bahnsen did realize his full potential - he did everything God had ordained for him to do and then was taken to be with his Lord, according to the Plan. :)

But I know what you are saying, brother, it was sad that Bahnsen died young.
 
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Tim said:
Who was the greatest Christian thinker of the 20th Century?

Please pick who you think is the greatest according to the following criteria.
1. He is able to see things that others cannot, or connects things in a new way (while still being faithful to revealed Truth of old);
2. He is able to articulate his ideas well and make them understood;
3. His ideas have real meaning for people (i.e., they make a difference).
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When I look back at the OP and the stated criteria, I don't see that it implies widely read (outside certain circles) or popularity. Number 3 implies significance, but to me this doesn't necessarily mean significant and formative to Christianity-at-large, but profound in his own right . . . and according to one's own opinion.
 
I think it is impossible to say what constitutes a great thinker as God ordained different men to think, write, and preach in different ways for the Body of Christ. The most influential is probably Martyn Lloyd Jones, the most insightful Edward Poole Connor, the most scholarly probably Van Til, Machen or Warfield.
 
I could spend all day thinking about this. However, when I read the criteria, I couldn't keep R.J. Rushdooney out of my head. Give me different criteria and I may change my vote, but Rush hits the OP out of the park.
 
This thread is way too subjective - but maybe that is OK.

Rushdooney doesn't even make my top 10 (that I can rattle off now) and likely doesn't even make my top 25 or 50 if I think real hard.
 
fredtgreco said:
This thread is way too subjective - but maybe that is OK.

Rushdooney doesn't even make my top 10 (that I can rattle off now) and likely doesn't even make my top 25 or 50 if I think real hard.
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Certainly it's too subjective. Usually one puts at the top of their list people who have personally impacted THEM the most. (hence Schaeffer's predominance, and Sproul's even being on the list, etc. Neither of them, in my book, are particularly astounding contributors to theological development in the 20th century. They were/are great popularizers of theology, but I dont' see much, if anything, truly new in their writings. Rushdoony too for the same reason)
 
Wouldn't Francis Shaeffer be considered more of a philospher than a theologian?

On the other hand, if you're talking about Franky Shaeffer...well then...:D

On a more serious note, how about F. F. Bruce?
 
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I'd say Warfield. In a century that saw the preeminence of irrationality and of the unconscious, and the rise of Charismaticism and Liberalism, I think his opposition to both by simply upholding the traditional Reformed faith, as the last great Princeton theologian, gives his work particular significance.
 
Ivanhoe said:
Sergius Bulgakov

Vladimir Lossky

Henri de Lubac

Hans urs von Balthasar

Schaeffer wasn't that profound. As others noted, he simply copied Rushdoony but he got to maintain Reformed respectability. While I learned the Reformed faith under Bahnsen and Rushdoony, most of philosophy and theology has moved on.
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Any thoughts on Karl Rahner?
 
py3ak said:
Ivanhoe said:
Sergius Bulgakov

Vladimir Lossky

Henri de Lubac

Hans urs von Balthasar

Schaeffer wasn't that profound. As others noted, he simply copied Rushdoony but he got to maintain Reformed respectability. While I learned the Reformed faith under Bahnsen and Rushdoony, most of philosophy and theology has moved on.
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Any thoughts on Karl Rahner?
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I read some Karl Rhaner to understand the RCC theology of Mary, and in my opinion it was really
week.

He stated that the immaculate conception and sinless perfection of Mary was a necessary condition to have conceived in her the Son of God.

It was of course more elaborated.

My first simple naïve thought was how about the mother of Mary then?

Second thought how about original sin? How about the imputation of Adam’s sin in Romans 5?

Jesuits can be so liberal on basic doctrines, and yet on these «favourite Marian dogmas» of the Roman Church they are champions.

One Jesuit teacher I know doesn’t believe in the devil or in the physical bodily resurrection of Christ, but try questioning Mary’s Ascension, really sad…
 
ExGentibus said:
I'd say Warfield. In a century that saw the preeminence of irrationality and of the unconscious, and the rise of Charismaticism and Liberalism, I think his opposition to both by simply upholding the traditional Reformed faith, as the last great Princeton theologian, gives his work particular significance.
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Not to mention his analysis of perfectionism.
 
Jesuits are also very proud of these rebel thinkers like Urs von Balthazar or Teilhard de Chardin, since the Roman Church has a hard time to digest their works, but after Vatican 2, everything goes.
Theilhard just made something like Inevitable Sanctification of the Human Race out of Natural Evolution. We don’t really see it do we?
 
My thoughts are varied. Impact on the world? Some of that would have to be RC Sproul. He had a great influence on my early reformed walk. Schaeffer would probably be the next most influential in my life, if for no other reason than my wife coming to Christ through reading Schaeffer (he would be high on my list without anything else). Kuyper I've got a lot of respect for as a thinker, but it is somewhat tempered ...

I reserve the high point for Van Til.

While others may have influenced him (as everyone owes much to the shoulders upon which they stand) I find his development of presuppositional apologetics as the most salient theological development of the century. Classical apologetics (Sproul, Packer, et al) I always saw as a mathematician; presuppositions were affirmed, but not acknowledged. Van Til was the first that stated what was patently obvious to me; there are things that have to be taken as true without proof (axiom) and those axioms are the basis of all that derives from them.
 
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For about a week in 83 I was considered the BEST ALL AROUND, I however lost this position in a game of Rock/Paper/Scissors. DOH! Why did I pick rock!:(
 
Part of me wants to say R.C. Sproul. Even though he isn't the most "original" thinker, he has had a tremendous influence on thousands of people in clearly stating and communicating Reformed doctrine. Not only that, but he has this philosophical precision about him, this ability to take history, philosophy, and theology and dissect and cut and examine truth with all the precision of a lawyer or a surgeon, and build a comprehensive worldview that is soundly biblical. So, even though he is not the most original thinker, he is, in my opinion, the most logical, precise, and gifted thinker of the 20th century who is able to communicate his thoughts in a simple fashion to the laypeople.

As for most "original", I would say C.S. Lewis. Read the first half of Mere Christianity (the second half isn't all that great), the Weight of Glory, the Screwtape Letters (brilliant!), or the Last Battle. He could, without question, make you think.
 
Tim said:
Who was the greatest Christian thinker of the 20th Century?

Please pick who you think is the greatest according to the following criteria.
1. He is able to see things that others cannot, or connects things in a new way (while still being faithful to revealed Truth of old);
2. He is able to articulate his ideas well and make them understood;
3. His ideas have real meaning for people (i.e., they make a difference).

My vote would be Francis Schaeffer for helping us understand our history and our possible future. A close second would be Greg Bahnsen for his ability to explain apologetics.
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By these criteria, you appear to be asking for the most influential Christian worldwide.There is no question as to who has been the most significant theologian in terms of worldwide impact.

Whatever we may think of his theology on a couple of points, John RW Stott stands head and shoulders above everybody else.

He saw the need for a theologically educated Anglican clergy in the third world and Africa particularly and moved to meet that need through the Langham trust. He is the single main reason that African and Asian Anglicans have remained faithful to the gospel, have built churches that are bright lights in their countries, and can wipe the theological floor with their NA and English counterparts.
 
armourbearer said:
All these assessments are based on writings. It is possible that the greatest Christian thinker never wrote a thing, and perhaps even did so out of principle.
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Well, thank you for thinking of me Rev. Winzer, but my humility keeps me from accepting this now...maybe it can be applied posthumously?

Okay, but on a serious note, do you have someone in mind?
 
The original criteria were a bit contradictory, or at least self-limiting.

* If you want general acceptance in the wider culture, we almost have to pick C.S. Lewis.

* If you mean an academic theologian, Barth took on the liberal establishment and had a greater impact on the world of theology and generations of ministerial training (not an altogether good thing, in my opinion). Only small and insular groups know most of the names mentioned. NO conservative rises to the level of "greatest" Christian thinker in the 20th century (in the theology category) . . . unfortunately. Several Christian philosophers have made an impact but their works are hardly accessible.

* Machen deserves a Daniel of the Year award for his courageous stand for truth and academic prowess.

* George E. Ladd pioneered conservative engagement with the liberal establishment and was for a time the most famous evangelical Harvard trained NT PhD.

* Schaeffer, Sproul, Packer, and some of the others were primarily communicators and popularizers, not seminal thinkers. But, then, considering that I have taken classes or attended lectures from some of the so-called top Christian writers in the later 20th century, give me popularizers like Schaeffer, Sproul, or Packer any day!
 
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