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R. C. Sproul. The Consequences of Ideas. Wheaton: Crossway, 2000. 203 pp. $19.99.
R. C. Sproul, Distinguished Professor of Theology and Apologetics at Knox Theological Seminary, has shown himself to be a teacher and writer who focuses on renewing the mind. Ideas are significant. Right actions follow right thoughts just as wrong actions follow wrong thoughts. His book The Consequences of Ideas is yet another testament to this axiom. It is a survey of some of the major trends and personalities in Western philosophy. Sproul writes for "educated lay persons," combining often complex epistemologies with historical and personal anecdotes, numerous illustrations, and simple language. Whether as an introduction or a review of philosophy, a reader will find Sproul's clear writing helpful in understanding some of Western philosophy's major thinkers and a few of the results derived from their thoughts.
Upon reading the title of Sproul's book, some might recall an important work by Richard Weaver, an English instructor at the University of Chicago from 1944-1963, titled, Ideas Have Consequences (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984). Sproul may or may not have been aware of this text when he penned his book, but their contents, like their titles, are very similar. Both works ask their readers to consider the power of thought. As Sproul relates in his introduction, "ideas are dangerous." From them ensue actions, movements and tangible changes. Philosophy is articulating. the foundational ideas that shape and/ or control everything else....