William Lane Craig is the world’s foremost Christian Philospher and Apologist. He is best known for giving defenses of classical theism and foundational Christian doctrines such as the Resurrection of Christ and the Trinirarian nature of God. Craig is not known to make waves among the Evangelical Intellegensia and the church at large. In fact, he goes out of his way not to do so. Craig prefers to focus his work on defending those doctrines, what he calls “mere Christianity,” which can be agreed upon by Protestants, Roman Catholics, and the Eastern Orthodox alike. Because of his lack of dogmatism, Craig often finds himself at odds with many conservative Christians, especially those in the reformed community. Craig’s condemnation of Roman Catholic heresy has been tacit at best while his promotion of Molinism and acceptance of Old-Earth Progressive Creationism are percieved as compromising and even liberal. Neverthess, Craig is seen as something as an arch conservative among the secular academic community. Craig’s own dissertation supervisor, the liberal-minded theistic philosopher of religion John Hick, “counts Craig in his memoir as among the top three students of his teaching career, even while describing Craig’s ‘extreme theological conservatism’ as in at least one respect ‘horrific’ and generally indicative of ‘a startling lack of connection with the modern world.” While the bulk of Craig’s work concerns the study of obscure subjects such as Divine Aseity and Time Theory, his most popular activity is debating the merits of Christianity in secular academic settings. One of Criag’s major ministry concerns is strengthening the Christian witness in the University in order to influence greater society. As such, Craig’s finger is on the pulse of the academic environment. That is why Christians everywhere should take note of a recent episode of Craig’s Reasonable Faith podcast entitled “The Dangers of Critical Theory.” In this episode, Craig explains the nature of Critical Theory and identifies it as antithetical to a biblical worldview. He also warns that Critical Theory has made inroads in Christian universities and is including young people. That a man so concerned with not being disagreeable in the Christian community has raised such warning should cause all Christians to take a hard look into the ways Critical Theory may be influencing the activies and academic institutions of their denominations. If the church is to retain its salt and light witness to a lost and dying world, it must reject, not accept, popular unbiblical ideas like Critical Theory.
*Please note that the preceding is my personal opinion. It is not necessarily the opinion of any entity by which I am employed, any church at which I am a member, any church which I attend, or the educational institution at which I am enrolled. Any copyrighted material displayed or referenced is done under the doctrine of fair use.
