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

To understand our own culture, we need to be familiar with the ideas that have shaped it. Drawing from great thinkers that range from ancient Greeks like Plato and Aristotle to the Christian philosophers Augustine and Aquinas to molders of modern thought such as Kant and Nietzsche, R.C. Sproul demonstrates the consequences that ideas have had on world events, theology, and our everyday lives—for better or for worse—and challenges us to respond from a Christian perspective. 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, now in paperback, R. C. 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.