A History of Western Philosophy and Theology

By: John M. Frame

Narrated by: Tom Parks

Length: 23 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

A History of Western Philosophy and Theology is the fruit of John Frame's 45 years of teaching philosophical subjects. No other survey of the history of Western thought offers the same invigorating blend of expositional clarity, critical insight, and biblical wisdom.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2015 John M. Frame (P)2021 Tantor

Understanding Thought

This book identified how rationalism and irrationalism fight for truth throughout history, and how this is resolved by the triune God.

Absolutely Phenomenal

This great work delivers a history of western philosophy and theology in superb fashion. Our society is woefully ignorant from whence we came.

Learned a Lot

This was an extreme foray into Western Philosophy and Theology. it took many sittings. I persevered and finished in a week. so much good stuff. Frame delivers his opinions along with historical accounts of positions taken by many from Greece to current day. I am a senior (old) seminary student and lawyer of 25 years.

History of philosophy and theology from a Christian perspective

This is probably the best work of Dr. Frame. His biggest contribution is making different philosophical and theological schools of thought easy to understand. For example, his assessment of theological liberalism is concise and easy to understand and yet relevant and accurate.

Very good

John Frame is awesome and so is this magnificent book. He gives a very good overview theology and philosophy!

Thorough history of philosophy and theology from a Christian perspective

Although Dr. Frame’s work would be a suitable college textbook, it is also well suited for those desiring a deeper understanding of how Western civilization arrived at its current status. From Ancient Greece to the present, he expertly expounds on individual philosophers and theologians as he traces the evolution of Western thought and its influence on theology. The final two chapters are especially enlightening and pertinent to today’s culture.

Title a Misnomer

I purchased this audio book because I enjoy various "history of philosophy" courses in the Great Course series. However this work is presented purely from a tradition Christian standpoint, and not a philosophical one. Frame does cover all the bases, but always brings it back to his Christian worldview, which is a shame. It is not even an apologetic, in that he does not defend his Christian position, but just states it, without any backup, again and again. I stayed with the book until the end, just to see how he would handle the various philosophers and Christian thinkers. My take is that he is too quickly dismissive of the Plato, Kant, and Hegel, and spends too much time on more contemporary thinkers, including some of his own associates. He even closes the work with a call to confess one's sins and come to accept Jesus as lord. Buyer beware.

Arrogance at its best

After every thinker profiled in this book, the author feels compelled to offer his own Reformed-Calvinist critique. This has two results: (1) it reduces the space the author can devote to each thinker, a great sacrifice in a book that already purports to be a survey of philosophy and theology; (2) it leaves the distinct impression that the greatest philosopher of all is, in fact, the author himself. The best thinkers are those to whom he lends his explicit approval, and those with whom he disagrees are misleading and dangerous. Unless you accept the author’s presuppositions, you won’t want this book.