Abstract
In this article it is argued that the Calvinistic philosopher, Hendrik Gerhardus Stoker (1899–1993), adopted a qualified theology-based approach for the elaboration of his Christian philosophy. Being shaped by the nature-super-nature theme, which itself is a method of synthesis, this approach lends itself towards establishing pseudo congruency. In Stoker’s case, it is an attempt to reconcile his commitment to an integral Christian philosophy with his antecedent allegiance to reformed theology in its orthodox scholastic expression. Indeed, Stoker has gone further than his reformed predecessors in an effort to develop a Calvinistic philosophy. But, instead of piecemeal adjustments, it is proposed that the theology-based approach should be rejected in its entirety if integral Christian scholarship is to flourish.H.G. Stoker, theology-based approach, reformational philosophy, reformed theology, Calvinism, encyclopaedia of the sciences, nature–super-nature, Christian scholarship
Highlights
The South African philosopher, Hendrik Gerhardus Stoker, has been widely acknowledged as a formidable thinker inside and beyond the borders of South Africa
While serious shortcomings in Malan’s evaluation were revealed, Hart (1971:120) admitted that there are a number of basic problems in Stoker’s philosophy that require further analysis. One such basic problem is signalled by the title with which Stoker originally designated theology, viz. ‘queen of the sciences’. This title is associated with a certain cluster of scholastic conceptions that either precludes the possibility of a Christian philosophy or tries to recover such possibility by somehow linking philosophy to theology
Both seem incompatible with the idea of an integral Christian philosophy
Summary
The South African philosopher, Hendrik Gerhardus Stoker, has been widely acknowledged as a formidable thinker inside and beyond the borders of South Africa. These include, among others, an ontology that has, as its main starting point, a distinction between God and the cosmos, the idea that creation itself is revealed to the knower and a certain view regarding the fields of theology and philosophy (Stoker 1970:332; Van der Walt 2013:7).
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