I really like Thomas Sowell. He is not a Christian. I wish he was. He does not use the Bible as the basis for his logically consistent ethical argument; but he has a great mind and a great sense of the inconsistency of the liberal worldview. He is a prolific writer and outstanding economist. His book Marxism: Philosophy and Economics is extremely helpful, as is his Quest for Cosmic Justice. Most recently he has written The Housing Boom and Bust and Intellectuals and Society. Tim Challies has a review of Intellectuals and Society here. If you have not read any of his works, you can check out some of his shorter articles at Town Hall. His most recent article on Tiger Woods’ apology is fascinating. You can read it here.
Thomas Sowell and the Intellectuals
6 Responses to “Thomas Sowell and the Intellectuals”
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I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naïve. (Romans 16:17-18)
I just started reading Intellectuals and Society last week (on the Kindle btw) and really enjoy it. I’ve also been reading Sowell’s column on the National Review Online. He’s a great thinker.
Hey, I wish all my favorite nonChristian thinkers were Christians. Why not?
At the same time, recognizing common grace, we know that nonChristian brilliance in general revelation is not all that rare. The Lord is generous.
Anyway, here’s a correction on Sowell: http://mises.org/daily/3572
I’m confused. If he’s not a Christian, then this column doesn’t make much sense: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/may/03/thomas_sowell_closing_one_door_opening_another_chr/
Where did you hear that he wasn’t a Christian?
I guess it doesn’t matter though. I’m just curious why you said what you said and why this column says what it says.
The article posted above erroneously lists Thomas Sowell as the author. However, the actual author is Cal Thomas: http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/thomas050307.php3
pwned11 is right: Sowell is most definitely a Christian. Thank you very much for providing the link to that article. I went to Stanford and was one of the few Christians there. I’ve always admired Sowell but wasn’t sure whether he was Christian. I now can look forward to getting to know him better as a believer in heaven some day.
@pwned11
If I’m reading this correctly, Batzig seems to think Sowell isn’t a Christian because Sowell went to great pains to present his arguments secularly so the non-religious wouldn’t immediately shrug them off when they saw Bible verses.
I had an annoying roommate in college who was like this. He demanded that every discussion of anything be grounded first in Biblical scripture and quotations and then on intellectual and logical grounds. Unfortunately, we never really got to the second part because we would be stuck arguing verses which he tended to claim automatically disproved any other point of view. Also, any non-believer who ever got involved in these discussions promptly left when the arguments quickly became over scriptural interpretation and not even the issue under discussion.
We’re allowed to use external evidence to back up our convictions, even obligated as believers. While simply quoting scripture may be enough to tide over some believers (and I doubt the rigor of their belief), the rest of us want to think things through and use logic and ration to piece together the truth alongside the word. And the great thing is that if the Bible really is true (which I believe it is,) our conclusions based on logic, reason, and evidence will be concurrent with what scripture really means.