Introduction--A Review of the Book "A Christian View of Men and Things" by Gordon H. Clark C1S3

"Christianity is a comprehensive view of all
things: It takes the world, both material
and spiritual, to be an ordered system."
Gordon H. Clark

The Unity of Truth

One might be encountering despair at this point, because of the amount of answers needed to make sense out of life. However, from asking these questions there has been a gain, for one suspects that all these questions are interrelated. This view of philosophy that all questions are interrelated accords with a Christian worldview. For, "Christianity is a comprehensive view of all things: It takes the world, both material and spiritual, to be an ordered system." The reason for this is that if there is an Omniscient God who created everything in orderly fashion as the Christian believes, all problems would fit together like a puzzle.

However, this does not mean that we cannot learn anything from the particulars or that the particulars do not affect the whole. For if a man was to have a piece of the puzzle but not the whole thing he could still understand that one piece to a certain extent and therefore the whole to a certain extent. In addition if the particular is not necessary for the whole, there would be no way to start solving the puzzle. Therefore, to understand the particulars, you need the whole and to understand the whole, the particulars are needed. Everything is interrelated.

"Each system proposes to interpret all
the facts; each system subscribes to the principle
that this is one world." (Gordon H. Clark.)

The One and Only
Anthony J McAtee

Introduction--A Review of the Book "A Christian View of Men and Things" by Gordon H. Clark C1S2

"Whether we try our skill or not, every one
of us has a great puzzle on our hands.
It is the world of men and things."
Gordon H. Clark

The Questions of Philosophy

Philosophy is like a puzzle and a truly difficult puzzle can be dispiriting but yet at the same time it can accentuate the interest. For one wonders if a philosophical problem can defeat him. Unfortunately, in these days, many people chose to ignore difficult problems they encounter instead of solving them. However, "Whether we try our skill or not, every one of us has a great puzzle on our hands. It is the world of men and things." (Gordon H. Clark.) In other words all men have the choice to attempt to solve the questions of philosophy.

However, part of the reason people choose to ignore (as much as possible) the questions of philosophy is because they fail to fully understand how they affect the world in which they live. People fail to see the affect it has on their world is because they do not fully understand the answer and this stems from the problem of not knowing the questions. The questions of philosophy are numerous but when some that are easier to apply to the world are clearly stated, it is easier to see how they affect a particular person (and from there understand how the more abstract questions affect a person's thinking); "Should the party favoring the strictest regulation be elected? Which Party would give the best government? Which is the best kind of government? Which can actually work under the present conditions? Or can none work? Where is history taking us? Does history repeat itself? Is civilization on the verge of collapse? What causes, if any, control history? Is history a haphazard and unintelligible sequence of events, or does history have meaning? Has God revealed any answer or any partial answer to these questions? Is it necessary to believe in God to order to answer these questions? Or is atheistic Communism the true solution?"

These questions seem simple, but each answer leads to another question which requires an answer. Many people have the simple answers but they do not know the why or how, of the answer and therefore do not fully solve the puzzle. Additionally there are so many wayward answers that it is hard to believe that there is truth. When a person comes think this, he wonders if it worthwhile trying to solve such problems.

The One and Only
Anthony J McAtee

Introduction--A Review of the Book "A Christian View of Men and Things" by Gordon H. Clark C1S1

Added for the reader benefit. What is Philosophy? An academic discipline that is often divided into five major branches: logic; metaphysics; epistemology; ethics; and aesthetics; A comprehensive system of belief; A general principle (usually moral.)

The Purpose and Limits of this Book
(This is the Review of the first subsection of the book)

In the nineteenth century, the philosophy of the West was mostly Christian. However, with the advent of the twentieth century, many people started to see God as an impersonal being so that even if he does exist he has no effect on the "problems of society." Therefore, many Christians and practically all Atheist believe that Christianity as a prevailing philosophy will never again bring unity to our nation. Unfortunately this could be true, but it is unwise to assume such things without knowledge of how and why civilization has risen or fallen; without a philosophy of history.

Part of the problem is that there is no comprehensive system of philosophy for the Christian. "A God, or a belief in God that had no repercussions either in sociology or epistemology would be of little philosophic import. Therefore what is needed is a theistic philosophy that applies to every area of learning. However, since philosophy integrates all areas of study this would be impossible task except for a “modern Augustine.”

Therefore the attempt of this book will be, “To give some prospect of what a theistic worldview would be."; "Enable the reader to estimate how much of his intellectual capital is the result of reflective choice and how much is the result of imperceptible and desultory social absorption."; "And if I succeed in none of these this book will at least serve as an introduction to philosophy.”

The One and Only
Anthony J McAtee

My Second Sermon

Beginners luck is what they say, but I have always found the
second easier than the first. However that could be because I don't
believe in luck. Anyways I started my second sermon with a wholesome, "good morning" and then abruptly went on to the main subject.

"Do wisdom and knowledge mean the same thing?" I received in response the tentative head wagging. But I stumped them with the next question, "What are the definitions for wisdom and knowledge?" After a little while of trying to decipher hints from the background, the children finally said that they didn't know.

Illustrating to them the difference, I explained, "Knowledge is knowing the facts, for example if you read the Ten Commandments you have the knowledge of them. Wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge, for example you know the Ten Commandments but to have wisdom you would have to apply the Ten Commandments to every area of your life."

Then I continued on by declaring, "However God gives us a different definition of Wisdom and that is in Deuteronomy when Moses was speaking to Israel before they crossed the Jordan, "Give me wisdom, so that I may keep your law; going after it with all my heart. Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." (Deuteronomy 4:5-6.) Extrapolating on this passage, I presented the idea that wisdom is the obedience to our Lord God and that God clearly says in both James and Proverbs that he will grant wisdom to those who ask for it.

Ending the sermon, I prayed, "Heavenly Father, we ask that we would remember that You are the holder of all wisdom and that you will grant it to those that who ask. We ask that we would apply it to every area of life so once again people would see what a great nation we are and then understand it is not because we in ourselves are great but that we are great because we have a Great Lord who is the Lord of Lord and King of Kings. In Your Son's name, Amen"

The One and Only
Anthony J McAtee

The Reason for the Quote

"These are not great days: these are dark days - the darkest days our
country has ever lived."
Anthony Justin McAtee

No, I have not forgotten about The War for the Confederacy or the Great Depression or any other of the numerous hard times in American history. These are not the darkest days because of the amount of sadness or obstacles which America is currently facing; these are the darkest days because we have lost everything but the embers of the faith which allowed America to surmount the sadness and obstacles it has encountered.

These are the darkest days because America no longer supports liberty and justice for all. In spoken words, yes, but not in deeds. Consider the unborn whom are murdered everyday. Think about the murderer who instead of having the electric chair as justice calls for, he lives off the taxpayer dollars in a state prison for the rest of his life. Reflect upon the amount of money the government steals from its people every year and bestows to illegal immigrants and the sluggards. (As Thomas Jefferson said, "A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government.") (And as James Madison said, "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on the objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.") Where has freedom and liberty gone to? Not too the unborn, not too the wife who's husband was murdered, not to the people of these United States of America, it has gone to the abortion clinics, the murderers, and people who do not support this Nation.

These are the darkest days because people no longer stand up and speak out for the truth. "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." (Thomas Jefferson) Why have people of good conscience remained silent? They have been silenced by force--The War for the Confederacy--or by threat--Roosevelt's Court Packing Scheme--and now since the government has taken over the Educational System they’re silenced by ignorance. The few who escape this petri dish and speak up are thought to be nutcases or radicals and therefore they remain silent and tyranny grows.

Lastly and most importantly these are the darkest days because we are no longer "one nation under God". For our faith has been picked away piece by piece and inch by inch until all that is left are small candles in various corners. And now "under God" refers, to "under Government". This lack of faith is the mortal blow which we can recover from in only one way.

The way to once again be a great nation is by once again teaching our own children and not letting the state imbibe them with falsehoods and half truths. To once again speak out for the right instead of supporting the lesser of two evils with our votes. To once again resist and, "never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense." (Winston Churchill.) And above all to once again know what we believe and why we believe it, if we do this.and stand firm in our Christianity there will be no stopping us. "One man with courage is a majority." (Thomas Jefferson.) "And Jesus looking on them said, with men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible." (Mark 10:27.) Then I will and only then will I agree with Winston Churchill; "These are not dark days: these are great days--the greatest days our country has ever lived."

The One and Only
Anthony J McAtee

Never Give In, Never, Never, Never

Never Give In, Never, Never, Never
October 29, 1941
Harrow School

When Churchill visited Harrow on October 29 to hear the traditional songs again, he discovered that an additional verse had been added to one of them. It ran:

"Not less we praise in darker days
The leader of our nation,
And Churchill's name shall win acclaim
From each new generation.
For you have power in danger's hour
Our freedom to defend, Sir!
Though long the fight we know that right
Will triumph in the end, Sir!

Almost a year has passed since I came down here at your Head Master's kind invitation in order to cheer myself and cheer the hearts of a few of my friends by singing some of our own songs. The ten months that have passed have seen very terrible catastrophic events in the world - ups and downs, misfortunes - but can anyone sitting here this afternoon, this October afternoon, not feel deeply thankful for what has happened in the time that has passed and for the very great improvement in the position of our country and of our home? Why, when I was here last time we were quite alone, desperately alone, and we had been so for five or six months. We were poorly armed. We are not so poorly armed today; but then we were very poorly armed. We had the unmeasured menace of the enemy and their air attack still beating upon us, and you yourselves had had experience of this attack; and I expect you are beginning to feel impatient that there has been this long lull with nothing particular turning up!

But we must learn to be equally good at what is short and sharp and what is long and tough. It is generally said that the British are often better at the last. They do not expect to move from crisis to crisis; they do not always expect that each day will bring up some noble chance of war; but when they very slowly make up their minds that the thing has to be done and the job put through and finished, then, even if it takes months - if it takes years - they do it.

Another lesson I think we may take, just throwing our minds back to our meeting here ten months ago and now, is that appearances are often very deceptive, and as Kipling well says, we must "…meet with Triumph and Disaster. And treat those two impostors just the same."

You cannot tell from appearances how things will go. Sometimes imagination makes things out far worse than they are; yet without imagination not much can be done. Those people who are imaginative see many more dangers than perhaps exist; certainly many more than will happen; but then they must also pray to be given that extra courage to carry this far-reaching imagination. But for everyone, surely, what we have gone through in this period - I am addressing myself to the School - surely from this period of ten months this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. We stood all alone a year ago, and to many countries it seemed that our account was closed, we were finished. All this tradition of ours, our songs, our School history, this part of the history of this country, were gone and finished and liquidated.

Very different is the mood today. Britain, other nations thought, had drawn a sponge across her slate. But instead our country stood in the gap. There was no flinching and no thought of giving in; and by what seemed almost a miracle to those outside these Islands, though we ourselves never doubted it, we now find ourselves in a position where I say that we can be sure that we have only to persevere to conquer.

You sang here a verse of a School Song: you sang that extra verse written in my honour, which I was very greatly complimented by and which you have repeated today. But there is one word in it I want to alter - I wanted to do so last year, but I did not venture to. It is the line: "Not less we praise in darker days."

I have obtained the Head Master's permission to alter darker to sterner. "Not less we praise in sterner days."

Do not let us speak of darker days: let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days; these are great days - the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race.

Winston Churchill

P.S. The speech from which I took the quote, "These are not dark days: these are great days - the greatest days our country has ever lived."
Winston Churchill

A Day of Quotations

"These are not dark days: these are great days - the greatest days our country has ever lived."
Winston Churchill


"These are not great days: these are dark days - the darkest days our country has ever lived."
Anthony Justin McAtee


"Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul."
Douglas Macarthur

"Quitting wrinkles the soul because like all bad habits, after you do it once it is easier to do it again and again and again."
Anthony Justin McAtee

"Never mistake motion for action."
Ernest Hemingway

"All boys wish their moms would mistake motion for action, for then there their attempts to escape work would be much more effective"
Anthony Justin McAtee

"A slave has but one master; an ambitious man has as many masters as there are people who may be useful in bettering his position."
Jean de La Bruyère

"The world has only one Master. Unfortunately it has a bad habit of forgetting."
Anthony J McAtee

"If men cease to believe that they will one day become gods then they will surely become worms."
Henry Miller

"Then let us be worms -- for a worm in Christ is far better than being a god that serves the devil."
Anthony Justin McAtee

"The ripest peach is highest on the tree."
James Whitcomb Riley

"Therefore it has the longest way to fall."
Anthony Justin McAtee

The One and Only
Anthony Justin McAtee

My First Sermon

My father asked me to do the Children Sermon when he was on vacation. Needless to say, since he said that I have worried about having to do it. However, my fears were greatly reduced when as I was reading the Scripture I came across the passage Proverbs 10:12 which states, "Hatreds stirs up strife but love covers all sin." Right then it hit me, a perfect way to give the children idea of what love is along with showing them that the love they have their parents is same but lesser love they should have for Christ.

When it was time for children sermon, I started out by asking, "Do you love your parents?" Of course the children answered, "yes." I then proceeded to ask them why they love their parents. Not surprisingly, I received assorted answer however one of the children said, "because they love us." "Exactly," I exclaimed, "and they show this love by forgiving you when you are disobedient, caring for you when you are hurt, and in many other ways."

Continuing on, I presented the idea that if they love their parents for what they do for them, how much more should they love their Heavenly Father who not only gave them their parents and everything that they have but also forgave them of all there sins at the price of His only Son? Answering the question for them with the passage Mark 12:30, "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." I then concluded by saying that the way you show this love is by following his commandments. ("For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." I John 5:3)

Having finished the short sermon I ended with this prayer, "Heavenly Father who art in heaven we ask for the grace to have true love. For true love covers all sin, is stronger than death, and it conquers all. We also ask that we might love you with this love and then from loving you first and foremost we might apply this love to every area of are life so that in everything we do we might glorify You who gave His only Son for us. In Your Son's Name, Amen."

The One and Only
Anthony J McAtee

Extrapolating on a Idea

I would like to extrapolate on a idea presented in the government question in the previous post. The idea is, "that most people choose there political opinions based on self interest."

Without a doubt the founding fathers of America knew this to be true and that is why that did not implement universal suffrage. They did not implement it because they knew that logically the poor man without property would vote for a candidate that would give him free property. Unfortunately because nothing is free, the property which would be bequeathed to him would not be truly free. It would be taken from the people who already have property.

This is wrong for two reason. The first reason is that it involves the idea of legal thievery which is the idea that the government by law can take the property of one citizen to give it to another. God's Holy Word speaks very clearly against this first in Genesis 20:15, "Thou shalt not steal"(KJV) and second in Ezekiel 46:18a "Moreover the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance by oppression, to thrust them out of their possession." Secondly it is wrong because to be able to take the property of a citizen by law, the government would obviously need the power to support that law and if has that power who is then in control the government or the people?

Regrettably this has happened in America with such things as; Welfare, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the broad interpretation of the eminent domain clause. Therefore I would argue that there should not be universal suffrage in America but that the right to vote should only be granted to those with property. Giving just a brief definition, property is; The right of ownership. However I would like to point out that I have not defined what the right of ownership is and how it should be defined that would take much more knowledge then I currently have.

Before I finish I would like to emphasize that I am not promoting a rule of the elite but the republican form of government that this country was founded on.

The One and Only
Anthony J McAtee

Government Question

Question: Many Americans choose their political opinions based on self interest. On balance do you think using political activity to promote one’s own interest is a healthy or unhealthy tendency in the political system?

As a Christian, I ask the question if we are not promoting are own interests whose interest are we supporting? Are we not endorsing an interest that is a contrary to Christ which means that we would be advancing the cause of the wicked and their master. And the Scripture's state very clearly that you can not serve two contradicting masters; “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. YOU CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON (Luke 16:13 NKJ.)" Therefore as a God fearing Christian there is no other choice for me then to promote political interests that are consistent with the biblical standard.

The One and Only
Anthony J McAtee

Why I Am Blogging

Hello everybody this is my very first post, (That’s right, this one is on me.) My purpose currently is to choose a career and then to tackle college hopefully in a couple of years. Ahh but you are wrong it is possible to complete college this quickly without being a genius. What it takes is a little studying a little CLEPing—College Level Examination Test—and a lot of hard work. And what does this have to do with a blog? Congratulations you have finally come to the point of my very first post.

First and most important is that it will working on my writing skills that are sadly lacking. This is the first and most important for three reason; number one and the greatest reason is that the pen is greater than the sword and an illiterate (writing is part of reading) man is an unintelligent man. Broken down, this simply means that to be able to form words and express my ideas in every area of life—including college papers—I will need to know how to write. Secondly I will be taking the ACT this spring and I am hoping to ace this standardized test which will hopefully help me with my college funding. Last and the least imperative is the English CLEP that requires an essay which I will need to past.

However this blog will not only improve my writing. It will also be an excellent studying tool. In what way? Well the fact is that if you write something down you have an much better chance to remember than if you just read and reread. Therefore I will be posting essays on the subjects I am studying. Most likely many people will find my view point controversial and that is why they will have the ability to leave comments. As a side note I would like to mention that I will be censoring the comments and I would greatly appreciate it if no uncouth language would be used.

I would also like to mention that I will, when I am not currently writing an essay for college, probably leave a tidbit about my life. If there is any question on what a CLEP is and how to study and take one just post a comment and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Finally if you ever wondering where I imbibed my interesting view points just check out my dad’s site, it is posted in the links list.

The One and Only

Anthony J McAtee

P.S. Any other idea’s on how to use this blog constructively will be appreciated.