The Conference
Two Days of Thoughtful Christian Philosophy
March 20-21, 2026
The Gordon H. Clark Symposium is an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate level philosophy students to participate in an academic conference alongside Covenant alumni and professional philosophers. The conference will include a keynote address by Dr. Greg Welty (Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) and a panel discussion on the question.
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The Gordon H. Clark Symposium will be held at Covenant College on March 20-21, 2026. Due to a generous gift from a donor, cash prizes will be awarded to the three best student essays. Additionally, the program is open to the public at no cost. RSVP to guarantee your seat at the Saturday luncheon and panel discussion. The luncheon is free to all who RSVP.
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Conference events will be held in Brock Hall on Covenant's campus.
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A Call for Papers
Prize Money for Outstanding Essays*
Due January 31, 2026
Submit any philosophically rigorous paper on a topic likely to be of interest to a Christian philosopher. Successful papers will step into and contribute to an ongoing philosophical discourse, as opposed to merely explicating another philosophical work. Only one submission per person will be accepted for review. Those selected will be presented by the author at the spring conference. Submitted papers must be prepared for blind review and include:
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a title and clear thesis
a 100 - 150 word abstract
approximately 2,000 - 3,000 word count
an orderly citation system
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Student essays are due January 31, 2026. Authors may expect to be contacted with a decision by February 20, 2026. Additionally, those who RSVP will be issued a conference name tag and guaranteed a seat at the Saturday luncheon.
*Because of a generous gift from Bob and Kathy Case, professional philosophers will be present to award prize money to the best essays. The best overall essay will be awarded $250. $150 and $100 prizes will also be awarded.
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To submit a paper for consideration, please email sarah.wynn.caston@covenant.edu and attach your paper as a pdf file. Authors of papers that are assigned a place on the program will be asked to submit a WORD (or GoogleDoc) version of their paper so allow format-editing in constructing the printed conference program. Full texts of conference papers will be included in the program.
Gordon H. Clark
A Profoundly Christian Philosopher
Gordon H. Clark, Ph.D. came to Covenant College in 1974 after retiring from Butler University in 1973. Already 72 years old when he came to Covenant, he taught for another 10 years, going to glory shortly after he stopped teaching in 1984. Before coming to Covenant, Dr. Clark taught at the University of Pennsylvania and Reformed Episcopal Seminary (1930-1936), Wheaton College (1936-1943), and Butler University (1943-1973).
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Along with teaching, Dr. Clark was a very active churchman, helping to found the OPC in 1938 and serving in a number of reformed denominations in the years between 1944 and his death. All of these denominations were Presbyterian in their polity and self-consciously indebted to Calvin and the Westminster standards. At all times and in every context Dr. Clark was a zealous defender of the final authority and epistemological primacy of God’s Word. His knowledge of the history of philosophy was encyclopedic, and he reveled in exposing the inconsistencies and inadequacies of all systems that denied the authority of Scripture.
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He authored more than thirty books on philosophy and theology, and published eight commentaries on New Testament epistles. As an opponent at philosophy or chess, he was formidable. As a husband and father, he was a model of faithfulness. Covenant College has six alums with Philosophy PhDs who are currently working as philosophy professors. All of them were taught by Dr. Clark or by one of Dr. Clark’s students.
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To sample Dr. Clark's academic writings, please visit http://gordonhclark.reformed.info. You may also purchase the official biography, The Presbyterian Philosopher: The Authorized Biography of Gordon H. Clark (Wipf and Stock, 2017).
$500
In Prize Money
2
Days of Philosophy
$0
Attendance Fee
Speaker
Dr. Greg Welty (Professor of Philosophy, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the author of 40 Questions about Suffering and Evil (Kregel Academic, 2024). Dr. Welty completed his D.Phil at Oriel College, Oxford University in 2006. Richard Swinburne directed his work, and Brian Leftow and Paul Helm served on his dissertation committee.
His Keynote Address on Friday evening, March 20, will be on the problem of evil.
Dr. Welty will also participate in a Panel Discussion after lunch on Saturday discussing the question "How can Christian Philosophers be Effective Apologetic Witnesses Today?"
