The Conference
Two Days of Thoughtful Christian Philosophy
March 21-22, 2025
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. Dolores Morris (University of South Florida) on "The Christian Imagination" and panel discussion on the question, "What Can Philosophers Do for the Church?"
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The Gordon H. Clark Symposium will be held at Covenant College on March 21-22, 2025. 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 February 1, 2025
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
orderly citation system
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Student essays are due February 1, 2025. Authors may expect to be contacted with a decision by February 22th. 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. First place winner will be awarded $250.
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To submit a paper for consideration, please email zack.mabry@covenant.edu and attach your paper as a .pdf file. Be sure to also register for the conference!
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
Dolores G. Morris (Associate Professor, Philosophy, University of South Florida) is the author of Believing Philosophy: Becoming a Christian Philosopher (Zondervan, 2021). Dr. Morris completed her PhD in Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame in 2010.
Her Keynote Address on Friday evening, March 21, will be on "The Christian Imagination."
Dr. Morris will also participate in a Panel Discussion after lunch on Saturday discussing the question "What Can Philosophers Do for the Church?"
