---
title: "Philosophy and Religion in the West by Phillip Cary"
description: "Summary: Overview of how Philosophy and religion in the west have impacted one another. Phillip Cary was the professor in my favorite Great Courses course, The History of Christian Theology . He is a..."
url: https://bookwi.se/philosophy-and-religion/
date: 2017-11-08
modified: 2026-07-16
author: "Adam Shields"
categories: ["Book Reviews"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# Philosophy and Religion in the West by Phillip Cary

**[![Philosophy and Religion in the West by Phillip Cary](https://bookwi.se/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/cover-48985.jpg)](https://www.audible.com/pd/Religion-Spirituality/Philosophy-and-Religion-in-the-West-Audiobook/B00DEQQO9I/ref=a_search_c4_1_4_srTtl?qid=1510146292&sr=1-4)Summary: Overview of how Philosophy and religion in the west have impacted one another.**

Phillip Cary was the professor in my favorite Great Courses course, [The History of Christian Theology](https://bookwi.se/history-christian-theology-great-courses/). He is a professor at Eastern University. Philosophy and Religion in the West was nearly as good.

This is a western history of philosophy. I would also like to see an eastern version, but I do not think that exists from Great Courses right now.

The course opens with Plato and Socrates before moving into Jewish and Christian philosophy. Because I have been intentionally trying to work on developing my philosophy background, there were things here that were both repetitive from other Great Courses or reading, but also a number of areas where something finally clicked for me.

The largest overlap in content was the end of this course and [the Modern Philosophy course](https://bookwi.se/the-modern-intellectual-tradition-from-descartes-to-derrida-by-lawrence-cahoone/) that I listened to earlier this year. This course was particularly focused on religion and philosophy so did not have the breadth of the previous course, but taking a second round within a couple months of the earlier course was helpful.

Part of Cary’s on going points was looking at different ways of conceiving God and human authority. The later point of understanding “˜Authority as other’ was very helpful in understanding some of the shift in understanding of authority and God in later eras of philosophy.

I also just happened to listen to [a podcast interview](https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/november-web-only/how-alvin-plantinga-paved-way-for-christian-philosophys-com.html) with Alvin Plantinga, who was mentioned toward the end of the course, which was helpful as well.

Overall, I still feel like I have a long way to go before I really get a basic grasp on philosophy, but this was a good course that was able to add to my understanding of theological develop as philosophical development in the West.

**Philosophy and Religion in the West by Philip Cary Purchase Links: [Audible.com Audiobook](https://www.audible.com/pd/Religion-Spirituality/Philosophy-and-Religion-in-the-West-Audiobook/B00DEQQO9I/ref=a_search_c4_1_4_srTtl?qid=1510146292&sr=1-4) **