A History of Western Philosophy and Theology

Frame's "A History of Western Philosophy and Theology" presents a comprehensive Reformed examination of Western intellectual history, tracing philosophical development from ancient Greece through contemporary thought while evaluating each tradition through a distinctively Christian theological lens. The work serves simultaneously as historical survey and apologetic critique, analyzing how various philosophical schools relate to biblical revelation and Reformed orthodoxy.

Frame structures his analysis chronologically, beginning with pre-Socratic philosophy and proceeding through major movements including Platonism, Aristotelianism, medieval scholasticism, Renaissance humanism, Enlightenment rationalism, and modern philosophical developments. Throughout, he employs his characteristic triperspectival method, examining philosophical positions through normative, situational, and existential dimensions. This approach allows Frame to assess not merely what philosophers argued but how their systems function as comprehensive worldviews that either acknowledge or suppress divine truth.

The work's central argument contends that all non-Christian philosophy ultimately fails because it rejects the epistemological foundation of God's revelation. Frame traces what he terms the "rationalism-irrationalism dialectic" through Western thought, arguing that philosophical systems oscillate between overconfident human reason and skeptical despair precisely because they lack the stabilizing anchor of divine revelation. He particularly critiques autonomous reason, whether in its ancient Greek, medieval scholastic, or modern Enlightenment forms, as inevitably leading to intellectual and spiritual dead ends.

Frame engages extensively with major figures including Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, and contemporary philosophers. While acknowledging insights within various traditions, he consistently argues that philosophical truth remains fragmentary and unstable without Christian presuppositions. His treatment of modern and postmodern thought emphasizes how the rejection of Christian foundations leads to nihilism and relativism.

The monograph's significance lies in its systematic Reformed evaluation of the entire Western philosophical tradition. Frame provides Reformed readers with a comprehensive framework for understanding and critiquing philosophical movements while defending the necessity of Christian theism for coherent thought. His presuppositional approach offers a distinctly Protestant alternative to both secular philosophical histories and Catholic natural theology approaches. The work functions as both educational resource and apologetic tool, equipping readers to engage philosophical traditions while maintaining Reformed theological commitments.