Clyde Kilby was born September 26, 1902. He may have been my most
influential teacher when I was in college. But then again it may have
been Stuart Hackett. Kilby was a romantic — like C. S. Lewis. Hackett
was a rationalist — like C. S. Lewis. One taught literature, the other
taught philosophy. One taught me to see with the eyes of a poet. The
other taught me the ubiquitous relevance of the law of
non-contradiction.
I thank God for both of them. I believe what they saw was right and
wise. But Kilby went deeper, I think. That’s not a criticism of the
philosopher. It’s a statement about who we are as human beings. We are
meant to reason because God is rational. And we are meant to rejoice
because of the glory we see. But the reason serves the rejoicing. The
thinker and analyzer in us is meant to protect the poet and lover.
On this his birthday I thought you might like to taste the joyful
healthfulness of Kilby’s soul. On October 22, 1976, he gave an
unforgettable lecture at First Covenant Church in Minneapolis. I went
because I wanted to hear, after eight years, the man who taught me to
look at trees.
That night he pled with us to stop seeking mental health in the
mirror of self-analysis, but instead to drink in the remedies of God in
nature. He was not naïve. He knew of sin. He knew of the necessity of
redemption in Christ. But he would have said that Christ purchased new
eyes for us as well as new hearts. Continue at John Piper
