by William M. Brennan, TH.D.
Introduction
The problem of the One and the Many—how unity and plurality coexist within reality—has shaped the entire course of Western metaphysics. From the early Greek tension between Heraclitus’ flux and Parmenides’ immutability, through Plato’s theory of Forms, philosophers have sought to explain how multiplicity can exist without destroying the unity of Being. Plato offered one of the first systematic syntheses of this tension, positing the Forms as immutable unities that give order to the multiplicity of sensible things, mediated through the Demiurge who fashions the cosmos in imitation of the intelligible world.
Yet Plato’s solution retained a lingering dualism—between intelligible and sensible, form and matter, being and becoming—that was never fully resolved. In contrast, Gordon H. Clark (1902–1985), the 20th-century Reformed philosopher and theologian, carried forward the Platonic quest but transposed it into an explicitly Christian-Revelational framework. By identifying all reality as rational, propositional thought within the mind of God, Clark eliminated the dualism that had haunted Greek philosophy and offered a uniquely Trinitarian solution to the One-and-Many problem.
I. Plato’s Metaphysical Project: Reuniting Being and Becoming
1. The Legacy of Parmenides and Heraclitus
Plato inherited a philosophical crisis. Parmenides had declared that Being is one and changeless, while Heraclitus maintained that all things flow and nothing remains. To affirm both intelligibility and experience, Plato sought to reconcile the One (the unchanging Forms) with the Many (the mutable particulars).
2. The Theory of Forms and the Demiurge
In dialogues such as the Phaedo, Republic, and Symposium, Plato posited that all particular things “participate” in universal Forms—timeless realities that are the true objects of knowledge (epistēmē). Beauty, Justice, and Goodness exist not merely as abstract qualities but as perfect and immutable paradigms.
In the Timaeus, this relationship is given cosmological expression through the Demiurge, the divine craftsman who gazes upon the eternal Forms and fashions the cosmos in their likeness (29a–b). The Demiurge imposes rational order upon a pre-existent, formless substratum—the chōra or “receptacle” (48e–52a). Matter is thus neither fully real nor wholly unreal; it is a necessary condition for becoming, yet lacks intelligibility apart from Form.
3. The Residual Dualism of Plato’s System
While the Demiurge unites Being and Becoming, Plato’s metaphysics remains dualistic. The Forms are eternal and intelligible; the material world is temporal and mutable. There are, therefore, two co-eternal principles—Form and Matter—mediated by divine reason. As Aristotle later observed (Metaphysics I.6), this makes Plato’s system “a mixture of Parmenides and Heraclitus.”
The Parmenides reveals Plato’s own awareness of this difficulty. There, the “Third Man Argument” (132a–134e) shows that if each class of particulars shares in a Form, a further Form must exist to explain the likeness between the Form and its instances, leading to an infinite regress. The problem of participation—how the One can be in the Many without division—remained unresolved.
II. Gordon Clark’s Rationalist Idealism
1. Knowledge as Propositional and Divine
Gordon Clark’s philosophy begins not with sense experience but with revelation and logic. In A Christian View of Men and Things (1952), he asserts that “the only possible system of truth is a system of propositions, and that system is the mind of God” (p. 44). For Clark, knowledge is conceptual and linguistic, not sensory. Sensation yields only psychological stimuli; true knowledge exists only as logical propositions that correspond to God’s eternal thoughts.
Clark therefore identifies ultimate reality with the divine intellect. The eternal truths of mathematics, logic, and Scripture are not abstractions floating in an independent realm (as with Plato’s Forms) but ideas within God’s mind. Reality is intelligible because it is intelligence.
2. Scripturalism: From Epistemology to Ontology
Clark’s epistemological starting point—“God’s revelation is the axiom of all knowledge”—leads to a metaphysical idealism. In Thales to Dewey (1957), he writes:
“Reality consists of minds and ideas. The world is a system of divine thoughts, not an independent realm of matter and motion.” (p. 338)
Thus, the Platonic realm of Forms becomes the Logos, the rational Word of John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word [Logos], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” All universals, laws, and categories of thought are eternal in God’s mind. Matter, by contrast, has no independent being; it exists only as the ordered content of divine ideas experienced by human consciousness under God’s providence.
3. The Rejection of Pre-existent Matter
Clark therefore denies any pre-existent substratum such as Plato’s chōra. The biblical doctrine of creatio ex nihilo excludes any co-eternal material principle. All things are contingent expressions of divine rationality. By grounding both unity and diversity in God’s own self-consistent intellect, Clark resolves the dualism that Plato’s Demiurge could only mediate mythically.
III. The Trinitarian Resolution of the One and the Many
1. The Problem Restated
In the ancient problem of the One and the Many, unity and diversity compete for ultimacy. If unity is ultimate (Parmenides), individuality dissolves; if plurality is ultimate (Heraclitus), coherence vanishes. Plato’s Forms provided abstract unity but failed to explain concrete diversity. Clark finds the final solution not in metaphysics but in theology.
2. The Trinity as Ontological Ground
In The Trinity (1985), Clark argues that the Christian doctrine of one God in three persons uniquely reconciles unity and plurality at the most fundamental level:
“God is one essence and three persons. Here unity and diversity are equally ultimate. Neither is prior to the other; both are necessary and eternal.” (p. 22)
The triune God is therefore the metaphysical foundation of both the One and the Many. The unity of divine essence corresponds to universal rational coherence; the plurality of persons corresponds to relational diversity. The world reflects this archetype analogically: many truths, one system; many persons, one humanity; many events, one providential plan.
This provides what Plato’s metaphysics lacked—a personal principle of synthesis. The divine Logos, not an impersonal Demiurge, mediates the eternal intelligible order to the world. As Clark succinctly puts it, “The Trinity is the solution to the problem of the one and the many.” (The Trinity, p. 24)
IV. Comparative Analysis: From the Demiurge to the Logos
| Theme | Plato | Clark |
|---|---|---|
| Ultimate Principle | The Good / the Forms | The Triune God |
| Mediator | Demiurge, rational craftsman | Logos, second person of the Trinity |
| Ontology | Dualism of Form and Matter | Idealism: all reality is thought |
| Epistemology | Dialectic and recollection | Divine revelation and logic |
| Unity & Diversity | Related through participation | Grounded in God’s triune nature |
Where Plato’s Demiurge mediates between Form and Matter, Clark’s Logos is itself both divine and immanent—the eternal rationality that sustains all things (cf. Col 1:17). The Demiurge imitates intelligible patterns; the Logos is the intelligible pattern. Hence, Clark’s metaphysics preserves Plato’s aspiration for a rational cosmos but grounds it in the personal rationality of God rather than in a dualistic metaphysical hierarchy.
V. Evaluation and Conclusion
Plato’s synthesis of Being and Becoming represents a monumental step in metaphysical thought: he rescued intelligibility from the chaos of sense and affirmed that reality must be rationally ordered. Yet his system remained incomplete, for it posited two ultimate realities—Form and Matter—without a fully adequate account of their unity.
Clark’s Christian rationalism can be viewed as a theological fulfillment of Plato’s project. By identifying the Forms with divine ideas and grounding both unity and plurality in the coherence of the Triune God, Clark eliminates the ontological dualism that Plato never overcame. What the Demiurge symbolized, the Logos accomplishes: a cosmos that is wholly rational because it is the expression of a rational God.
Thus, in historical perspective:
Parmenides sought unity without diversity.
Heraclitus affirmed diversity without unity.
Plato sought their synthesis through eternal Forms and divine craftsmanship.
Clark completed the synthesis by locating both unity and diversity within the personal rationality of the Triune God.
In Clark’s words, “The Christian doctrine of God solves the ancient philosophical problem: the world is rational because its Creator is Reason itself.” (A Christian View of Men and Things, p. 50)
References
Aristotle. Metaphysics. Trans. W. D. Ross. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.
Clark, Gordon H. A Christian View of Men and Things. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1952.
Clark, Gordon H. Thales to Dewey: A History of Philosophy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1957.
Clark, Gordon H. The Trinity. Jefferson, MD: Trinity Foundation, 1985.
Plato. Parmenides, Timaeus, Republic. Trans. Jowett. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1892.
Vlastos, Gregory. Plato’s Universe. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975.
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