alexandermsmith
Puritan Board Junior
However we answer that question shapes what we believe about God. Realism is the usual fallback Christian view. It makes the most sense of God's attributes and ideas in His mind. Idealism is dangerous (if not just wrong). Jonathan Edwards was an idealist of sorts and it played havoc upon many doctrines he held.
Our approach to the world should not be through schools of thought invented by men. Different philosophical systems may contain a degree of truth and insight which can be helpful in articulating human experience. However, once we adopt a specific system and use that as our guide then we are restricting ourselves to an extra-biblical (and taken as a whole usually anti-biblical) worldview. The early church theologians adopted concepts and phrases from the heathen philosophers because they were useful, but they adapted them to the Scriptural revelation.
What should shape our belief about God is Scripture. What should shape our understanding of the world is Scripture.