St. Anselm on Faith Seeking Understanding
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Augustine on Knowledge
Augustine on Knowledge Divine Illumination as an Argument Against Scepticism ANITA VAN DER BOS RMA: RELIGION & CULTURE Rijksuniversiteit Groningen Research Master Thesis s2217473, April 2017 FIRST SUPERVISOR: dr. M. Van Dijk SECOND SUPERVISOR: dr. dr. F.L. Roig Lanzillotta 1 2 Content Augustine on Knowledge ........................................................................................................................ 1 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................ 4 Preface .................................................................................................................................................... 5 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 7 The life of Saint Augustine ................................................................................................................... 9 The influence of the Contra Academicos .......................................................................................... 13 Note on the quotations ........................................................................................................................ 14 1. Scepticism ........................................................................................................................................ -
Can We Prove God's Existence?
This transcript accompanies the Cambridge in your Classroom video on ‘Can we prove God’s existence?’. For more information about this video, or the series, visit https://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/study-here/open-days/cambridge-your-classroom Can we prove God’s existence? Professor Catherine Pickstock Faculty of Divinity One argument to prove God’s existence In front of me is an amazing manuscript, is known as the ‘ontological argument’ — called the Proslogion, written nearly 1,000 an argument which, by reason alone – years ago by an Italian Benedictine monk proves that, the very idea of God as a called Anselm. perfect being means that God must exist, that his non-existence would be Anselm went on to become Archbishop of contradictory. Canterbury in 1093, and this manuscript is now kept in the University Library in These kinds of a priori arguments rely on Cambridge. logical deduction, rather than something one has observed or experienced: you It is an exploration of how we can know might be familiar with Kant’s examples: God, written in the form of a prayer, in Latin. Even in translation, it can sound “All bachelors are unmarried men. quite complicated to our modern ears, but Squares have four equal sides. All listen carefully to some of his words here objects occupy space.” translated from Chapters 2 and 3. I am Catherine Pickstock and I teach “If that, than which nothing greater can be Philosophy of Religion at the University of conceived, exists in the understanding Cambridge. And I am interested in how alone, the very being, than which nothing we can know the unknowable, and often greater can be conceived, is one, than look to earlier ways in which thinkers which a greater cannot be conceived. -
Divine Illumination As “Conditio Sine Qua Non” for True Knowledge in the Philosophy of St Augustine
DIVINE ILLUMINATION AS “CONDITIO SINE QUA NON” FOR TRUE KNOWLEDGE IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF ST AUGUSTINE Emmanuel OGUNDELE, PhD Introduction St. Augustine in many aspects of his philosophy was preoccupied with the issue of knowledge. This knowledge in the true sense is rather impossible to reach without the divine light which shines on us, for 'in His divine light we see light.' The beaming of the illuminating light of the creator who lives in unassailable light on us makes knowledge possible. For Augustine, true knowledge comes from within, through Divine illumination and not from without. This is theme that will be explored in this article. St. Augustine was born in Tagaste in 354 A.D. of a pagan father by the name Patricius and a devout Christian mother, Monica. His baptism and conversion into Christianity was delayed and he was eventually baptised in 387. He did higher studies first at Madaura and later at Carthage. At this time, he was still committed to Manichaeism. He later started teaching Rhetoric in Carthage and eventually opened a school of Rhetoric in Rome. After a while, he abandoned Manichaeism and scepticism and embraced Platonism. He had a riotous youthful life in which he lost his way into a life of sensuality. In 384 AD, he moved to Milan where he 1 2 met Bishop Ambrose who eventually baptised him on his conversion in 387 AD. His mother died in 388 AD, the year in which he returned to his homeland. In 391, the people of Hippo where he was staying in order to convert a friend acclaimed him a priest and he was finally ordained a priest by Bishop Valerius. -
St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas on the Mind, Body, and Life After Death
The University of Akron IdeaExchange@UAkron Williams Honors College, Honors Research The Dr. Gary B. and Pamela S. Williams Honors Projects College Spring 2020 St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas on the Mind, Body, and Life After Death Christopher Choma [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects Part of the Christianity Commons, Epistemology Commons, European History Commons, History of Philosophy Commons, History of Religion Commons, Metaphysics Commons, Philosophy of Mind Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Please take a moment to share how this work helps you through this survey. Your feedback will be important as we plan further development of our repository. Recommended Citation Choma, Christopher, "St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas on the Mind, Body, and Life After Death" (2020). Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects. 1048. https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects/1048 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by The Dr. Gary B. and Pamela S. Williams Honors College at IdeaExchange@UAkron, the institutional repository of The University of Akron in Akron, Ohio, USA. It has been accepted for inclusion in Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects by an authorized administrator of IdeaExchange@UAkron. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. 1 St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas on the Mind, Body, and Life After Death By: Christopher Choma Sponsored by: Dr. Joseph Li Vecchi Readers: Dr. Howard Ducharme Dr. Nathan Blackerby 2 Table of Contents Introduction p. 4 Section One: Three General Views of Human Nature p. -
Life with Augustine
Life with Augustine ...a course in his spirit and guidance for daily living By Edmond A. Maher ii Life with Augustine © 2002 Augustinian Press Australia Sydney, Australia. Acknowledgements: The author wishes to acknowledge and thank the following people: ► the Augustinian Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel, Australia, for support- ing this project, with special mention of Pat Fahey osa, Kevin Burman osa, Pat Codd osa and Peter Jones osa ► Laurence Mooney osa for assistance in editing ► Michael Morahan osa for formatting this 2nd Edition ► John Coles, Peter Gagan, Dr. Frank McGrath fms (Brisbane CEO), Benet Fonck ofm, Peter Keogh sfo for sharing their vast experience in adult education ► John Rotelle osa, for granting us permission to use his English translation of Tarcisius van Bavel’s work Augustine (full bibliography within) and for his scholarly advice Megan Atkins for her formatting suggestions in the 1st Edition, that have carried over into this the 2nd ► those generous people who have completed the 1st Edition and suggested valuable improvements, especially Kath Neehouse and friends at Villanova College, Brisbane Foreword 1 Dear Participant Saint Augustine of Hippo is a figure in our history who has appealed to the curiosity and imagination of many generations. He is well known for being both sinner and saint, for being a bishop yet also a fellow pilgrim on the journey to God. One of the most popular and attractive persons across many centuries, his influence on the church has continued to our current day. He is also renowned for his influ- ence in philosophy and psychology and even (in an indirect way) art, music and architecture. -
Phi 260: History of Philosophy I Prof
Phi 260: History of Philosophy I Prof. Brandon C. Look University of Kentucky Spring 2007 Anselm’s Ontological Argument for the Existence of God Anselm’s argument is an a priori argument; that is, it is an argument that is independent of experience and based solely on concepts and logical relations, like a mathematical proof. The form of the argument is that of a reductio ad absurdum argument. Such an argument works like this: Suppose P. If P, then Q. But Q is absurd (i.e. implies a contradiction). Therefore, P is false (or not the case). Anselm begins with a stipulative definition of “God” as “a being than which no greater being can be conceived.” The argument of Proslogion (Ch. II): (1) God exists in the understanding but not in reality. (Supposition) (2) Existence in reality is greater than existence in the understanding alone. (Premise) (3) God’s existence in reality is conceivable. (Premise) (4) If God did exist in reality, then he would be greater than he is (from (1) and (2)). (5) It is conceivable that there be a being greater than God is (from (3) and (4)). (6) It is conceivable that there be a being greater than the being than which nothing greater can be conceived ((5), by the definition of “God”). But surely (7) It is false that it is conceivable that there be a being greater than the being than which none greater can be conceived. Since (6) and (7) contradict each other, we may conclude that (8) It is false that God exists in the understanding but not in reality. -
African Roots of Christianity: Christianity Is a Religion of Africa
Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University Faculty Publications 2021 African Roots of Christianity: Christianity is a Religion of Africa Trevor O'Reggio Andrews University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/pubs Part of the Missions and World Christianity Commons Recommended Citation O'Reggio, Trevor, "African Roots of Christianity: Christianity is a Religion of Africa" (2021). Faculty Publications. 2255. https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/pubs/2255 This Presentation is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. African Roots of Christianity CHRISTIANITY IS A RELIGION OF AFRICA African Proverb We must go back and reclaim our past, so that we can move forward, so we can understand why and how we came to be who we are today Ancient Akan principle of Sankofa Early Christianity Christianity in the 3rd.century Christianity in Africa 250-AD-406-AD Christianity in Transition The era of Western Christianity has passed within our lifetime and the day of Southern Christianity is dawning. The fact of change is undeniable; it has happened and will continue to happen. Phillip Jenkins Shifting Christianity 1500—Era of Luther and Calvin • 92% of Christians were in global north • Christianity was a “white man’s religion” 1800—William Carey to India • 86% of Christians were in global north 1900—82% in north 2000—42% in north, 58% in south • Christianity is a world religion 2100—22% in north, 78% in south (proj. -
First Prize: an Analysis of the Ontological Argument of St Anselm by Ian Corfield
Philsoc Student Essay Prize, Michaelmas Term 2015 First Prize: An Analysis of the Ontological Argument of St Anselm by Ian Corfield Introduction St Anselm (1033CE-1109CE) was a philosopher and theologian and held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093CE until his death. He is remembered chiefly as the originator of the first ‘Ontological Argument’ for the existence of God. Ontological Arguments1 are a priori2 arguments purporting to establish the existence of God from the very definition of the same. Many such arguments have been advanced since Anselm’s, but Anselm’s original argument has remained a popular object of study. The Argument Anselm’s argument is set out in the second chapter of his work ‘The Proslogion’: And so, O Lord, … give me to understand … that thou art … a being than which none greater3 can be thought. Or can it be that there is no such being, since “the fool hath said in his heart, ‘There is no God’”? [Psalms 14.1; 53.1] But … this same fool … must be convinced that a being than which none greater can be thought exists at least in his understanding… . But clearly that than which a greater cannot be thought cannot exist in the understanding alone. For if it is actually in the understanding alone, it can be thought of as existing also in reality, and this is greater. Therefore, if that than which a greater cannot be thought is in the understanding alone, this same thing than which a greater cannot be thought is that than which a greater can be thought. -
Bonaventure and the Sin of the Church
Theological Studies 63 (2002) BONAVENTURE AND THE SIN OF THE CHURCH C. COLT ANDERSON [The author describes how the medieval tradition answered the question of whether one can legitimately speak of collective ecclesial sin. Using principally Bonaventure as a focal point, he examines how the notion of ecclesial sin functioned simultaneously as reform rhetoric and an ecclesial apologetic of humility. Finally, he applies Bonaventure’s analysis of ecclesial sin to the present crisis regarding sexual abuse of minors to show how this idea can function even today to exhort believers to maintain unity as they struggle for re- form.] VER SINCE THE Second Vatican Council declared that the Church is “at E once holy and always in need of purification,” there has been an ongoing debate over whether one may speak of the Church sinning as a collective body.1 Interest in this question has been stimulated by John Paul II’s repeated calls for the Church to repent for the many abusive policies and actions its members have engaged in over the last two millennia.2 More C. COLT ANDERSON is assistant professor in the department of church history at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in the archdiocese of Chicago. He received his Ph. D. from Marquette University. A specialist in the rhetoric and methods employed by the medieval reformers, he has also published a book entitled A Call to Piety: St. Bonaventure’s Collations on the Six Days (Fran- ciscan, 2002). 1 Lumen gentium no. 8, in Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, ed. -
Malebranche's Augustinianism and the Mind's Perfection
University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations Spring 2010 Malebranche's Augustinianism and the Mind's Perfection Jason Skirry University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the History of Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Skirry, Jason, "Malebranche's Augustinianism and the Mind's Perfection" (2010). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 179. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/179 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/179 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Malebranche's Augustinianism and the Mind's Perfection Abstract This dissertation presents a unified interpretation of Malebranche’s philosophical system that is based on his Augustinian theory of the mind’s perfection, which consists in maximizing the mind’s ability to successfully access, comprehend, and follow God’s Order through practices that purify and cognitively enhance the mind’s attention. I argue that the mind’s perfection figures centrally in Malebranche’s philosophy and is the main hub that connects and reconciles the three fundamental principles of his system, namely, his occasionalism, divine illumination, and freedom. To demonstrate this, I first present, in chapter one, Malebranche’s philosophy within the historical and intellectual context of his membership in the French Oratory, arguing that the Oratory’s particular brand of Augustinianism, initiated by Cardinal Bérulle and propagated by Oratorians such as Andre Martin, is at the core of his philosophy and informs his theory of perfection. Next, in chapter two, I explicate Augustine’s own theory of perfection in order to provide an outline, and a basis of comparison, for Malebranche’s own theory of perfection. -
When the Kingdom of God Became the Kingdom of Ends: Altruism’S Development Into a Normative Ideal
When the Kingdom of God Became the Kingdom of Ends: Altruism’s Development into a Normative Ideal A Senior Honor Thesis Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation with distinction in Political Science in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences by Benjamin T. Jones The Ohio State University December 10, 2006 Project Advisors: John M. Parrish, Department of Political Science (Loyola Marymount University) Michael A. Neblo, Department of Political Science (The Ohio State University) Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Introduction 1 The Paradox at the Heart of Altruism 4 Defining Altruism and Normativity 6 What Are We Looking For? 11 Roadmap of What’s to Come 14 Part I Towards a Problem: The Ancient Debate over Public Life 17 Eudaimonia and Ancient Ethics 18 Plato and Aristotle 24 Epicurus and the Stoics 40 A Solution from an Unlikely Source 47 Augustine’s Reconciliation of the Two Cities 55 Conclusion 63 Part II Self-Love’s Fall from Grace: How Normative Altruism Developed out of the Augustinian Tradition 65 Entangled in Self-love: Augustine’s Normative Argument 67 Augustine Goes Secular 75 Kant’s Problematic Solution 83 Reworking Kant—And Altruism 89 Conclusion 91 Part III The Problems with Normative Altruism 93 Two Conceptions of Altruism 93 Evidence for Altruism on a Descriptive Level 95 Motivational Barriers to Normative Altruism 113 Changing the Way We Talk About Altruism 121 Conclusion 126 Bibliography 131 i Abstract In contemporary moral philosophy, altruism holds a place of prominence. Although a complex idea, the term seeps into everyday discourse, by no means confined to the esoteric language of philosophers and psychologists. -
The Cross of Wisdom Anthony Feneuil
The Cross of Wisdom Anthony Feneuil To cite this version: Anthony Feneuil. The Cross of Wisdom: Ambiguities in Turning Down Apologetics (Paul, Anselm, Barth). Hans-Christoph Askani; Christophe Chalamet. The Wisdom and Foolishness of God: First Corinthians 1-2 in Theological Exploration, Fortress Press, 2015, 9781451490206. halshs-01257482 HAL Id: halshs-01257482 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01257482 Submitted on 17 Jan 2016 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. 8 The Cross of Wisdom: Ambiguities in Turning Down Apologetics (Paul, Anselm, Barth) Anthony Feneuil There is more than one fool in the Bible, and I would like to start with another fool than Paul’s, but whose legacy in the history of theology (and philosophy) has been equally signi«cant. I want to talk about the fool from Psalms 14 and 53, who dares to say in his heart: “There is no God.” How is the foolishness of this fool ( ), called nabal in Latin , and in Greek ἄφρων, related to the foolishness of insipiens God (μωρία, in Latin ) in Paul’s epistle? It would certainly stultitia be interesting to compare philologically μωρία and ἄφρων, and to determine what version of the psalm Paul could have been reading, 167 This content downloaded from 129.194.8.73 on Sun, 17 Jan 2016 11:07:09 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE WISDOM AND FOOLISHNESS OF GOD in order to guess whether he intended to distinguish the two kinds of foolishness.