In no other subject is error more dangerous, inquiry more difficult, or the discovery of truth more rewarding—Augustine, De Trinitate
The crown of all sciences is the metaphysics. The crown of the study of the metaphysics is the study of the supreme reality: God.
It is an examination of Swinburne’s conditional claim about the existence of triune God: if theism is valid, then the functional trinity also is valid. Reading Swinburne was interesting for several intertwined reasons.
It does not make any religious claim nor theological claim.
Christian experience of God existing in threefold form is a topic of high philosophical interest. In a broader perspective, there seems to have two extreme approaches towards the Trinity: neglecting the trinity arguing that it is self contradictory doctrine (as a result rejection) and avoiding any rational understanding of it stating that it is a mystery
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Augustine whose treaties on Trinity are one of the noblest works in the Patristic period and St. Thomas Aquinas who develops Augustine's idea that the ‘persons’ of the Trinity are individuated by their relations. Hence this dissertation would make an analytic and comparative study of Swinburne’s concept of a Triune God based on these two great scholars of Christianity. Swinburne has been criticized by Brian Leftow, Kelly Clark, William Alston and Edward E. Feser. Philosophers like Thomas H. Mccall, William C.J.F., Jeffry E. Brower, Micheal E. Rea, David Brown, Cain James, Davis Stephen, Peter Forrest and Van Inwagen Peter provide different but complementary and alternative methods to argue for the necessary existence of a Triune God. Hence this dissertation as it progress will make a comparative and analytical study of Swinburne’s concept of Triune God in relation to the study of these scholars. Finally we conclude, highlighting the importance and future of Swinburne’s concept of Triune God in the formation of right philosophy on the
Denys Klimyentyev Filled with a desire to enact vengeance upon the Spanish, the infamous English corsair Sir Francis Drake and his crew set sail for the Spanish colonies in North America and the Caribbean. He gained a fearsome reputation when he captured Santo Domingo and Cartagena, two very well defended and lucrative possessions in quick succession. Though at the time Drake seemed like an all conquering corsair, he met his match and was surprisingly repulsed by the Spanish in the relatively minor colony of St. Augustine in La Florida. In the work Drake Destroys St. Augustine, James A. Covington describes this part of Drake’s adventures.
St. Augustine lived from 354 to 430 and was, therefore, seventy-six when he died. He was converted in the year 386 and was, accordingly, thirty-two years old at that time. He was ordained a priest in 391 and consecrated bishop in 393 at the age of forty-two. In his Retractions he lists no less than ninety-six books; twenty-eight of these were written before or during the time he was a priest. Eventually sixty-give others appeared, the most extensive and the most important works dating from his thirty-four years as bishop.
These biblical theologians and philosophers include St. Augustine, a convert and a father to Christianity. St. Augustine adhered to the concept of Trinity later in his life and in his teachings. The concept of Trinity is based on the idea of
The human mind’s ability and innate desire to justify and explain the world and its phenomena has led to some of the most significant and world-altering discoveries and inventions, illustrated throughout the renaissance, enlightenment, scientific revolution, and industrial revolution. Logical pursuits comprise a significant capstone of human nature and progress. However, according to Rudolf Otto in The Idea of the Holy, these tendencies have created different dimensions of religion; the rational and non-rational, with the latter often times overlooked. The most significant difference between the rational and non-rational aspects of religion deal with their respective emphasis on reason and feeling. Rudolph Otto prioritizes the non-rational as offering a truer understanding of religion because he claims the core of all religious life revolves around experiences and feeling, not simply rational thought.
Group 2 (Problem 3) Anselm’s, and Aquinas’s arguments concerning God’s existence Comparing the two medieval thinkers, Anselm and Aquinas will examine their stances on the argument concerning the existence of god. Both of Saint Anselm in his Ontological argument and Saint Thomas Aquinas in his argument “The Existence of God” confirmed that god does exist. Saint Anselm (1033-1109), was one of the most important Christian thinkers of the eleventh century, present one of the most famous arguments for God 's Existence. Saint Anselm started his argument with defining the God as " that, the greater than which cannot be conceived.
The existence of God has been presented by a multitude of philosophers. However, this has led to profound criticism and arguments of God’s inexistence. The strongest argument in contradiction to God’s existence is the Problem of Evil, presented by J.L Mackie. In this paper, I aim to describe the problem of evil, analyse the objection of the Paradox of Omnipotence and provide rebuttals to this objection. Thus, highlighting my support for Mackie’s Problem of evil.
On the other hand, theists like Swinburne, believe that evil is necessary for important reasons such as that it helps us grow and improve. In this paper I will argue that the theist is right, because the good of the evil in this specific case on problems beyond one’s control, outweighs the bad that comes from it. I will begin by stating the objection the anti-theodicist gives for why it is wrong that there is a problem of evil. (<--fix) Regarding passive evil not caused by human action, the anti-theodicist claims that there is an issue with a creator, God, allowing a world to exist where evil things happen, which are not caused by human beings (180-181).
The question that is asked time and time again is whether or not god exists. It is evident that people hold different beliefs. It is evident that through some of the beliefs of J.L. Mackie that it could be argued that God does not actually exist. I find this argument to be more agreeable. In Mackie’s Evil and Omnipotence, he argues many points to support why it should be believed that god does not exist.
The spiritual reason for the unitary call is to imitate the trinitarian
Trinitarian panentheism is also dubbed as classical panentheism, which contrasts with radical panentheism. This sort of panentheism attempts to resolve the problems of classical theism while not falling into the absolute historicization of the transcendence of God that we can see in radical panentheism. As you already know from your reading of the articles, Trinitarian panentheism is characterized by its understanding of the dynamic presence and action of the Triune God within the entire cosmos. According to this view, while the Logos is the principle of God's continuous creation, through the immanence of the Spirit, the Triune God continues "creatio continua" present in the whole of the cosmos (i.e., in the evolution of the cosmos). God in
In analyzing great Philosophical literature, few works are as famous as Plato's Apology and Allegory of the Cave. Although lesser known to the uninitiated to the world of Philosophy, but certainly no less famous or important, is Voltaire's Good Brahman. At first glance, each of these works appears quite different and only have the commonality of being older Philosophy texts. However, upon closer examination we find that they have more in common, despite their less obvious differences. In the following paragraphs, we will seek to explain each work individually and then compare and contrast both Philosopher's works.
In Christian tradition, the existence of God is central to the religion and the practices and beliefs associated with it. In this tradition, God can be conceived of as an all powerful, immortal and transcendent being who governs and creates the world as it is known. During the Medieval Era Christianity dominated Europe, leading to an extensive amount of philosophical and scholarly works related to God and how to properly conceive of him. As a result, many philosophical topics and theories were brought under examination in an attempt to combine them with Christian ideologies and conceptions of God and the world. One of the many topics brought under consideration was free will.
The rivalry between students who believe they should be able to use their cell phones in class and teachers who believe them to be disrespectful has caused a ripple effect that now bleeds through many classrooms roaring its controversial head. And here we are stuck in an ongoing battle seldom won by students. The position that students should not be able to misuse their cell phones in a classroom setting is one held by the author of “Today 's Lesson: Life in the Classroom Before Cellphones” Louise Katz, who believes that “those halcyon days” were over (Katz). Likewise, Zoya Kahn, the author of “Why Cell Phones Do Not Belong In The Classroom” has a similar stance on the topic, Kahn states that “it is in everyone’s interest for instructors to
After reading this book, I have summarized two aspects from one chapter of this book, which is Theological Possibilities: Starting with Man. I will analyze this chapter in terms of history and anthropology. And I will list out five arguments of signals of transcendence according to the author. 2. Key Words: Man, History, Anthropology, Theological Possibilities, Arguments, Signals of Transcendence, Human Reality 3.
In this essay, I will set out to prove that Thomas Aquinas’ First Cause Argument does not show that God exists and the conclusion that God exists does not follow from the premises of the first cause argument. I do think that the conclusion is valid and could be sound/or has the potential to be, but the premises fail to provide the basis upon which to reach such a conclusion. Hence, I will be raising some objections to the premises and will try to disprove any counter-arguments that could be raised in its defense. This would be done by examining Aquinas’ First Cause Argument and trying to disprove it whilst countering arguments in its defense.