Notes St. Albert's Contribution to Philosophy
VATICAN CITY, MARCH 24, 2010.- There is no opposition between faith and science, says Benedict XVI, who proposed the example of St. Albert the Great to illustrate this truth.
The Pope considered this 13th century saint today during the general audience in St. Peter's Square. "He still has much to teach us," the Pontiff said of him.
"St. Albert shows that between faith and science there is no opposition, notwithstanding some episodes of misunderstanding recorded in history," Benedict XVI proposed. "[...] St. Albert the Great reminds us that between science and faith there is friendship, and that the men of science can undertake, through their vocation to the study of nature, a genuine and fascinating journey of sanctity."
The Holy Father noted how Albert effected a cultural shift by accepting and evaluating the thought and works of Aristotle.
"St. Albert the Great opened the door for the complete reception of the philosophy of Aristotle in Medieval philosophy and theology, a reception elaborated later in a definitive way by St. Thomas," he explained. "This reception of a philosophy, let us say, pagan and pre-Christian was an authentic cultural revolution for that time. And yet, many Christian thinkers feared Aristotle's philosophy, non-Christian philosophy, above all because, presented by its Arab commentators, it was interpreted in a way of appearing, at least in some points, as altogether irreconcilable with the Christian faith."
A father of philosophy
This situation, the Pope noted, presented a dilemma that Albert would address: Are faith and reason in opposition to one another or not?
The Pontiff explained that here "is one of the great merits of St. Albert: with scientific rigor he studied the works of Aristotle, convinced that everything that is rational is compatible with the faith revealed in sacred Scriptures. In other words, St. Albert the Great, thus contributed to the formation of an autonomous philosophy, different from theology and united to it only by the unity of the truth."
The Holy Father concluded by inviting the faithful to pray that God will continue to send his Church men and women like St. Albert, "learned, pious and wise theologians."
And he added: "May he help each one of us to make our own the 'formula of sanctity' that he followed in his life: 'To want everything that I want for the glory of God, to wish and do everything only and always for his glory.'"
Full text: http://www.zenit.org/article-28741?l=english
Thursday 25 March 2010
A War on Science
When Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution by natural selection he shattered the dominant belief of his time - that humans were the product of divine creation. Now some scientists fear it is facing the most formidable challenge yet: a controversial new theory called Intelligent Design
Thursday 11 March 2010
The Irenaean Theodicy
The 2nd Century Bishop of Lyon attempts to explain the presence of evil in a world created by a good God.
Sunday 7 March 2010
Thursday 4 March 2010
St Augustine's Theodicy
Click the link below for the animation:
Transcript:
Good evening St Augustine, we’re here to discuss your theodicy. It is an interesting subject
Yes it is, evil is all around us and it’s dangerous. It hurts people physically, but worse it causes people to doubt the existence of God. Because I know they are completely wrong I had to work out reasons why evil exists alongside God.
Is it possible that God doesn’t exist?
No! That’s impossible! God is the only certainty we have. I started my search in the Bible, which, as the word of God can’t be wrong. I think we all already know that the answer to our question lies in the Book of Genesis. There it says that God created the universe and everything in it..
So he created evil then?
Certainly not! A perfect being like God couldn’t create evil. It’s logically impossible! Think about it another way. If a perfect God created everything in existence then it is impossible for evil to exist.
But we know evil exists as sure as ……………
No, you think evil is present but you have got it wrong. Evil is not a substance, it is an absence. It is the absence of goodness. If you think about the inconsistent triad we know God is good, we know God is omniscient, yet we see evil in the world. So it must follow that our consistency lies in our concept of evil. Evil is not a substance, it is a privation.
Where does it come from then? That is supposing you can say ‘it’ about something that doesn’t exist.
Well! God created a perfect world. Adam and Eve were made in God’s likeness and lived in harmony with God and nature in the Garden of Eden.
So what went wrong?
The Fall of Man. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and that created sin, or call it evil. Because God is omniscient he knew this would happen. Just as he had foreseen that dispute between the angels which led Satan to being kicked out of heaven for his arrogance.
Couldn’t God stop it? I thought he was omnipotent.
Of course he could, but a perfect creation is not one of robots! God knew this would happen and made plans for it.
Hang on. If God didn’t cause evil, who did?
They did, the first humans. God gave the angels and humans he created the free will to choose whether to love and obey him or not.
That’s risky.
But without free will God’s creation would be merely mechanical. No, for creation to be truly good, God’s creatures must be free to choose. You value a relationship more when someone freely chooses to love you, rather than be forced to by someone or something else.
Yes, but what if people choose the wrong thing?
They punish themselves just as Adam and Eve did when they chose to turn away from good with the consequence that they had to leave the Garden of Eden. They had destroyed God’s natural order and that created natural evil.
Yes, but this was all in the past. What has it got to do with us today?
We all descended from Adam and Eve so we all inherit their guilt. Some humans today turn away from God and evil flourishes. But this is a loving God, who sent his Son Jesus Christ to save us. Jesus’ sacrifice paid the price of Adam and Eve’s original sin so humans who want to, can get close to God once more.
Thank you.
Transcript:
Good evening St Augustine, we’re here to discuss your theodicy. It is an interesting subject
Yes it is, evil is all around us and it’s dangerous. It hurts people physically, but worse it causes people to doubt the existence of God. Because I know they are completely wrong I had to work out reasons why evil exists alongside God.
Is it possible that God doesn’t exist?
No! That’s impossible! God is the only certainty we have. I started my search in the Bible, which, as the word of God can’t be wrong. I think we all already know that the answer to our question lies in the Book of Genesis. There it says that God created the universe and everything in it..
So he created evil then?
Certainly not! A perfect being like God couldn’t create evil. It’s logically impossible! Think about it another way. If a perfect God created everything in existence then it is impossible for evil to exist.
But we know evil exists as sure as ……………
No, you think evil is present but you have got it wrong. Evil is not a substance, it is an absence. It is the absence of goodness. If you think about the inconsistent triad we know God is good, we know God is omniscient, yet we see evil in the world. So it must follow that our consistency lies in our concept of evil. Evil is not a substance, it is a privation.
Where does it come from then? That is supposing you can say ‘it’ about something that doesn’t exist.
Well! God created a perfect world. Adam and Eve were made in God’s likeness and lived in harmony with God and nature in the Garden of Eden.
So what went wrong?
The Fall of Man. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and that created sin, or call it evil. Because God is omniscient he knew this would happen. Just as he had foreseen that dispute between the angels which led Satan to being kicked out of heaven for his arrogance.
Couldn’t God stop it? I thought he was omnipotent.
Of course he could, but a perfect creation is not one of robots! God knew this would happen and made plans for it.
Hang on. If God didn’t cause evil, who did?
They did, the first humans. God gave the angels and humans he created the free will to choose whether to love and obey him or not.
That’s risky.
But without free will God’s creation would be merely mechanical. No, for creation to be truly good, God’s creatures must be free to choose. You value a relationship more when someone freely chooses to love you, rather than be forced to by someone or something else.
Yes, but what if people choose the wrong thing?
They punish themselves just as Adam and Eve did when they chose to turn away from good with the consequence that they had to leave the Garden of Eden. They had destroyed God’s natural order and that created natural evil.
Yes, but this was all in the past. What has it got to do with us today?
We all descended from Adam and Eve so we all inherit their guilt. Some humans today turn away from God and evil flourishes. But this is a loving God, who sent his Son Jesus Christ to save us. Jesus’ sacrifice paid the price of Adam and Eve’s original sin so humans who want to, can get close to God once more.
Thank you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)