PREAMBULA FIDEI AND CATHOLIC THEOLOGY

Catalog description

Can the existence of God be proven philosophically, has such a proof been successfully achieved, and what might be the theological value of such a proof? These questions and others like them are taken up in this course, which surveys proofs for the existence of God in the Catholic theological tradition before and after Vatican I’s definition that “that God exists” can be known by natural reason. We explore David Hume’s and Immanuel Kant’s profoundly influential criticisms of the classical proofs. In this li ght we examine contemporary philosophical and theological efforts to retrieve, develop along new lines, or bury the classical proofs. Our focus will be on the viability and theological value of St. Thomas Aquinas’s proofs in particular. More recent authors who may be examined include Jacques Maritain, Anthony Kenny, Ralph McInerny, Denys Turner, and Richard Dawkins.