Faith Reason and the Existence of God
Faith, Reason and the Existence of God
Denys Turner
University of Cambridge
Contents
Preface Acknowledgements Part I The ‘shape’ of reason 1 2 3 4 5 6 Clarifications and issues Negative theology and natural theology The darkness of God and the light of Christ Intellect Reason and rhetoric The ‘shape’ of reason
page ix xvii
3 26 48 75 89 108
Part II Univocity, ‘difference’ and ‘onto-theology’ 7 8 9 Univocity and inference: Duns Scotus God, grammar, and difference Existence and God 125 149 169
Part III Inference and the existence of God 10 11 12 13 Analogy and inference Why anything? Refusing the question The God of reason and the God of Christ List of works cited Index 193 226 248 260 263 268 vii Preface
This monograph is intentionally narrow in focus: perhaps some will think perversely so. Beyond offering reasons of a philosophical kind for resisting some versions of the opinion, very commonly held, that the existence of God is incapable of rational demonstration, I do no more than to give further reasons of a theological nature why Christians should think, as a matter of faith, that the existence of God is rationally demonstrable, as a dogmatic decree of the first Vatican Council says. But nowhere in this essay do I offer any argument intended as proof of the existence of God, nor do I examine from the standpoint of validity any of the arguments which historically have been offered as proofs. This is because all the issues which appear to matter theologically speaking in connection with proofs of the existence of God arise in connection with the possibility in principle of a proof, and not with the validity of any supposed proof in particular. Hence, out of a desire to stick to the point, I have resisted a wider discussion which would have distracted from it. But some will find this restraint pedantic. At least they have been warned. Also, since hardly any theologians nowadays think the existence of God is rationally provable, there will
Denys Turner
University of Cambridge
Contents
Preface Acknowledgements Part I The ‘shape’ of reason 1 2 3 4 5 6 Clarifications and issues Negative theology and natural theology The darkness of God and the light of Christ Intellect Reason and rhetoric The ‘shape’ of reason
page ix xvii
3 26 48 75 89 108
Part II Univocity, ‘difference’ and ‘onto-theology’ 7 8 9 Univocity and inference: Duns Scotus God, grammar, and difference Existence and God 125 149 169
Part III Inference and the existence of God 10 11 12 13 Analogy and inference Why anything? Refusing the question The God of reason and the God of Christ List of works cited Index 193 226 248 260 263 268 vii Preface
This monograph is intentionally narrow in focus: perhaps some will think perversely so. Beyond offering reasons of a philosophical kind for resisting some versions of the opinion, very commonly held, that the existence of God is incapable of rational demonstration, I do no more than to give further reasons of a theological nature why Christians should think, as a matter of faith, that the existence of God is rationally demonstrable, as a dogmatic decree of the first Vatican Council says. But nowhere in this essay do I offer any argument intended as proof of the existence of God, nor do I examine from the standpoint of validity any of the arguments which historically have been offered as proofs. This is because all the issues which appear to matter theologically speaking in connection with proofs of the existence of God arise in connection with the possibility in principle of a proof, and not with the validity of any supposed proof in particular. Hence, out of a desire to stick to the point, I have resisted a wider discussion which would have distracted from it. But some will find this restraint pedantic. At least they have been warned. Also, since hardly any theologians nowadays think the existence of God is rationally provable, there will