This book traces the rise of a formal model of science in thirteenth-century Europe and resultant changes in assumptions about Knowledge of God in the world, investigating scholastic antecedents to modern science and reconceptualizing medieval schools of thought. The print edition is available as a set of two volumes (9789004119475).

This book traces the rise of a formal model of science in thirteenth-century Europe and resultant changes in assumptions about Knowledge of God in the world, investigating scholastic antecedents to modern science and reconceptualizing medieval schools of thought. The print edition is available as a set of two volumes (9789004119475).

Over the past several centuries, John Owen's writings on scripture have captured the attention of numerous interpreters across a relatively diverse range of disciplines. His own distinctive contribution to this doctrine was forged with a genuine fear for the on-going pre-eminence of scriptural authority in the English church firmly in view. In the face of various rival perspectives, Owen insists every Christian believer ought to be clear on the reason they believe scripture to be the word of God. Focussing on the treatise Reason of Faith (1677) in conversation with his wider theological corpus, Andrew M. Leslie studies Owen's approach to scriptural authority and Christian faith. He argues that Owen creatively drew upon an ecumenical dogmatic and metaphysical heritage to restate and refine the traditional Reformed position on scripture's divine authority, sensitive to developments in his own late seventeenth-century context. In particular, Leslie explores how Owen shares a growing concern to ground Christian faith in objective evidence, all-the-while ensuring that its ultimate foundation lies in the irresistible authority and truthfulness of God, mediated "in and by" the inspired text of scripture. Leslie also draws out the broader significance Owen ascribes to scripture in shaping a believer's relationship with the Triune God, especially its vital role in their gradual transformation into the likeness or image of Christ.

In Christ the Light, Whidden argues that illumination is a critical systematic motif in Aquinas’ theology, one that involves the nature of truth, knowledge, and God; at the root, Aquinas’ theology of light, or illumination, is Christological, grounding human knowledge of God and eschatological beatitude. This volume establishes the theological network formed by the crucial motif of light/illumination in Aquinas, from how theology operates to the systematic, sacramental, and moral coordinates in Aquinas’ theology.

Absolute Beginners adopts a variety of approaches to study the Absolute as the ultimate source of knowledge in medieval philosophy. From a historical perspective, it examines a forerunner of Spinoza’s departure from the Absolute in the Ethics: the doctrine of God as a first object in the generation of knowledge, as formulated by Henry of Ghent (†1293) and Richard Conington (†1330). Methodologically, it offers a case-study in the construction of an historical object, calling into question the self-evident and spontaneous way in which elements in the history of philosophy - its concepts and theories - are presented as primary givens. In a systematic sense, this study includes a reflection on structural indeterminacy, as pervading and stabilizing the differential system of exclusions which makes up the doctrine of God as a first object in the generation of knowledge.

Drawing from the inaugural Newman-Scotus Symposium, this edited volume presents principles that converge with striking similarities in the thought patterns of Bl. John Duns Scotus and Bl. John Henry Newman. With contributions from prominent philosophers and theologians, this book argues in detail that Newman was overall sympathetic to many of the major themes characteristic of Scotus’ metaphysics, and furthermore would be cautious about simply substituting historical dimensions and new hermeneutics for a sound metaphysical approach. The more metaphysical approach of Scotus uncovers the implicit notional foundations of Newman’s thought, while the more phenomenological style of Newman assists the reader in grasping the realism and profound spirituality lying behind the more abstract presentation of Scotus. Topics range from the Franciscan-Scotistic motive of the Incarnation, the Scotistic position of sacramental theology, to intuition and certitude, scientific form and real assent, uncoupling Scotus from Kant, the will as the power to self-determine as the essential characteristic of the will, with love as its object, and its relationship to the intellect as moved by its object, the truth, and more. Features of this edited work include: A unique text that offers connections and contexts between Newman and Scotus, including a genuine unity of approach and substantially identical convictions concerning the nature of theology and how to conduct it Contributions from prominent philosophers and theologians such as John T. Ford, Timothy P. Noone, Cyril O’Regan, Peter D. Fehlner, Olivier Boulnois, Edward J. Ondrako, Bishop Geoffrey Rowell, Mary Beth Ingham, Patricia Hutchison, and Robert C. Christie, and includes the first hand account from Deacon Jack Sullivan of the miracle that led to Newman’s beatification End of chapter study questions This book is intended for upper level undergraduate and graduate students, professors, and interested persons intuiting modern sensitivity to freedom in its relationship to the will and intellect. Scotus and Newman provide an indispensable basis for grasping the profound insights of the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes).