Two disciplines, one object.
Philosophy and theology are both concerned with first causes. In this way, they are both distinct from science, which is the study of proximate causes. They differ too, from each other in their methods of investigation. In part one of this article, I will attempt to provide a working definition of philosophy and its purpose.
In the context of this article, Philosophy is meant to refer only to Western Philosophy. Historically, philosophy dates back to around the six century B.C. with Thales of Miletus, a sixth-century (B.C.) Greek mathematician and astronomer, often considered to be the first philosopher in the Western tradition.
Philosophy is defined as the “love of wisdom”. Its methods of seeking this wisdom are conducted through the use of human reason alone. This takes into account the three acts of the intellect, simple apprehension, judgement, and reasoning. In the first act, simple apprehension, the intellect comes to understand the essence of an object. For example, an apple. The mind simply understands the nature of an apple. In the second act of the intellect, the mind predicates something of the subject. For example, the apple is red. The mind has predicated “red” of the “apple”. Finally, the mind may make an advance in knowledge. For example, the mind may conclude that fruits are healthy, and red apples are fruits, therefore red apples are healthy. This is obviously a simple explanation, but one gets the idea.
A further distinction should be drawn between knowledge, as conducted through the three acts of the intellect, and wisdom. Where knowledge relates to science, it is the understanding of things through their proximate causes. Wisdom, on the other hand, is knowledge of first or universal causes. Scientific knowledge is very narrow and focused, while philosophy takes a broad view.
As a discipline, philosophy may be further divided into four subjects. The subjects listed are not in any particular order of importance. Epistemology is the study of the nature of knowledge and the extent of that knowledge. Logic is the study of reasoning. Ethics concerns itself with how one should go about the work of living rightly, and lastly, metaphysics which seeks to understand the nature of reality.
We may therefore conclude that philosophy seeks to understand the most basic and fundamental questions of life using the powers of human reasoning.
So much for philosophy. I would like now to move to a discussion of theology. As I did with philosophy, I shall begin with a definition.
The word theology has Greek roots and is generally defined as “the study of God”. However, a wider definition would encompass the study of God’s nature as well as religious beliefs in general. This definition alone distinguishes it from philosophy. While theology as a field of study may be traced back to Hesiod’s “genealogy of the gods” around the eighth century B.C., Christian theology traces its beginnings to the Letters of Paul, an apostle of Christ, which were distributed among various Christian communities in the first century A.D.
Like philosophy, theology seeks to address questions related to first causes and to the meaning of existence (ontology). However, the data that theology uses are not limited to those within the purview of human reason. Theology adds a controversial data source, revelation. The word revelation means to “lay bare” or to “disclose information to man by a divine or supernatural means”.
Theology presupposes not only the existence of God, but man’s capacity, albeit limited, to understand God. It is these premises combined with man’s desire to know God that makes up the foundation for theology. To be certain, theology can only be studied from the standpoint of one who accepts the existence of God. One must believe in God in order to accept the possibility that God has revealed Himself to mankind. Like faith itself, theology does not suspend reason, but moves to truths that cannot be comprehended by reason alone. Perhaps the best way to state it is to say that divine revelation illuminates human reason.
The subject of revelation may itself be divided into two categories, general revelation and special revelation. General revelation is defined as revelation which is accessible to reason. As an example, we may take one of Thomas Aquinas’ five ways. The argument for the first cause is predicated on the fact that everything in the universe (including the universe itself) is caused by something extrinsic to its self. In order to avoid an infinite regress of causes, there must be a first cause which itself is not caused. This is what may be called God.
The second type of revelation, know as special revelation is often associated with miracles or the appearance of God to a particular person or group. Special revelation, by its very nature, is supernatural. This type of revelation is documented biblically in such events as God’s contact with Abraham or His covenant with Israel, through Moses. These events culminate in God making Himself present to mankind in the form of Jesus Christ.
In conclusion, we may say that theology is the systemic study of God and His interaction with mankind.
