The Reasonableness Of Christian Faith

Sometimes when we hear the word justification we find it accompanied by other “ation” words: sanctification, glorification, propitiation, regeneration and imputation. These words are from time to time used interchangeably. This can be confusing and needs to be clarified before continuing. Imputation is where credit has been given. It can also mean to lay responsibility on someone. With God, imputation is where He accounts righteousness to the believer. Sanctification is separate from justification. Justification is about one’s position with God; sanctification is about one’s spiritual condition. Propitiation is defined in “Reformation tradition as the satisfaction of divine wrath upon sin”. Regeneration is the creation of a new heart and new spirit. This change of heart and spirit is what allows us to live righteous lives. Glorification comes once we receive our heavenly reward. It is the completion of our salvation.

How is the term justification defined by scholars? What is your own definition based on your research?

Aquinas’ understanding of the roles of faith and reason can be likened to a house. Reason provides the foundation. This foundation draws heavily from the Greek philosophers. Without special revelation from God, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle could not comprehend the fullness of wisdom only Christ provides. However, by observing general revelation, they reasoned their way to many universal truths such as the existence of a perfection outside of mankind–evidenced by Plato’s world of the forms–the benefits of the virtuous life–Socrates’ insistence that good men can never truly be harmed–and the distinction man holds from the animals–Aristotle’s recognition of the importance of logos. This use of reason compliments the teachings of Paul in Romans. He reminds the believers in Rome, “…since

Scientific reasoning has brought humanity to incredibly high levels of sophistication in all realms of knowledge. For Saint Thomas Aquinas, his passion involved the scientific reasoning of God. The existence, simplicity and will of God are simply a few topics which Aquinas explores in the Summa Theologica. Through arguments entailing these particular topics, Aquinas forms an argument that God has the ability of knowing and willing this particular world of contingent beings. The contrasting nature of necessary beings and contingent beings is at the heart of this debate.

Aquinas makes numerous claims regarding happiness. Specifically, Aquinas uses the term “happiness” in a sense of objective fulfillment, rather than subjective well-being. He asserts that human happiness does not consist in acquiring things such as money, honor, fame, power, goods of the body, or pleasure. He also claims that complete, i.e. perfect, happiness can only be achieved by contemplating God in the afterlife. I will discuss arguments for, arguments against, and my opinion for both claims.

The central problem of this paper that I am going to try to convince my atheist friend is that god existed. I will argue in favor of a higher being by first presenting and evaluating two argument that will be used to persuade my atheist friend. First I will explain Pascal’s argument. Second I will explain one of the arguments of Aquinas’s that is in favor of the existence of god. Then I am going to explain what’s the central difference between the two arguments is. I will conclude by stating whether I was successful in converting my atheist friend.

Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica represents one of the most famous attempts to prove God's existence. Aquinas wrote at a time in which people began to develop skepticism concerning the existence of God. In this regard, it is instructive to position Aquinas

Faith and reason can be viewed as opposites. Faith is an element of belief, something an individual does not necessarily require a reason for accepting without reason. For example, an individual’s reason for believing in God may not seem too rational when they are trying to explain them. They may not even stand up to criticism. On the other hand, reason is constructed as a formula. Faith is basically something we believe in, like something we learn in church. Reason is something we learn in school, such as a math formula.

Thomas Aquinas believed that the existence of God is self-evident, but rejected the idea that it can be deduced from claims about the concept of God. He critiques Anselm’s ontological argument, stating, “not everyone who hears this word ‘God’ understands it to signify that some have believed God to be a body” . This critique is plausible because most people have different ideas of who God is and what He does. Anselm’s argument works only to convince all people to define the notion of God in the same way. However, Anselm may rebut this critique, arguing that his ontological argument could be restated.

First and foremost, the book ‘The Case for Faith’ by Christian apologetic Lee Strobel manages to properly focus on the philosophy of Christianity. For this reason, its major theme is the study and analysis on each of the strongest objections to the Christian faith—whereby Lee Strobel sought to intentionally disprove Christianity, ironically, each answer leading him to prove why faith in God is a justifying conclusion. All things considered, each objection delves into the topic of faith, ranging from Church history to both the philosophical and ethical basis on the Lord’s word. Altogether, each aspect explores the theme on the effect of faith. Even so, the worldview starts off as skeptical, while slowly developing into an informed Christian

Aquinas would probably claim, after an examination of my ethical glasses, that I was en route to finding happiness through God. My protest against His intrinstic place in happiness would appear to him as finding happiness in one of the other, unfulling sources. I disagree. I acknowledge the fact that I may grow to find happiness in God, but I do not think all people should be held to that standard. Upon further reflection on the specific, the nuts and bolts per say, of my glasses, Aquinas might agree with my emphasis on happiness through a good moral life, though the removal of God would be an issue, and on the importance of strong communities. Aquinas observes, in Summa Theologiae, that “happiness is learned in community” (20). The parts of my ethical glasses that Aquinas would debate are the same that I contest in his: the absolute focus on the ultimate goodness and happiness coming from God. I do appreciate his emphasis on finding happiness, through a good, charitable life, but I think one can be just as happy through charity to one’s neighbors. I also admire his awareness of how flawed humans are and the acknowledgement that earthly happinesses are not

Pope John Paul II once said, “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth – in a word, to know himself – so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.” (Fallible Blogma) Based on this significant and powerful quote, one can infer that faith and reason are directly associated and related. It can also be implied that the combination of faith and reason allows one to seek information and knowledge about truth and God; based on various class discussions and past academic teachings, it is understood that both faith and reason are the instruments that diverse parties

1.) Thomas Aquinas believes that humans are born with a clean slate in a state of potency and acquire knowledge through sense experiences by abstraction of the phantasms. His view on how man acquires knowledge rejects Plato’s theory that humans are born with innate species. Along with Plato’s theory of humans understanding corporeal things through innate species, Aquinas also rejects Plato’s theory that in being born with innate species, humans spend their lives recollecting their knowledge.

Faith and reason were two modes of belief that dominated the history of Western Civilization. Both faith and reason were popularized as tools to understand the universe in Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian eras. By conflicting with each other, these two modes of belief sparked a lot of controversy. Reason or rationality is belief based on concrete evidence and logic. The development of one’s reason relies heavily on observation and questioning. Greco-Roman philosophers believed in the power of the human mind to understand the world. So in order to find ultimate truth, Greco-Roman philosophers dedicated their lives to perfecting their reasoning skills and encouraged those around them to do the same. Contradictory to reason, faith is the

We often take advantage of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution that states that we have the right to practice any religion we desire. It is a civil right many people do not appreciate nearly enough. We do not realize that people in other countries do not have this privilege. In other countries, innocent people are being persecuted, killed, and tortured because of their religion and their religious practices. The most notable is the genocide of Jews during World War II. Many Jews were killed by Nazis and many more died in the concentration camps due to the harsh and cruel conditions they were forced to endure. Unfortunately,