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T . H . E . O . L . O . G . Y

The Science of God: meditations on 'that-than-which-nothing-greater-can-be-thought'.
First Philosophy; Biblical exegesis; Teleology; contemplations of the archetypical 'Good' and of the 'First Mover'.

Dixit insipiens in corde suo, Non est Deus.

__ "OK, natural science is theoretical, case concluded. What about mathematics? Theoretical too. ... Suppose, however, that there is something eternal, unchanging and apart. Does this putative Entity form the domain of a theoretical science? Yes, of course, but not that either of natural science or of mathematics, but a science more fundamental than them both. ...
"Let us, then, say that there are three forms of contemplative philosophy -- mathematics, natural science and theology. ... And it is also for the Supreme Science to study the Supreme Genus. And contemplative study is to be chosen above all other sciences, but it is this First Science of Theology that we must prefer to all other kinds even of contemplation." - Aristotle, The Metaphysics, Book Epsilon

__ "Nor can any words come up to the inexpressible Good, this One, this Source of all unity, this supra-existent Being. Mind beyond mind, word beyond speech, it is gathered up by no discourse, by no intuition, by no name. It is and it is as no other being is. Cause of all existence, and therefore itself transcending existence, it alone could give an authoritative account of what it really is." -- Pseudo Dionysius, The Divine Names  


__ This page is presently "under construction". In the meantime, you may want to consider the related content of my meditations page. But first examine what is submitted here. I think you will find it interesting. Some Christians may find certain of the views that I will express to be "heretical". It is hoped that such individuals will allow these thoughts due consideration [in the spirit of Paul's method of inquiry recorded in 1 Thessalonians 5:21]. No less a giant than Augustine was accused of heresy by those who did not, could not, or would not, grasp the hunger of his inquiries, the honest humility of his meditations or his scope of vision. I am no Augustine, please don't understand me to suggest such a thing. And yet it may be that, whether the visitor to this page is an atheist, agnostic, a Christian theist or a postmodern seeker, he may engage some thoughts and information of a somewhat revelatory quality. I hope so. As Aristotle said of theology, "there is a science higher than natural science. For in truth nature is but one genus of that which is. It is a science whose subject matter is universal and which is exclusively concerned with primary substance*. And it is also concerned with the axioms of mathematics**. Natural science is a kind of philosophy, but it is not First Philosophy." - The Metaphysics, Book Gamma. (Readers unfamiliar with the philology of "first philosophy" will likely not understand that statement. Let us cast some light on it: *Do not misunderstand Aristotle's reference to "primary substance" -- he is not speaking of "matter" but of its source, the self-existent entity he calls "the Prime Mover". After all, what kind of "matter" could the primordial Cause of matter consist of? We cannot answer this question by simply evoking the understanding that "matter" is a state of energy -- the information problem [teleology] and the existence problem [ontology] would both remain unaddressed. Theologians [Dallas Willard, for example] still speak of God as "primary substance", meaning that from which all else subsists. **You may wonder why Aristotle states that "the axioms of mathematics" fall within the considerations of theological science. The reason is not mysterious, such axioms are unavoidably teleological. That is to say they "point" beyond the physical universe. Philosophers of mathematics, from Plato to Penrose, have generally found the mathematical laws that prescribe the physical world to not themselves be, in any sense, physical [for contemporary discussions see Davies, Devlin, Penrose]. We discover these axioms, by which Aristotle meant real 'truths', to be "immaterial". Space-time and "matter" are referenced to these truths -- in an obvious sense arise from them, but the axioms/truths themselves are not of this world [this is actually pointed out more forcefully by Plato]. What we humans do with these axioms constitutes the mathematical sciences. The truths themselves are of something apart.)

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"This Highest cannot be divided and allotted, must remain intangible but not bound to space, it may be present at many points, wheresoever there is anything capable of accepting one of its manifestations. ... It is precisely because there is nothing within the One that all things are from it: ... Seeking nothing ... lacking nothing, the One is perfect ... and in its exuberance has produced the new; this product has turned again to its begetter and been filled and has become its contemplator..."

Plotinus, circa 260 AD, The Enneads

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"Looked for it cannot be seen; it is invisible.
Listened for it cannot be heard; it is inaudible.
Reached for it cannot be touched; it is intangible.
These three are beyond analysis; these three are one.
... Without beginning, without end,
it is infinite, undefinable.
It is the form of the formless;
it is existence in non-existence;
it is the greatest mystery."

Lao-tzu, circa 530 BC, Tao Te Ching

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"The heavens tell of the glory of God.
The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.

They speak without a sound or a word.
their voice is silent in the skies;
yet their message has gone out to all the earth
and their words to all the world."

David, circa 1000 BC, Psalm 19, NLT

 

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