Sárospataki Füzetek 2. (1998)

1998 / 1. szám - Dr. Frank Sawyer: Is there a place for God int he inn of Philosophy?

(cogito) becomes the basic lawgiver: the idea of Enlightenment autonomy puts religion - and therefore God - within the bounds of ’reason alone’. Humanism is thus secularized. After Kant, philosophy became very practical and ideological, in the sense of having a ’historical consciousness’. Kant’s critique of reason was part of an on-going critique of the whole system and all the accepted norms of western culture.

Kant was a great philosopher. He became one of the major makers of the modern mind. Philosophy continues even until today under his shadow. Many seem to agree that ’pure reason’ deals with the realm of facts, the phenomena, the empirical data of sense perceptions, mixed together with the laws of logic. Beyond all this is the noumenal realm of ethics, religion, and value judgments. But to accept this dualism leads to unsoluable dialectical tensions in modern culture. However, Kant also gives us positive views on a number of things. One is the universal validity of ethical norms. Kant tried to do justice to both the objective and the subjective side of things. Another positive aspect is the need to restrict the activity of both faith and reason. Kant wanted to complete ’pure’ reason by ’practical’ reason, which includes faith in God. But after Kant this attempt at unifying the two realms seemed too artificial to many thinkers. It is certain that theology and the church after Kant must be clearer about how to relate the Bible, faith, science and logic. The reaction by Fichte and Hegel shows that something was missing in the philosophy of Kant.

Since these lectures I am presenting are first of all for you as theology students, I would appeal to you to think about the importance of Kant, the Enlightenment and empirical experience, and also what the Romantic movement (emphasis on the will and feelings) has added or subtracted to philosophy since Kant. You have a wonderful opportunity as preachers to communicate the warmth of the Gospel which comes not from a Deist God, but from the Creator and Saviour who adds a depth and richness to life which goes far beyond abstract philosophy. But we must answer philosophy not only by preaching the Gospel but also by inquiring into a Christian perspective on philosophy and the meaning of faith in the modern world. Bonhoeffer would later ask the question: how can we live as Christians in a ’world come of age’ (enlightened, having reached a kind of Mündigkeit)? To ask this question is to accept the challenge of

Dr. hJranft Sawyer

'Henry D. Aiken, The Age of Ideology (New York:Mentor,l956), ch.l: ’Philosophy and Ideology in the Nineteenth Century."

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