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History of Encounters Between Philosophy and Theology

Module description

Christian theology has always had a close relationship with philosophy. Theologians have used philosophical ideas and arguments to understand religious beliefs, and philosophers have addressed religious ideas in their work. The relationship has not always been a happy one, however, with theologians and philosophers sometimes attacking each other’s ideas bitterly. In this module you will study some of the key periods in history when Christian theology has interacted especially closely with major philosophical movements of the day. The emphasis throughout is on both the history of these encounters and the ideas and arguments that they spawned.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This option module will focus on a number of periods when Christian theology came into close contact with secular philosophical movements, from the second century up to the twentieth. In each case, the module will introduce the main figures involved in the encounter and the ideas and arguments that were used, both by those seeking to incorporate philosophical ideas into their theology and those who resisted such attempts.

Themes covered will include the concept of God, the relation between God and the universe, the appropriateness of different methods of reasoning, the eternity of the universe, the nature of mind and of material substance, and the nature of history. You will gain deeper understanding of the intellectual and religious issues at stake at these points in history, and develop your ability to analyse and compare ideas from different traditions. By the end, you will have a good understanding of this complex history, and of how both Christian theology and philosophy more generally have developed and inspired each other.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate understanding of the history of the interaction between Christian theology and philosophy during the periods studied
• 2. Demonstrate understanding of the main philosophical ideas at stake during these periods, and why and how people reacted to them in different ways
• 3. Demonstrate familiarity with the theological doctrines that were the particular subject of debate during these periods, and how they could be understood in different ways

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Demonstrate understanding of different interpretations of theological doctrines and the arguments supporting them
• 5. Use the conceptual tools of philosophical analysis and the history of philosophy on theological topics

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. Shape detailed information into a coherent account, with some guidance
• 7. Demonstrate consistence and rigour in method and argument
• 8. Make thorough use of selected written sources, with some guidance
• 9. Communicate clearly in written form

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• The second and third centuries: Platonism and the emergence of Christian theology. Key figures: Justin Martyr; Clement of Alexandria; Celsus; Origen. Key ideas: the nature of God, and allegory in scriptural interpretation.
• The fourth and fifth centuries: Neoplatonism. Key figures: Plotinus, Gregory of Nyssa, Augustine of Hippo. Key ideas: the nature of goodness, beauty, and love.
• The seventh century: Daoism, and the coming of Christianity to China. Key figures: Lao Tsu, Wang Bi, Alopen. Key ideas: the role of “nothingness” in ontology and ethics, God as the Dao, Jesus as the avatar of Lao Tsu.
• The thirteenth century: Aristotelianism in the medieval West. Key figures: Siger of Brabant, Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas. Key ideas: the eternity of the world, the nature of the soul, the nature of philosophical and theological truth.
• The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries: Aristotelianism and Augustinianism. Key figures: Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, Henry of Ghent, Duns Scotus. Key ideas: the nature of knowledge, and the role of the senses and of God.
• The fifteenth century: Renaissance Neoplatonism. Key figures: Iamblichus, Proclus, Marsilio Ficino. Key ideas: beauty, magic, and the chain of being.
• The sixteenth century: Confucianism, and the coming of Catholicism to China. Key figures: Confucius, Zhu Xi, Matteo Ricci. Key ideas: “humanity” and ethics, God and ontology, the question of translation.
• The seventeenth century: Cartesianism. Key figures: Rene Descartes, Antoine Arnauld, Nicolas Malebranche. Key ideas: the nature of substance, extension and mechanism, ideas, and the role of God in human understanding.
• The sixteenth to eighteenth centuries: scepticism. Key figures: Sextus Empiricus, Michel de Montaigne, Pierre Charron, Pierre-Daniel Huet. Key ideas: the role of humility in theology, the impossibility of certainty without God, the nature of religious faith.
• The nineteenth century: idealism. Key figures: G.W.F. Hegel, David Strauss. Key ideas: the nature of God as Spirit, the identity of God and humanity, the nature of biblical revelation and the role of Jesus.
• The twentieth century: African philosophy. Key figures: John Mbiti. Key ideas: the nature of time, the nature of eschatology, the relationship between the living and the dead and the kingdom of heaven.

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Adams, N., ed. The impact of idealism: the legacy of post-Kantian thought: IV: religion Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2013
• Baumer, C. The Church of the East: An illustrated history of Assyrian Christianity London: Tauris 2016
• Beiser, F., ed. The Cambridge companion to Hegel and nineteenth-century philosophy Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2008
• Boys-Stones, G.R., ed. Platonist philosophy 80 BC to AD 250: An introduction and collection of sources in translation Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2018
• Cessario, R. A short history of Thomism Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press 2005
• Dillon, J. The middle Platonists London: Duckworth 1996
• Fox, R. Time and eternity in mid-thirteenth-century thought Oxford: Oxford University Press 2006
• Heaney, R. From historical to critical post-colonial theology: The contribution of John S. Mbiti and Jesse N. K. Mugambi Eugene, OR: Pickwick
• Heine, R. Origen: An introduction to his life and thought Eugene, OR: Cascade 2019
• Hodgson, P. Hegel and Christian theology Oxford: Oxford University Press 2005
• Lennon, T., Nicholas, J., and Davis, J., eds. Problems of Cartesianism Montreal; Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press 1982
• McCosker, P. and Turner, D., eds. The Cambridge companion to the Summa Theologiae New York: Cambridge University Press 2016
• McInernry, R. Aquinas against the Averroists: On there being only one intellect West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press 1993
• Mignini, P., ed. New perspectives in the studies on Matteo Ricci Quodlibet 2019
• Nadler, S., Schmaltz, T., and Antoine-Mahut, D., eds. The Oxford handbook of Descartes and Cartesianism Oxford: Oxford University Press 2019
• Pelikan, J. Christianity and classical culture New Haven, CT; London: Yale University Press 1993
• Schmaltz, T. Radical Cartesianism Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2004
• Teske, R., ed. Essays on the philosophy of Henry of Ghent Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University Press 2012

Key words search

History of Doctrine; Philosophy and Theology; Platonism; Aristotelianism; Cartesianism; idealism