Canuckster wrote:Is God's existence purely rationally definable?
Of course it is. It's a matter of general revelation. Existence is a binary state: it either is or it is not. The question in this thread isn't the issue of that; it's an issue of the nature of God's existence. That, too, is rationally definable. Purely? Of course not. We could never come to the Trinity without special revelation, but once special revelation is given, it still must not contradict itself. To that extent, all revelation, both general and special, must be "rationally definable." To argue otherwise is to argue that God is asking us to believe self-contradictions. As an OECer, I'd expect you to see the absurdity of that position immediately. After all, isn't that the entire basis on which you reject the "appearance of age" argument? It would, as Rich says, turn God into a deceiver.
If so, then is man's perspective and finite capacity and capability able to adequately define him?
Until shown otherwise, we must assume so. You can't start out with skepticism about your own perspective. If your perspective proves inadequate, that must be at the end of investigation, not at the beginning.
What were the earliest Church Father's perspectives on this?
They held the positions I'm espousing in this thread.
Is this approach to God the one that Jesus took in revealing God the Father to us?
In some ways, yes, and in other ways, no. Ultimately, Jesus was the ultimate form of special revelation. But what we are dealing with in this thread is general revelation. Now, because we have been given special revelation, we will be able to go further than unaided natural theology, but we must at least start there. I don't assume that you are going to argue that the only way to know God is through special revelation. Paul didn't seem to think so.
If not, why are Greek philosophical constructs which primarily enter into the mix centuries after Christ's incarnation perceived to be preferable as a hermeneutical approach to these questions when Jesus himself, as recorded in the Gospels, chose to speak of God and his characteristics in terms of parables and to encourage others to equate God to what they saw in Christ Himself?
First, what does the origin of a particular way of thinking have to do with whether it is accurate or not? That would be called a genetic fallacy. Just because a bad person comes up with an idea doesn't make the idea bad. If your second grade teacher was a rapist, that doesn't change the fact that he was right when he taught you your times tables.
Second, there is nothing hermeneutical about our discussion. Philosophical? Yes. But we aren't dealing with the words of texts. To the extent that we need to go to special revelation to find out things about God, we will, and hermeneutics will apply to our investigation of Scripture, but ultimately, the issue of God's nature is not hermeneutical at all.
Third, we can expand the meaning of "hermeneutics" to include the way in which we understand
any communication, which would include general revelation. But under that position, we still must have the conversation we are having, for hermeneutics comes
from general revelation. You don't learn your hermeneutical method from Scripture. Rather, you apply the hermeneutical method that you use every day to Scripture to see what God would have you to see. Likewise, we apply that same method (basic rationality) to general revelation, and we see the things about God that we are talking about in this thread. It is precisely BECAUSE of this that Paul could say that all men know the basic truths about God. To say that we cannot is to negate Paul's argument in Romans.
If God chose to reveal Himself ultimately in the person of Jesus Christ, why would the merger of Greek sophistry from the pagan traditions that was accelerated with the elevation of the Church and its absorption of many of the pagan traditions and priesthood of the Greco-Roman Temples be preferable over the Hebraic mindframe that Jesus, Paul and John (the primary sources of the NT) had when they wrote under inspiration (assuming the plenary model.)?
Again, we have to distinguish between general and special revelation. The former can say a lot about God's attributes, existence, nature, etc. The latter can certainly speak to that, and where it does, we must give it preference. But it is
primarily focused on God's plan. Christ is both the manifestation and the great revelation of God's intentions for humanity, and it is because of that that we can know Him experientially. But the conversation we are having here has nothing to do with either of those--God's plan for man (or the universe) or our ability to experientially know Him.
Don't minsunderstand. I'm not stating an opposite extreme of rejecting reason, but reason itself (as expressed finitely by humans) is incapable of fully defining and understanding God. Further, reducing God to attributes and perfect shadows smacks more of Platonic philosophy and leads to an impersonal form of religion where God is seen as distant, unapproachable and unwilling to transcend. It smacks to some extent as gnostic and the elevation of God to principles rather than loving and knowable as Jesus embodied God and reached out to Humanity to restore us from our fallen state and nature.
First, I don't believe you are rejecting reason. You can't, because such an assertion is self-defeating. You can't use reason to reject itself. Second, I've not said anywhere that I'm trying to
fully define or understand God. But the fact that you include that word shows me that you recognize that reason can
to some extent understand Him, a fact that is supported by Paul's reference to natural theology. What we are trying to do is discover what reason--natural theology--actually
does say about God, and I argue that reason teaches Divine Simplicity. Third, I'm not sure where you got the idea that anyone wants t reduce "god to attributes and perfect shadows." Perhaps a quote would be in order here. Fourth, the ideas we are discussing here are neither Platonic or Aristotelean (or, for that matter, Thomistic). You can find these points in all these systems, and then others. Augustine was a Platonist. I'm not, and neither was Aquinas. If advocates of Divine Simplicity can reject Platonism, then it is not true that our theology "smacks" of it; still less does it lead "to an impersonal form of religion where God is seen as distant, unapproachable and unwilling to transcend." I get the impression that at this point of your paragraph, you were just "throwing mud"--albeit respectfully--more than analyzing the positions and commenting on them respectively. I, for one, hardly view God as any of the things that you say this system necessarily leads to. Still less did the Church Fathers, and they were the ones who had a hand in developing it!
One of my concerns with the Thomastic approach is that it presumes elements that were not in the understanding of those who wrote under inspiration, and then in turn claims infallible, inerrency without defining and recognizing those assumptions that find their origins not in the scriptures but with their assumed hermeneutic approach.
How does it claim infallibility or inerrency? It's only so to the extent that it properly applies reason to sound premises; in this respect, it is no difference from any other science, be it math or physics. Let me ask you: what do you understand "the Thomistic approach" to be?
I haven't got it figured out (nor do I think can or ever will) but these are the surface elements that concern me the more I consider and examine what appears to me to have replaced the relational origins of Christ's revelation with a religious system similar to those that Christ came to end.
I'm not sure where you see any such similarities. Like I said, when you understand that what we are dealing with is general revelation--that is the only thing with which natural theology can be concerned--then there is no way that our system at all overthrows special revelation. They are distinct spheres. So unless you are going to call Paul a liar (which I know don't), there is no reason that we cannot look to natural theology and learn things about God. If it teaches that God is not a composite being, then so it teaches. If it teaches that God exists as a omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient being, then so it teaches. Asserting that it does teach these things in no way undermines Scripture or the self-revelation of God through Jesus Christ.