« Ch.IV. Q.18. Theology Proper | Main | Ch.IV. Q.20. Moral Certainty »
July 26, 2005
Ch.IV. Q.19. Theism
THEISM, considered in relation to Dogmatic Theology, is the doctrine that (a) God exists; (b) that He is the one supreme Being whose existence is implied in, and accounts for, the universe and all its phenomena; (c) that He is infinite, self-existent, almighty, intelligent, personal, righteous, and beneficent; and (d) that He is not only the Designer and Maker of all things, but their Sustainer, Controller, and moral Sovereign.1
2 Theistic doctrine is usually taken for granted in Holy Scripture, for the very heavens, visible to all men, "declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork"; and "the invisible things of Him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even His everlasting power and Divinity." In fact no one can attend seriously and with good will to the significance of nature without discerning the truth of Theism. Supernatural revelation is not needed to teach this to honest and unprejudiced truth seekers. It is the "fool" that "saith in his heart 'there is no God'," and such an one is "without excuse."2
3. Strictly speaking, it belongs to Apologetics to prove the truth of Theism, and of Dogmatics to exhibit its content. But the evidence of God's existence and the indications of His nature are not easily separated from each other. They are not separated in these Outlines.
1 Among the multitude of treatises on Theism may be mentioned: Flint's Theism; Anti-Theistic Theories; and Agnosticism; Gratry's Guide to the Knowledge of God; Caldecott's Philosophy of Religion; Caldecott and Mackintosh, Selections; Row's Christian Theism; Iverach's Theism in the Light of Present Science and Philos.; Fraser's Philos. of Theism.
2 Psa. xix. 1-4; Rom. i. 20, 21; Psa. xiv. 1; liii. 1. Calderwood, Philos. of Infin., pp. 148-153; Romanes, Thoughts on Religion, p. 154.
Posted by Debra Bullock at July 26, 2005 06:05 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://disseminary.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/460