Philosophy Between Faith and Theology

Adriaan Theodoor Peperzak contends that while many Catholic philosophers try to practice a modern autonomous style of thinking their experience of a faith-guided life necessarily compels them to integrate their scholarly pursuits with their Christian faith. He writes Christians who think cannot separate their thought from their faith and theology. Indeed he argues that the work of Christian particularly Catholic philosophers loses its vitality when philosophers try to restrict their reflections to natural reason alone. In this book he explores the essential unity of philosophical and theological thought from various perspectives and pleads for a radical change of method in philosophy. Peperzak maintains that the interdependencies of philosophy theology and the sciences must collectively determine the character of a Catholic university. For him all serious philosophy has a profoundly religious character and is the quest for a kind of wisdom unhampered by arbitrary boundaries. His plea for a paradigm shift in philosophy and theology concentrates on the idea of speaking God's word in a way that provokes appropriate responses including praise and prayer.