Customer Reviews

The God of Faith and Reason: Foundations of Christian Theology

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In this book Msgr. Sokolowski, one of the most respected philosophers of phenomenology, applies his philosophical insights to theology. The result is a fruitful new way of thinking about the World, God, human living, and the Scriptures which he names the "Theology of Disclosure."

This is the book where Sokolowski does his most fundamental work on explaining the "Christian Distinction" between God and World, and how this distinction changes the way we see everything. He explains how the virtues that Aristotle explores remain necessary for human living even when we move into a Christian setting. But then Sokolowski argues that the distinction between God and World shows us that even what is necessary in our world is contingent upon the free and loving act of God in creating and redeeming our world.

This book shows us how Christians can take pre-Christian insights about human nature seriously, while bringing those insights into the new context provided by the distinction between God and World. Through Sokolowski's explanation of this distinction we not only come to see our human living in a new light, but also come to understand the Creation and Incarnation in wonderful new ways.

This is solid theological and philosophical work, and is not confined to either a Catholic or non-Catholic audience.

This is a beautiful piece of theological writing and reflection. I appreciated most his discussion of the "necessary absence" of God due to the distinction we must make between the Creator and the creation. What we have access to directly is the created order itself, not the Creator. Also valuable was his discussion of the elements of human action and natural virtue. At times his treatment grew more difficult to follow because of my lack of background in this kind of philosophical inquiry. But what I understood, I valued and grew from. This book requires a good deal of mental effort to absorb. It will probably resonate most with someone from a traditional Catholic perspective.

Given that this had been strongly recommended by Fr James Schall, whose recommendations I respect, I came to this book with high expectations, which were not quite met. That being said, there are some valuable thoughts on the development of Greek religion and the interrelatedness of human virtue and supernatural virtue. He is excellent on the absolute transcendence of God and on the place of the sacraments in the christian life.

This book came highly recommended by a philosophy professor in the seminary that I greatly respected. The author makes an important distinction in this book that is fundamental to understanding the Christian worldview. He shows how this distinction differentiates a Christian worldview from non-christian philosophies and religions.

With all the syrupy and smarmy liturgical music and aesthetics that the Catholic Church has deposited on the modern world, you would think they would of at least come to terms with a certain amount of emotion. But those of us who are all to familiar with some of the psychological and philosophical contradictions of the Roman Church in our time know otherwise. That it manifests in bifurcated lives seems obvious. But even bifucated intellectual trajectories are not unknown . To wit, this author, who sure can give Husserl an almost warm context, somehow manages, with Thomistic philosophy's help to deprive God of the warmth of feelings per se. This shows, in modern times, the odd perduring tendencies of this kind of thought that Erasmian thinking tried to counter, but with not much historical success. And that this is why religionists like this man are around to say truly dreadful monodimensional things like the following:

"Aquinas does say that some truths about God ought not be communicated to everyone because not everyone may be able to understand them; the theological truth that God does not have feelings may disturb the faith of some people and may in some audiences better left undiscussed."

Well, there are lots of things worth keeping mum about, and great religious mysteries are certainly some of them. But a modern religion that at once produces the tawdriness of "Here I Am Lord" by the St. Louis Jesuits, and as a strange opposite pole odd rationalizations like this from Sokolowski is not a place of deep truth. But a kind of existential slapstick. Their history was a lot greater than this nadir.