| Part 2 The Theory of Faith and Reason | Hirohumi Hoshika |
Through a critique of "The principle of Antithesis", one of the philosophical ideas of 20th century conservative Christianity, we will explore the boundaries between faith and reason for believers, and between faith and reason for non-believers, and consider whether there is an area that the two can, in principle, share.
The idea of "The principle of Antithesis" that originated with A. Kuyper was initially a moderate idea, but was later radically doctrinally refined by V. Till, H. Dooyeweerd and others. It is said that this idea evolved into one that was more in line with the teachings of the religious reformer Calvin, but the purification of immature ideas widened the gap between ideas and the reality of the world greater.
Did these ideas correctly grasp the relationship between faith and reason? It includes an uncritical adoption of N.R. Hanson's "theory-ladenness of observation", which played an epoch-making role in epistemology in the first half of the 20th century, and W.V.O. Quine's idea of "holism", but was this an appropriate way of dealing with the relationship between faith and reason, and between believers and non-believers?
In this chapter, we will examine the ideas of Dutch Reformed theology as presented from the perspective of Christian conservatism, clarify its problems, and consider the boundary between philosophy and theology.
Reading Difficulty Level ★★★★☆ Word count 43,000 words