Yonghua Ge reviews Lydia Schumacher'due southTheological Philosophy: Rethinking the Rationality of Christian Religion

Lydia Schumacher, Ashgate, 2015 (ISBN 9781472442628), xi + 210 pp.

Apologetics, the discipline that defends the reasonableness of faith against its critics, has been an of import and fascinating part of Christian thought. Indeed, some of the earliest Christian thinkers—Justin Martyr and Tertullian, for case—were apologists. Throughout the centuries, theologians and philosophers have provided various arguments for the rationality of organized religion. But after Kant's devastating critiques of traditional arguments for God's existence and in calorie-free of the post-modernistic suspicion of truth claims, apologetics every bit subject field seems no longer possible or desirable. It is thus refreshing to see a book entitled Theological Philosophy: Rethinking the Rationality of Christian Organized religion, in which the author, Lydia Schumacher, claims to take a novel approach to apologetics. As part of the Transcending Boundaries in Philosophy and Theology serial, which seeks to explore "new opportunities in the dialogue betwixt philosophy and theology that get beyond … traditional 'faith and reason' debates," Schumacher's book contends that Christian faith is by nature rational as it provides "a rational for rationality." The statement of this book, notwithstanding, builds on the thesis of her previous book Rationality every bit Virtue: Towards a Theological Philosophy (Ashgate 2015), in which she argues that rationality is ultimately about ideals—knowledge is used to maximize the flourishing of humanity. Reason thus defined is not inimical to but presupposes faith. It is therefore possible to develop a "pro-theology philosophy." The present book fleshes out such a philosophy by demonstrating that Christian religion promotes human commitment to the highest expert and hence is intrinsically rational.

The book begins past laying out the foundation for a theological philosophy that aims to foster the maximization of human being flourishing. Cartoon from Aquinas, the writer suggests that, to realize human potential, we need four cardinal virtues, namely prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. Since self-realization presupposes an accurate self-assessment, prudence is needed to avoid hubris and false humility that forestall us from actualizing our potential. The second virtue is justice, which is essentially prudence in the context of interpersonal relations. Justice requires that persons and parties receive assistance "equal to their capabilities and needs." The last two virtues, fortitude and temperance, regulate our passions so that we can operate with prudence and justice.

Having outlined the conditions for pursuing the highest expert, Schumacher proceeds to demonstrate how conventionalities in the Christian God, who is transcendent, triune, and incarnate, provides a rationale for that pursuit. As I will expound later on, this is both the most interesting and nearly controversial function of the volume. In whatsoever case, Schumacher contends that considering human beings tend to ascribe absolute significance to finite goods, it is necessary to affirm the reality of a good that is beyond all express goods and utterly irreducible to them. This adept is secured by the existence of a transcendent God, who is uncomplicated, eternal, and perfect. However, to have clear knowledge of the transcendent God, we must rely on his cocky-communication and this self-communication is possible only through his Triune nature, which was most explicitly revealed to the states past the incarnate Son, who empowers us to get fully homo and orient our lives toward the highest practiced. Together, the doctrines of transcendence, the Trinity, and the incarnation provide the primal basis for pursuing the highest skillful or rationality, which is zilch but "participation in the life of the Triune God."

The side by side section discusses how the other central doctrines – creation, sin, redemption, and church – elucidate and facilitate our participation in God. While the doctrine of creation establishes the nature of participation in God, the doctrine of sin explains the reason why participation is impeded. Subsequently, the doctrine of redemption describes the manner in which God reopens the possibility of participation, while the doctrine of the church discusses the restored man life at private and communal levels. These four doctrines thus institute what the author calls "Christian Creedal Reasoning" for theological philosophy.

While the higher up discussions operate on the doctrinal level, the book at present returns to the ethical aspect. Schumacher tells how within the framework of Christian doctrine the theological virtues of faith, hope, and dear enable us to pursue the highest good. Considering sin at its core is a deviation from God, religion re-orients our lives toward God and is thus the starting bespeak of our participation in God. Then past living in hope, humans are actually moved gradually toward God as the highest object of desire. Finally, love is "the sign that religion has been fabricated effective past hope" and hence the prove of a transformed life pursuing the highest good. The volume and so elaborates on the nature of love in terms of the four moral virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance, as outlined earlier. Hither, the book goes back to its starting point, demonstrating how Christian dear, as a consequence of Christian religion, maximizes the virtues that are foundational for realizing the highest human being good. In fact, prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance go respectively the personal, interpersonal, instructive, and persuasive powers of dearest. Ultimately, love is the optimal site for the human being pursuit of the highest good, in which rationality consists. In this sense, as the author points out, "the ultimate 'proof' for the rationality of religion consists in the life of Christian love."

Schumacher's book is an inspiring new addition to contemporary literature in apologetics and the philosophy of faith. Unlike many traditional arguments for the rationality of faith that focus on epistemology, Schumacher'southward ethical arroyo is certainly refreshing and stimulating. She rightly reminds united states of america that the reasonableness of Christian faith does not rest on arid intellectual debates just on Christian life. Afterward all, organized religion is not simply a cerebral issue just a commitment to a sure way of living. In this respect, the book stands in continuity with Stanley Hauerwas' line of argument that the proof of faith ultimately derives from the life of the Church. Yet, through a sophisticated redefinition of rationality, Schumacher is able to residue this contention on a more solid philosophical foundation, which I believe is the main contribution of this book. As a volume in the Transcending Boundaries in Philosophy and Theology series, Theological Philosophy is largely successful in achieving the goal of breaking downwards modern barriers betwixt the two subjects, although a articulate distinction exists betwixt them in Aquinas's idea, from which Schumacher draws heavily. She admits from the get-go, still, that she would conform – rather than simply follow – Thomas.

Reading through this book, one cannot help simply wonder who the target audience would exist and how much the validity of its argument depends on the groundwork of its audience. For Christians who share the presuppositions of the author, the book is indeed convincing, as it provides helpful intellectual tools for affirming the rationality of their religion. Indeed, many apologetic works are more for believers than for non-believers. But apologetics must likewise serve not-believers. My impression is that the book is less persuasive for them. While it claims to be a philosophical work, some parts of the volume – especially chapter 4, "Creation and Autumn," and chapter 5, "Redemption and Church" – read similar a systematic theology handbook. In seeking to overcome the barrier between philosophy and theology, the volume may take gone too far by blurring the stardom between the two disciplines, and since the author does not provide a clear definition of either term, it is sometimes unclear what she means past "theology" or "philosophy." Still if no distinction exists betwixt the ii terms, why phone call the book "Theological Philosophy"? Failing to clarify the relation between philosophy and theology also leads to another difficulty. In chapter 3, "Necessary Conditions for Theological Philosophy," Schumacher argues that to promote commitment to the highest adept it is essential that in that location is a transcendent, Triune and incarnate God who communicates himself and can be comprehended by humanity. Such an argument seems to suggest that the theological doctrines of transcendence, the Trinity and the incarnation are not truly revealed mysteries beyond reason but more or less logical necessities. This reminds us of Anselm's attempt to prove the necessity of the incarnation, which was explicitly rejected by Thomas. For in such cases, theology is reduced to philosophy and mystery to knowledge. For these reasons, Schumacher may yet demand to maintain a distinction between philosophy and theology.

Overall, this is an impressive, creative, and highly original piece of theological work. It makes an of import contribution to apologetics and the on-going debates about faith and reason. I would recommend information technology to anyone who is interested in apologetics and the philosophy of religion.

Yonghua Ge (PhD. Cambridge University) is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Regent College, UBC and Distinguished Research Young man at the School of Philosophy, Beijing Normal University. He has published manufactures inPhilosophy East and West, Tyndale Bulletin, The Heythrop Journal, Sino-Christian Studies, Logos & Pneuma (HK), Crux, Chinese Social Studies Today, and Regent Review of Christian Thoughts.