An Introduction to Natural Theology

by Maurice R. Holloway, Henri Renard (Foreword)

“What is the God of the philosopher? Can the philosopher, that is to say, can human reason, unenlightened by the revealed word, come to a true and secure understanding of ‘He-Who-Is’? Is it possible for mere man, without the impact of a personal experience, intimate and intuitive, to arrive by means of an objective demonstration at an absolute affirmation that the Being we call God exists, or that He is Pure Act, Existence Itself, because without him the world of our experience is unintelligible, a complete contradiction?

“And even if we admit, as all Christian philosophers must, that unaided reason is able by its own power to reach an objectively true and secure assent that God exists, is there any evidence, in the recorded history of our world, that man, without the directive knowledge of revelation, ever did secure by a metaphysical effort this absolute truth that the Ipsum Esse exists? Whatever be the answer to this difficult problem—and we do not pretend to know it—it is obvious that Father Holloway, in composing his philosophical approach to God, allowed himself to be guided by the knowledge of faith. Indeed, he must have prayed often for the enlightenment which the supernatural motion of divine grace brings even to the limited and imperfect intellect of a philosopher.”

— From the Foreword by Henri Renard, S.J.

520 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

Reviews

[Timothy Lyons · Rating 5 out of 5]

First real book of philosophy or theology I had ever read. I had a strange notion that I wanted to understand theology and philosophy more and had to start at the beginning with "natural theology". I read it very slowly and over and over again but in many ways it raised more questions than it answered because I lacked an understanding in basic philosophical concepts at the time so I found this wasn't the very beginning. After educating myself to basic concepts of Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophy, like classical syllogism and reasoning apriori I was able to go back and read this book over and over again and gain much more understanding. Understanding of the 5 ways of st. Thomas and there explanation which are contained in this book. Along with lots of other things. The two appendix at the end are particularly good at explaining why modern philosophers like Kant, unlike Thomas, go wrong on the proofs for Gods existence, and why these modern philosophers proofs don hold up to scrutiny compared to the classical methods of Aristotle and what Thomas built upon it. It's still my favorite book. It's what made me first love philosophy and theology.