Jennifer Henry

SPL 100 HP

Martino

November 11th, 2019

In a text such as John Caputo’s Philosophy and Theology, it can be quite intimidating to

take on such abstract and subjective concepts. Obviously as a theology major, I found it more

interesting than challenging. Theology to me is faith seeking understanding, as St. Augustine had

described. Further involved, theology is finding the ways God interacts within our lives. I believe

Philosophy and Theology are parallel to one another, especially with people like St. Augustine

and St. Thomas Aquinas, who have laid the foundation for the Western world of these topics. I

believe Philosophy is intertangled within Theology, and vice versa, similar to the idea that

Caputo says in the beginning as using “and” to describe the two ideologies. Theology and

Philosophy are closely related in their definitions, history, and movement through life.

In Chapter 1, Caputo poses many questions about the co-existence of Theology and

Philosophy in our Western World. Theology and Philosophy are often juxtaposed to one another

because of their similar qualities of being; abstract and subject. As Caputo states, “both are

interested in the question of God and of the good life and of what being “human” means,”

(Caputo, p. 5). Both of these subjects exist to explain the unexplainable but differ in the forms of

practice. While Philosophers identify as “independent, freelancers, working on their own… with

no one to report to but themselves,” Theologians would identify with a “particular religious

tradition that you are trying to explicate,” (Caputo, p. 4-5). To further illustrate this point, I

enjoyed Caputo’s example of Democrat “and” Republicans (Caputo, p. 3). Often time we focus
on the two as separate positions, when the two exist to complement each other. But often times,

we do not see that compliment; rather we see the ugly, the unforgeable. How do we blend

Philosophy and Theology back together, especially when there are years of history dividing

them? That is the question that Caputo further dives into throughout his work.

Often times the source of the battle behind Theology and Philosophy lies in the

foundation of reason, and where that fits in the human world. How does the secular Philosophy

idea of reason fit in with the pious theology? St. Thomas Aquinas further explored this idea,

exploring how reason is a natural law given to us by God. We, imperfect human beings, were

given certain characteristics, senses and rational faculties, that were capable of determining the

finite world around us. God, the perfect and infinite creator of all things, could save us from this

imperfectness by his grace. As Caputo put it, “God creates nature, nature has been given its laws,

and these laws in some way reflect God’s being and glory,” (Caputo, p. 18). I found this point

interesting in describing the relationship between Philosophy and Theology. In this quote, cited

from Aquinas, we were given the ability of reason and logic by God’s grace, and should use it

for the purpose of glorifying the creator. The thought that reason separates Philosophy from

Theology is irrelevant, and it does quite the opposite.

The divide of Philosophy and Theology came out of the 16th century in the midst of the

Protestant Reformation, the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution. In this time period,

people were beginning to better understand the world around them, for example, the Copernican

Revolution, which literally turned the thought of the world around. René Descartes, an

enlightenment philosopher, emphasized a new edifice of knowledge, focusing on a new

autonomous way of thinking. Descartes claimed, “Even if I doubt, I who doubt must think, and if

I think, I must therefore exist,” (Caputo, p. 24). This shocked the ecumenical community because
of Descartes declaration of independence, claiming that the human person is entitled to think

more deeply about the world around them because of their existence. This drove a wedge

between the relationship of Philosophy and Theology because it concurred that reason can exist

outside the world of religion. A statement Caputo makes that I found interesting was, “Reason

functions like a judge, or like a border guard issuing passes into reality only to things that pass its

tests, including, God help us, God,” (Caputo, p. 27). In Descartes reason, reason operates

autonomously. Caputo, and other ecclesial modern philosophers, argue that God is embedded

into reasoning. God, being infinite and omnipotent, operates above the human ability to reason.

Discussions about reason cannot exist without God. The idea of autonomous reason led the

divide further between Philosophy and Theology.

In the postmodern era, Philosophy and Theology come closer together through various

works in the time. Martin Heidegger for example, comes up with the “hermeneutical turn,”

which argues against Descartes’s theory. In the hermeneutical turn, we are “shaped by the

presuppositions we inherit,” (Caputo, p. 45). In simple terms, we take the things we already

know, and look to dive deeper into them to better grasp them. The term “hermeneutical” is

understood in both religious and secular terms. For example, we use the term “hermeneutics”

especially when talking about Scripture. We already have the foundation of the Bible, but we use

the practice of hermeneutics to better understand what we have already known and read.

Secularly, as Caputo puts it, “when something really new happens in science, it is not because

we add a new item of information to an old list, but because the whole ensemble gets

reconfigured” (Caputo, p. 47). A point I like that Caputo puts out is “the hegemony of science

today corresponds to the hegemony formerly exercised by theolog which posed the major threat

in pre-modernity,” (Caputo, p. 52). Of course, Caputo is talking about the abuse of power found
in the church during the pre-modern era. When we think of the science in the pre-modern era,

we think of the now “simple” inventions; electricity, the car, the elevator. Now, thinking of

science in our post-modern time, there are more intrinsic inventions; genetic engineering, self-

driving cars, new medical technology. When looking especially at genetic engineering, it is

amazing how vast the world of science has become. The ability of corruption is especially

prominent now with the growth of corporations and the race to success.

Further expanding the post-modern world of reason, Caputo juxtaposes St. Augustine

with Jacques Derrida, a contemporary philosopher. Augustine and Derrida, although separated

by centuries, are alike in their background and idealism. Augustine’s main work of philosophy is

his book, Confessions, is written as a prayer to God, in which he holds a continuous discussion

with the Christian trinitarian God. Similarly, Derrida writes a book called Circumfession, in

which is a journal he had crafted as a result of his ill mother. Both write to a “you” as Caputo

puts it, but we understand that Augustine’s “you” is God, while the subject of Derrida’s is

unknown (Caputo, p. 61). Arguably, Derrida’s book is more prayerful than Augustine’s – it is a

deep lament formulated in secularism, but unbeknownst to the author, rooted in theology. To

further expand, from a ministerial context, sometimes our prayers are not formed in a traditional

sense. Prayer is an ongoing conversation with the deity, in which Derrida did so. Caputo’s

interpretation of this solidified my interpretation of Philosophy and Theology, that the two often

work together, whether the author conceivably knows it or not.

Philosophy and Theology, although subjective and abstract, offer comfort to the

discontenting life that is lived. Through reasoning, they offer a glimpse of hope in the gloom of

the world we live in. Theology, specifically religion, embrace the gloom with the help of prayer

to God to ask for help. Christianity even offers the hope of salvation, that the world lived in now
is temporary, and fails in comparison to the joy found in the afterlife. Philosophy provides

reasoning that can offer a sounder explanation through troubled times. Without these two

subjects, we are left but with the superficial world around us, and then at that point, have nothing

to live for. As Caputo states, “visiting us that results in tremors, described by Augustine as a

‘restless heart,’ a heart made restless by searching for something I know not what, for something

whose name is above every other nae, or for something whose name in principle is withheld,”

(Caputo, p. 72). I personally believe in this, that by searching for something, for me, the love of

God, it makes the world a little more bearable to withstand. The passion of life can be better

understood through the loving eyes of God, and I strive to incorporate that love everyday in my

life.