Theology – Faith Seeking Understanding

What the Meaning of ‘Is’ Is

Posted on February 16, 2015 by hlesbrown

“It all depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is,”1 said President Bill Clinton during testimony for his impeachment hearing. It was a statement that echoed around the world and caused much scorn to be heaped upon him. The statement may be typical of legal hair-splitting, but, in the world of Understanding, that statement is absolutely critical. It does all depend on “what the meaning of ‘is’ is!” The verb ‘to be’ (‘is’) is at the same time both the simplest and most complex concept. It is a verb and so it refers to an action — the action of Continue Reading →

Why ‘Faith’?

Posted on February 9, 2015 by hlesbrown

St. Anselm of Canterbury in the 11th century defined ‘Theology’ as “Fides Quaerens Intellectum” or “Faith seeking understanding.” Thus the title of my blog. Some want to dismiss this understanding as somehow superstitious and at odds with science (which we might dare to define as “observation seeking understanding”). Yet, the apparent dichotomy between faith and science is only just that: apparent. Although they have similar methodologies, the subject matter of the two are distinctly different: the scientific method gleans understanding from observations of the natural world; the theological method draws understanding from observations originating beyond the world of nature. People Continue Reading →