Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth — Page 42
EUROPEAN PHILOSOPHY. Hence, his faith in the Unity of God and rejection of the Trinity was based on his unbiased, honest investigation into the validity of Christian beliefs. There is many a note written in his own hand on the margins of his personal. Bible: 6 "Therefore the Father is God of the Son (when the. Son is considered) as God. ”. Thus concludes Westfall: . . . almost the first fruit of Newton's theological study was doubt about the status of Christ and the doctrine of the Trinity. ' ³ พ 3. HEN during the Renaissance interest was renewed in this age-old question of faith versus rationality on a wider basis, it fell to the lot of. Rene Descartes (1596-1650) to keep the flag of belief held high. The issue with him was not Christianity versus reason, it was a more straightforward issue of belief in the existence of God in an age of philosophical wanderings of the mind. . An exceptionally clear-headed logician as he was, he not only believed in God but was the first amongst the philosophers to boldly take up the issue of reason, leading to God. Fortunately for him, he refused to be drawn into a debate on the rationale of Trinity. What he proved was simply the existence of one Supreme Being. Perhaps it was this rejection on his part of the then prevalent Christian dogma, which lost him an honourable place among the believing intellectuals of that age. J. Gutman explains this situation in his book Philosophy. 4 Here Descartes is not mentioned as a revelational theist, which he was, but he is merely spoken of as one who is purported to be a revelational theist. This treatment was meted out to him 42