Why the Ultimate Cause of Everything in Existence Must be God

(NOTE: This it the third of a three part series on Bernard Lonergan's philosophical proof for God. Be sure to read the first part and second part.) V. The One Unrestrictedly Intelligible Uncaused Reality is an “Unrestricted Act of Thinking” We will now explain Lonergan’s contention that unrestricted intelligibility can only occur through an unrestricted idea, which in turn can only occur through an unrestricted act of thinking. As noted above, the one uncaused reality that exists... Read More

The One Cause Behind Everything Else in Reality

(NOTE: This it the second of a three part series on Bernard Lonergan's philosophical proof for God. Read the first part here. We'll share the third part on Friday.) III. A Reality which is Unrestricted in Intelligibility Must be Absolutely Unique The general argument is as follows: If there were more than one unrestrictedly intelligible reality, there would have to be a difference between the one and the other, and if there were such a difference, then one of the supposedly “unrestricted... Read More

Introducing Bernard Lonergan’s Philosophical Proof for God

(NOTE: This it the first of a three part series on Bernard Lonergan's philosophical proof for God. We'll share the second and third parts on Wednesday and Friday, respectively.) Introduction Bernard Lonergan was a Canadian Jesuit priest, philosopher, and theologian, regarded by many as one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century. He articulated a philosophical proof for God's existence which may be stated as follows: If all reality is completely intelligible, then God exists.   But... Read More

Why Goodness Depends on God

One of the most common observations made by opponents of religion is that we don't need God in order to have a coherent and integral morality. Atheists and agnostics are extremely sensitive to the charge that the rejection of God will conduce automatically to moral chaos. Consequently, they argue that a robust sense of ethics can be grounded in the consensus of the human community over time or in the intuitions and sensibilities of decent people. ​What I would like to do is lay out,... Read More