God and atheism

Teacher(s)

Bourgine Benoît;

Language

French

Main themes

The course covers the following: the main lines of a rational elaboration of the affirmation of God; the Christian idea of the incomprehensible and ineffable God; the Protestant criticism of "natural theology"; the different forms of the negation of God in modern atheism and the different ways in which theology discusses them.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	By the end of this course, the student should be able: to enter into the theological questions of existence and the nature of God; to elucidate the relationship between natural knowledge of God and the Christian belief in God; to counter the criticisms that modem atheism addresses to the belief in God.

Content

These lessons examine the different types of modern atheism and the various ways of affirming the existence of God through reason.
1. Knowing God
Reason and faith, philosophy and theology about the existence and knowledge of God.
Evidence of the existence of God, knowledge of God through reason (Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther), knowledge through faith.
Historical perspective of the problem in the modern period: atheisms (typology), secularisms (C. Taylor).
2. Current issues
Bibliographical actuality of the problem of the affirmation and negation of God by reason. 
Can a society remain humanistic outside the affirmation of a transcendent exteriority?

Teaching methods

Lecture and interactivity based on a text, taken from a portfolio of readings, which all students read before each session and which one of them presents in turn during the semester.
Syllabus: LRELI1278 Dieu et athéisme  CODE DUC : 2460

Evaluation methods

Continuous assessment: the presentation at the beginning of each course, prepared in turn by a student, serves as continuous assessment.
The aim is to show the ability to explain the basic notions of the problem and to appreciate the theological issues involved.

Online resources

The reading portfolio can be consulted at 
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B71ol4F_TTjjUXF0a1RRRjktVUU?usp=sharing

Bibliography

• Syllabus "Dieu et athéisme - 2022/2023" disponible sous forme de « Cours en dépôt » à imprimer à la DUC.

Teaching materials

• Syllabus disponible "Dieu et athéisme 2022/2023" sous forme de « Cours en dépôt » à imprimer à la DUC.

Faculty or entity

TEBI