Religious beliefs, just like all other forms of human knowledge, are based on certain assumptions about the world. Most characteristically perhaps, religious beliefs accept the idea that supernatural events can happen. These supernatural events are usually called miracles, and virtually all world religions include stories of miraculous events. Miracles are events outside the natural order, and they are recognized to be the work of a god or other spiritual beings. Miracles are typically viewed as being mysterious and unintelligible to mere humans. Miracles therefore, and the religious beliefs that they support, also assume that human reason is limited.
Philosophy is also based upon fundamental assumptions, but they are different than those typically underlying religion. Most importantly, philosophical thought assumes that human reason is capable of understanding the world. This is a radical claim to make. There is so much about the world that is complicated and without explanation, and yet some people have claimed that rather unreasonable little humans can figure it all out. Traditionally, the people who have made this claim have been called philosophers. (The English word "philosopher" is derived from the Greek language, and it means "lover of wisdom.")
Historically, religion and philosophy have often competed with one another. Both have claimed to provide valid knowledge about the world. Both have shared similar topics for discussion, such as metaphysics and cosmology for example. The result of this competition has been an ongoing, but very fruitful, tension between religion and philosophy. This tension between religion and philosophy began in the ancient world when societies became so complex that traditional religious beliefs did not suffice to answer all problems. When a few thinkers applied the new and radical idea that humans could understand the world, and perhaps solve its problems, then serious philosophy began. (Does this mean that religion declined in importance?)
Another important observation to make is that people do not just sit around thinking. We often get this impression from our experiences in boring classrooms, but this is just not the case. People think because they have something to figure out. They have a problem to solve. Since this is the case, philosophical activity is very prominent in periods of social and cultural change and political distress. Change brings new intellectual problems that must be solved.
Thes week we willsee how the Fall of Rome will usher in a 'new' Christian Europe that will be distinctive as it addressed the problems of its age.
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2. Interpretation of Images.
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