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Welcome to Year 1 of Atrium!

OVERVIEW

This program is for Supernumeraries who have recently finished their initial formation. It is offered during specific Annual Courses (flagged as ‘ATRIUM’ in the Course Listing). It is a three year program and provides basic philosophical foundations, covering Introduction to Philosophy and Theology (Year 1), Philosophy of the Human Person (Year 2), and Ethics (Year 3). 

The word philosophy means ‘love of wisdom’. In philosophy, human reason, drawing together and drawing on all rational knowledge, searches for the ultimate causes and meaning of things, the foundation of being.

Philosophy provides the basic principles necessary to study Theology in later courses.

Year 1: Introduction to Philosophy and Theology 

The aim of this first subject is to introduce students to the nature of philosophical reflection and its working method, and learn basic philosophical principles. By the end of this course students will be able to:

  • understand the importance of philosophical reflection and its relevance for life and culture
  • understand basic principles of metaphysics
  • explain the relationship between faith and reason
  • demonstrate the existence of God using reason
  • recognise the importance of Philosophy for Theology
  • understand the sources and method of Theology
1: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
Slides and Recommended Reading

Slides| VIEW

Emily Esfahani Smith, ‘There’s More to Life Than Being Happy’, The Atlantic, 10.1.2013. | VIEW

Peter Kreeft, ‘Why Study Philosophy and Theology?’ CERC, 2009. | VIEW

Constantinou, Menios, The Catholic Intellectual Tradition: Q&A with Professor Hayden Ramsay | VIEW

de Torre, J.M., Christian Philosophy, (Manila: Vera Reyes, 1980), pp. 41-47. |  VIEW

Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Fides et Ratio, 1998, nn. 1-6, 24-44. | VIEW

De Torre, J.M., ‘The Power of Christian Philosophy to Transform Man and Society: Contemporary Interpretations of Christian Philosophy’, in Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter, (Summer 1996): 11-15. |  VIEW

Chronological List of Some Major Philosophers | VIEW

2: METAPHYSICS
Slides and Recommended Reading

 Slides | VIEW

Sullivan, D.J., An Introduction to Philosophy: The Perennial Principles of the Classical Realist Tradition, (Rockford, Il, TAN, 1992).

  • Philosophy of Nature, pp. 189-94. |  VIEW
  • Being & the Transcendentals, pp. 199-229. | VIEW

Mariano Artigas, Introduction to Philosophy, (Manila: Sinag-Tala, 2006), 41-50, 61, 68-69. | VIEW

Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter, Fides et Ratio, 1998, nn. 83-4, 95, 98. | VIEW

Randall Smith, Metaphysics and Theology, 7.5.2020. | VIEW

Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter, Fides et Ratio, nn. 83-4, 95, 98.  VIEW

Videos

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave | VIEW

Bishop Robert Barron, Scientism and God’s Existence | VIEW

Aquinas 101: Being and Metaphysics | VIEW

Aquinas 101: Substance and Accidents | VIEW

Aquinas 101: Act and Potency | VIEW

Aquinas 101: Matter and Form | VIEW

Aquinas 101: Body and Soul | VIEW

Aquinas 101: The Four Causes | VIEW

 

4: NATURAL THEOLOGY

 

 

Slides and Recommended Reading

 Slides | VIEW

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 27-49. | VIEW

or

Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, nn. 1-5. | VIEW

Further Reading

de Torre, J.M., Christian Philosophy, (Manila: Vera Reyes, 1980), pp. 127-56. | VIEW

Thomas Aquinas’ Love for the Truth, 28.1.2020. | VIEW

Giulio Maspero, God’s Nature and Action. | VIEW

Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti, The Existence of God. | VIEW

Pope Francis, Encyclical Letter Lodato Si, 24.5.2015, nn. 84-88. | VIEW

Peter Kreeft, Twenty Arguments for God’s Existence. | VIEW

Podcasts

Crash Course Catholicism, Caitlin West: Episode 2 | VIEW

Pints with Aquinas, Matt Fradd, Episodes on the Existence of God | VIEW

Videos

Bishop Robert Barron, When Atheists Are Right That God Doesn’t Exist (3 mins) | VIEW

Bishop Robert Barron, The New Atheists (7 mins) | VIEW

Bishop Robert Barron, Where is the Evidence for God? (4.05 mins) | VIEW

Bishop Robert Barron, Thomas Aquinas and the Argument from Motion (10 mins) | VIEW

Bishop Robert Barron, Scientism and God’s Existence | VIEW

James Brent, Five Ways to Prove God Exists (8.53 mins) | VIEW

 

 

3: FAITH AND REASON
Slides and Recommended Reading

‘Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth.’ (John Paul II, Fides et Ratio, 1).

Slides | VIEW

Catechism of the Catholic Church, nn. 142-167.  VIEW

or 

Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, nn, 25-32.  VIEW

Further Reading

Faith and Reason: Six Key Texts of Pope Benedict XVI (ebook) | VIEW

Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Fides et Ratio, 14.9.1998, nn. 16-35. VIEW

Also in this Encyclical:

  • Relations between faith & reason: 36-42, 45-48, 55, 73, 79, 81-84.
  • Christian Philosophy: 75-76
  • Faith & Science: 88, 104.
  • Theology & Philosophy: 73-74, 76-77, 79.
  • Importance of St Thomas Aquinas: 43-44, 62, 78.
  • Non-Western philosophical traditions: 2-4, 69-72, 103-4.

Pope Francis, Encyclical Letter, Lumen Fidei, 29.6.2013, nn. 32-36. | VIEW

Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, 24.11.2013, nn. 242-243 (relationship between faith & science). | VIEW

Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 1965, nn. 4-22. | VIEW

Pope Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Spe salvi , 30.11.2007, nn. 4-12, 18-23. VIEW

Thomas Aquinas’ Love for the Truth, 28.1.2020. | VIEW

Videos

Bishop Robert Barron, Faith and Reason | VIEW

Bishop Robert Barron, Where is the Evidence for God? | VIEW

5: INTRODUCTION TO THEOLOGY
Slides and Recommended Reading

Slides | VIEW

Catechism of the Catholic Church, nn. 50-133. | VIEW

or

Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, nn. 6-24. | VIEW

José Miguel Odero, “Introduction to Theology”, in Charles Belmonte (ed.), Faith Seeking Understanding: A Complete Course in Theology, 2nd ed., Vol. 1, (Mandaluyong, Philippines: Studium Theologiae Foundation, 2006). | VIEW

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction Donum Veritatis, on the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian, 24.5.1990. | VIEW

 

 

LINKS TO FURTHER RESOURCES
Further Resources

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy | VIEW

Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science | VIEW

Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter, Aeterni Patris, 1879. | VIEW

Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter, Fides et Ratio, 1998. | VIEW

St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province, Benziger Bros., 1947. | VIEW