Using philosophical and theological reflection, this book explores the rational grounding for Christian faith, inquiring into the basis for believing the Christian revelation, and using the answers to give an account of Christian faith itself. Setting the discussion in the context of the history of views on revelation, Divine Faith makes an original contribution to historiography and draws out hitherto unnoticed affinities between Catholic and Protestant thought. Re-examining the question from the beginning by asking how it is that the Christian revelation is made, Lamont then looks at the fundamental philosophical issues concerning the nature of knowledge and the reasonableness of belief in testimony that are crucial to an understanding of Christian belief. Through theological considerations on the relations of grace and the church, and new advances in the philosophy of belief in testimony and how God speaks to communicate the Christian religion, this book offers an original and powerful account of the nature of Christian belief.
Biography
Dr John R.T. Lamont is Gifford Research Fellow at the University of St Andrews, UK.
'Such is the current state of intellectual diversity that there are no commonly shared ideas about the nature of possible knowledge of God and of the role of 'revelation' in providing the form and content of such putative knowledge. John Lamont's book Divine Faith provides a deeply studied account of these matters drawing upon patristic, medieval, modern and contemporary writers. Unusually he is able to weave together scriptural, theological and philosophical approaches so as to provide an answer to the questions of on what grounds and what brings about religious belief. The book is a rich and accessible resource which is bound to reward study.' John Haldane, Professor of Philosophy, University of St Andrews 'This is an important book on the topic of the rational grounding of Christian faith, that everyone involved in the field should read. It opens new pathways in the history of its topic, and in the consideration of the philosophical and theological questions that are crucial to it.' Romanus Cessario, O.P. Professor of Theology, Saint John's Seminary, Brighton, Massachusetts 'John Lamont's Divine Faith is a sterling account of a sectarian account of faith: indeed, it is the best account I have read in this vein.... Lamont's account of "the nature of Christian faith" is distinguished both by historical scholarship and analytical rigour. ... What are we to make of this piece of philosophical theology? First, it is apparent that Lamont is a serious and skilled scholar. A review cannot adequately convey the detail and precision of this book....His erudition is considerable; his arguments are detailed, nuanced, exact; and his analyses of concepts such as knowledge as an intellectual virtue and knowledge by testimony are worth considering at length...' Religious Studies ’... this book is a rigorously argued and extremely lucid exposition of the Thomist conception of faith... Philosophically as well as theologically of great interest, Divine Faith deserves to b
