Contingency Quote by David Bentley Hart
““The general argument from the contingent to the absolute, or from the conditioned to the unconditioned, is a powerful and cogent one. No attempt, philosophical or otherwise, to show that it is a confused argument, or logically insufficient, or susceptible of some purely physical answer has ever been impressively successful. Even if one does not accept its conclusions one still has absolutely no rational warrant for believing that materialism has any sort of logical superiority over theism; the classical argument is strong enough to show that naturalism is far and away a weaker, more incomplete, and more willfully doctrinaire position than classical theism is. Naturalism, as I have said repeatedly, is a philosophy of the absurd, of the just-there-ness of what is certainly by its nature a contingent reality; it is, simply enough, an absurd philosophy.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Doors of the Sea by David Bentley Hart, 2005
The argument claims that moving from contingent (material) to absolute (spiritual) reveals materialism’s logical weakness compared to theism.
In simple terms: Materialism lacks logical superiority over theism.
Key Takeaway
Question materialist assumptions about reality.
Themes
philosophy
theology
materialism
logic
Mood
thoughtful
critical
Type
philosophical
theological
When to use this quote
- academic debate
- personal belief
- ethical reasoning
Key Concepts
contingent vs absolute
argument structure
Questions to Reflect On
- What evidence supports materialism?
- Can the absolute be known?
A Different Perspective
Materialism may have strengths in empirical explanation.
