Philosophy and Theology, and Integral Relationship
for Seminarians
By
Grant Kelly
Holy Trinity Seminary is a college seminary, where
the seminarians who study here take philosophy classes, not theology classes
which come later.. The University of Dallas provides a significant portion of
the intellectual formation for the seminarians at Holy Trinity Seminary. As
philosophy students at the University of Dallas, one of the questions
consistently asked is, “Why do you take this side track into philosophy?”
Many valid answers are possible to this question.
Looking back on the Catholic intellectual tradition, one sees St. Thomas
Aquinas - author of the Summa Theologica
who - made no distinction between philosophy and theology. Today many contend
that philosophy’s value lies in the vocabulary it lends to theology, allowing clearer
and more precise discussion. Senior seminarian, Josh Stephens, from the diocese
of Corpus Christi, says, “Philosophy not only helps us to develop a rigorous
understanding of our own Catholic tradition, but it also allows us to see how
people outside of the Church answer the important questions of life.” Josh
believes this understanding can help a seminarian minister better to the
diversity of beliefs and thoughts in the world today.
