Abstract

In one of his Quodlibeta, William of Ockham entertains two concepts of God, one theological and the other philosophical. He argues that conclusions involving a theological concept of God are believable and can only be established in theology where recourse to faith is permissible. By contrast, conclusions involving a philosophical concept of God are knowable and can be proved in philosophy and theology. The source of these two concepts lies in the Sentences commentary of his confrère Walter Chatton,1 who explores how different descriptions of God affect the provability of theological conclusions about God. Chatton himself is reacting to Ockham’s earlier Sentences commentary where Ockham suggests that a...