''Sensus divinitatis'' (Latin for "sense of divinity"), also referred to as ''sensus deitatis'' ("sense of deity") or ''semen religionis'' ("seed of religion"), is a term first used by French Protestant reformer

John Calvin John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...

to describe a postulated human sense. Instead of knowledge of the environment (as with, for example, smell or sight), the ''sensus divinitatis'' is alleged to give humans a knowledge of God.

History

In Calvin's view, there is no reasonable non-belief: Jonathan Edwards, the 18th-century American Calvinist preacher and theologian, claimed that while every human being has been granted the capacity to know God, successful use of these capacities requires an attitude of "true benevolence". Neo-Calvinists who adhere to the presuppositionalist school of

Christian apologetics Christian apologetics ( grc, ἀπολογία, "verbal defense, speech in defense") is a branch of Christian theology that defends Christianity. Christian apologetics has taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul the Apostle in ...

sometimes appeal to a ''sensus divinitatis'' to argue that there are no genuine

atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

Analytic philosopher Analytic philosophy is a branch and tradition of philosophy using analysis, popular in the Western world and particularly the Anglosphere, which began around the turn of the 20th century in the contemporary era in the United Kingdom, United ...

Alvin Plantinga Alvin Carl Plantinga (born November 15, 1932) is an American analytic philosopher who works primarily in the fields of philosophy of religion, epistemology (particularly on issues involving epistemic justification), and logic. From 1963 to 198 ...

of the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

posits a modified form of the ''sensus divinitatis'' in his

Reformed epistemology In the philosophy of religion, Reformed epistemology is a school of philosophical thought concerning the nature of knowledge (epistemology) as it applies to religious beliefs. The central proposition of Reformed epistemology is that beliefs can be ...

whereby all have the sense, only it does not work properly in some humans, due to sin's

noetic Noesis is a philosophical term, referring to the activity of the intellect or nous. Noesis may also refer to: Philosophy * Noesis (phenomenology), technical term in the Brentano–Husserl "philosophy of intentionality" tradition * Noetics, a bran ...

effects.

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

theologian

Karl Rahner Karl Rahner (5 March 1904 – 30 March 1984) was a German Jesuit priest and theologian who, alongside Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Yves Congar, is considered to be one of the most influential Roman Catholic theologians of ...

proposed an innate sense or pre-apprehension of God, which has been noted to share elements in common with Calvin's Sensus Divinitatis. This concept of innate knowledge of God is similar to the Islamic concept of

Fitra ''Fitra'' or ''fitrah'' (; ALA-LC: ) is either the state of purity and innocence in which Muslims believe all humans to be born, or the ability to choose or reject God's guidance, with which both humans and jinn are endowed. ''Fitra'' is an Arab ...

Criticism

Philosopher Evan Fales presents three arguments against the presence of a ''sensus divinitatis'': # The divergence of claims and beliefs (lack of reliability, even within Christian sects). # The lack of demonstrably superior morality of Christians versus non-Christians. # Bible verses, accepted by most Christians as authored by men inspired by the Holy Spirit—presumably with a functioning ''sensus divinitatis''—in which "God performs, commands, accepts or countenances rape, genocide, human sacrifice, pestilence to punish David for taking a census, killing David's infant to punish him, hatred of family, capital punishment for breaking a monetary promise, and so on". Philosopher Steven Maitzen claimed in 2006 that the

demographics Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as edu ...

of religious belief make the existence of the ''sensus divinitatis'' unlikely, as this sense appears so unevenly distributed. Hans Van Eyghen argues that the phenomenological description of the sensus divinitatis does not match what the cognitive sciences show about religious belief. However, Maitzen may have confused

Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...

's ''sensus dei'' with ''sensus divinitatis''—''sensus divinitatis'' (a religious sense) only necessitates a core religious/faith component to one's beliefs, whereas the ''sensus dei'' aims at a natural knowledge of God—compare ''In the Twilight of Western Thought'' by

Herman Dooyeweerd Herman Dooyeweerd (7 October 1894, Amsterdam – 12 February 1977, Amsterdam) was a professor of law and jurisprudence at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam from 1926 to 1965. He was also a philosopher and principal founder of Reformational phil ...

(1894–1977).

References

{{Reflist Religious philosophical concepts Calvinist theology Latin philosophical phrases