Reading: Topics Raised in Dooyeweerd's Theory

What follows is a selective overview of a few key issues addressed by Dooyeweerd in his philosophy, including: meaning and creational law, temporal and supratemporal, immanence and transcendence standpoints, theology and philosophy, and transcendental criticism. The brief descriptions are very simplified.

Meaning and law – All created reality, both creational law and all that is subject to it, constitutes meaning. That is, the creation is ultimately dependent on and necessarily expresses and refers back to the Creator. God is the self-existent origin of all things, from, through, and to whom all things exist. Creational law is the boundary between the Creator and the creation. The creation, but not God, is bound to God-given laws and norms. These are not only physical laws and moral laws, nor only laws for sense perception and laws for logic, but laws and norms for every kind of thing that can exist, and every way things do exist and are experienced.

Temporal and supratemporal – Reality as God-given meaning, and our experience of it, has a “temporal” order and duration character that is related to the diverse laws and norms for it, and all that is subject to them. A unity of meaning finds a center of reference in our selves who experience. The unity of one’s self has a “supratemporal” character that is the heart or core of all its temporally diverse expressions and experiences.

Immanence-standpoints and the Christian transcendence-standpoint in philosophy – An “immanence” standpoint is one that takes philosophy’s starting point to be in philosophical thinking itself, however such thinking or its self-sufficiency is conceived. The Christian-transcendence standpoint, however, recognizes that the starting point for philosophy is found in supratheoretical religious beliefs (even for philosophies that take a self-incoherent immanence view).

The relation between Christian theology and Christian philosophy – Philosophy and theology are not distinguished by supposed realms or principles of natural reason and supernatural faith. The term “theology” – as in the knowledge of God – has been used to refer to the (supratheoretical) true knowledge of God in Christ given in regeneration that is eternal life. It has also been used to refer to the (pretheoretical) articles of faith, creed or confession of the institutional church. These senses must be distinguished from each other and from theology as referring to the theoretical study of the teaching of the Bible. In this sense as a theoretical study, theology is a special or particular science and is guided by a general theoretical view of reality that is philosophical. Both a Christian theological science and a Christian philosophy depend in turn on the true knowledge of God in Christ given in regeneration.

Transcendental criticism – Since the so-called Enlightenment era, many suppose it is somehow objectionable to approach the sciences and philosophy (academic fields of study) from a Christian perspective. However, such objections are the result of a competing religious perspective disguised as non-religious or religiously neutral. When the activity of theorizing (or the theoretical manner of thinking that is involved in all these fields) is critically examined its inherent dependence on (supratheoretical) religious beliefs is shown. A ‘transcendental’ critique of theoretical thought is one that examines the necessary conditions that make such thinking possible.

Taken from: https://thelaymenslounge.com/you-should-know-dooyeweerd/