Claude Tresmontant

Claude Tresmontant (1925 – 1997) was a French philosopher, Hellenist and theologian.

Biography

He taught medieval philosophy and philosophy of science at the Sorbonne. He was a member of the Academy of Moral and Political Science. He was given the Maxmilien-Kolbe Prize in 1973 and the Grand Prix of the Academy of Moral and Political Science for his complete works in 1987.

Philosophy

Christianity is for him a "general theory of reality". It explains the existence of what is, compared to experimental science, which enables us to recognize its nature. He was sure that human "reason can prove the existence of God". For theology, based on God's word, we need to prove two premises:

1. There is a transcendental, absolute being, the creator of Heaven and Earth, we can call God;
2. This being has spoken to us, revealed to us... (The history of creation and the sense of universe)

He finds reasons for God's existence in four analyses: astrophysical (why does space exist?), biochemical (Why do genes carry information?), genetic (why does genetic information increase?) and anthropological (why is there a human being?). The Lord Jesus Christ brings us a new program of mind, compared to that one in our paleocortex (Christ in history). He was afraid of modern Christian irrationalism, what he called "pathology of Christianity".

Bibliography

• Gospel of Matthew, Translation and Notes,
• A Study of Hebrew Thought
• Christian Metaphysics
• Saint Paul and the Mystery of Christ
• Pierre Teilhard de Chardin -- His Thought
• Towards the Knowledge of God
• The Origins of Christian Philosophy

Persondata
Name	Tresmontant, Claude
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1927
Place of birth
Date of death	1997
Place of death