Dedicated to the 700th anniversary
Summary
Seyran A. Zakaryan
Key words – Ontology, Proofs of the Existence of God, Monotheism, Creation, Providence, Faith, Reason.
The article analyses the prominent Armenian Medieval theologian and philosopher Hovhan Vortnetsy’s (1315-1388) metaphysical and ontological views, in particular, the issues on the existence of God, monotheism, divine names, God and the world, creation and providence, discussed by him. As a philosophizing theologian Vorotnetsi, discussing religious-theological issues, firstly, introduces their philosophical solutions, criticizes and denies the approaches that contradict the Revelation truths and the church doctrine and, secondly, he tries to justify the religious truths and the principle of the Christian faith through philosophical material and methods, logical and rational arguments. In particular, in order to justify the existence and nature of God, providence, monotheism and creation, he suggests rational proofs based on facts and evidence as well as on metaphysical paradigms (universal movement, determinism, necessity, accident and advisability). Although his metaphysics and ontology, which are mostly based on Aristotle’s teaching, are only an introduction to theology: on the one hand, they illustrate the high reputation and status of Philosophy and Logic and, on the other hand, they reveal the growth of interest in experience-based evidence.