The Failure Of Natural Theology

Author : Jeffrey D Johnson
Publisher : New Studies in Theology Series
Page : 266 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2021-09-15
Category : Natural theology
ISBN : 1952599377

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The Failure of Natural Theology by Jeffrey D Johnson Pdf

Aristotle's cosmological argument is the foundation of Aquinas's doctrine of God. For Thomas, the cosmological argument not only speaks of God's existence but also of God's nature. By learning that the unmoved mover is behind all moving objects, we learn something true about the essence of God-principally, that God is immobile. But therein lies the problem for Thomas. The Catholic Church had already condemned Aristotle's unmoved mover because, according to Aristotle, the unmoved mover is unable to be the moving cause (i.e., Creator) and governor of the universe-or else he would cease to be immobile. By seeking to baptize Aristotle into the Catholic Church, however, Thomas gave his life to seeking to explain how God can be both immobile and the moving cause of the universe. Thomas even looked to the pantheistic philosophy of Pseudo-Dionysius for help. But even with Dionysius's aid, Thomas failed to reconcile the god of Aristotle with the Trinitarian God of the Bible. If Thomas would have rejected the natural theology of Aristotle by placing the doctrine of the Trinity, which is known only by divine revelation, at the foundation of his knowledge of God, he would have rid himself of the irresolvable tension that permeates his philosophical theology. Thomas could have realized that the Trinity alone allows for God to be the only self-moving being-because the Trinity is the only being not moved by anything outside himself but freely capable of creating and controlling contingent things in motion.

Author : Michael Sudduth
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 250 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2016-02-24
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781317018070

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The Reformed Objection to Natural Theology by Michael Sudduth Pdf

Michael Sudduth examines three prominent objections to natural theology that have emerged in the Reformed streams of the Protestant theological tradition: objections from the immediacy of our knowledge of God, the noetic effects of sin, and the logic of theistic arguments. Distinguishing between the project of natural theology and particular models of natural theology, Sudduth argues that none of the main Reformed objections is successful as an objection to the project of natural theology itself. One particular model of natural theology - the dogmatic model - is best suited to handle Reformed concerns over natural theology. According to this model, rational theistic arguments represent the reflective reconstruction of the natural knowledge of God by the Christian in the context of dogmatic theology. Informed by both contemporary religious epistemology and the history of Protestant philosophical theology, Sudduth’'s examination illuminates the complex nature of the project of natural theology and its place in the Reformed tradition.

Author : Jeffrey D. Johnson
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 98 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2021-12-17
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1952599466

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Saving Natural Theology from Thomas Aquinas by Jeffrey D. Johnson Pdf

Is natural theology compatible with presuppositional apologetics? At first glance, it may seem like it's not. Natural theology is closely linked to classical apologetics, and classical apologetics, due to the influence of Thomas Aquinas, is so interwoven with Greek philosophy. And Greek philosophy has no place in presuppositionalism. Yet, a natural theology free of the influence of Greek philosophy is consistent with presuppositionalism. Presuppositionalists do not take issue with natural revelation or with the body of doctrine communicated in natural revelation; they are against pagan philosophers who have suppressed, twisted, and perverted what has been communicated in natural revelation. Greek philosophers did not confess the God of natural revelation. Far from it. They rejected what they knew in their hearts by attempting to formulate their own explanation of God. The god they created was an abstract being that is not the personal Caretaker and Judge of the universe. Such a god is not the God of natural revelation.Thomas Aquinas is the one who ruined natural theology. Not that Thomas was the first to mix Greek philosophy with theology, but he has done the most damage in syncretizing the pantheistic notions flowing out of Athens with the ontologically distinct and self-contained God who personally revealed himself in Jerusalem. Therefore, if natural theology can be saved, it must be saved from Thomas Aquinas.

Author : Marika Rose
Publisher : Fordham Univ Press
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2019-05-07
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780823284092

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A Theology of Failure by Marika Rose Pdf

Everyone agrees that theology has failed; but the question of how to understand and respond to this failure is complex and contested. Against both the radical orthodox attempt to return to a time before the theology’s failure and the deconstructive theological attempt to open theology up to the hope of a future beyond failure, Rose proposes an account of Christian identity as constituted by, not despite, failure. Understanding failure as central to theology opens up new possibilities for confronting Christianity’s violent and kyriarchal history and abandoning the attempt to discover a pure Christ outside of the grotesque materiality of the church. The Christian mystical tradition begins with Dionysius the Areopagite’s uncomfortable but productive conjunction of Christian theology and Neoplatonism. The tensions generated by this are central to Dionysius’s legacy, visible not only in subsequent theological thought but also in much twentieth century continental philosophy as it seeks to disentangle itself from its Christian ancestry. A Theology of Failure shows how the work of Slavoj Žižek represents an attempt to repeat the original move of Christian mystical theology, bringing together the themes of language, desire, and transcendence not with Neoplatonism but with a materialist account of the world. Tracing these themes through the work of Dionysius and Derrida and through contemporary debates about the gift, violence, and revolution, this book offers a critical theological engagement with Žižek's account of social and political transformation, showing how Žižek's work makes possible a materialist reading of apophatic theology and Christian identity.

Author : Robert A. Morey
Publisher : Xulon Press
Page : 464 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2010-05
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781609571436

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The Bible, Natural Theology and Natural Law: Conflict Or Compromise? by Robert A. Morey Pdf

Dr. Robert Morey's study of natural law and natural theology raises important questions that every Bible-believer will want answered. His careful study and explanation of various Bible passages will yield a useful orientation to the classic arguments furnished us by the Reformers and their faithful heirs. Dr. Nelson Kloosterman The present volume presents a devastating critique of natural theology and natural law. Its argument is solidly biblical, and its accumulation of biblical data is overwhelming. I hope that God prospers it so that many will read it and take heed. Dr. John Frame A.W. Tozer said, "the most important thing about any person is what comes into their mind when they think of the word God." If you digest Dr. Morey's book, you will think of 'God' as the glorious One depicted in Holy Scripture." John G. Reisinger, I appreciate Dr. Morey's emphasis on making the Bible alone the theoretical basis for science and the arts. All throughout the book he consistently points to the Scriptures as the basis for sustaining everything else. Dr. Simon Kistemaker

Author : William Paley
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 1822
Category : Natural history
ISBN : BL:A0022683351

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Natural Theology; Or Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, Collected from the Appearances of Nature by William Paley Pdf

Author : Herbert McCabe
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 225 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2010-02-26
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781441121226

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God and Evil by Herbert McCabe Pdf

Herbert McCabe was one of the most original and creative theologians of recent years. Continuum has published numerous volumes of unpublished typescripts left behind by him following his untimely death in 2001. This book is the sixth to appear. McCabe was deeply immersed in the philosophical theology of St Thomas Aquinas and was responsible in part for the notable revival of interest in the thought of Aquinas in our time. Here he tackles the problem of evil by focusing and commenting on what Aquinas said about it. What should we mean by words such as 'good', 'bad', 'being', 'cause', 'creation', and 'God'? These are McCabe's main questions. In seeking to answer them he demonstrates why it cannot be shown that evil disproves God's existence. He also explains how we can rightly think of evil in a world made by God. McCabe's approach to God and evil is refreshingly unconventional given much that has been said about it of late. Yet it is also very traditional. It will interest and inform anyone seriously interested in the topic.

Author : Russell Re Manning
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 672 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2013-01-17
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780191611711

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The Oxford Handbook of Natural Theology by Russell Re Manning Pdf

The Oxford Handbook of Natural Theology is the first collection to consider the full breadth of natural theology from both historical and contemporary perspectives and to bring together leading scholars to offer accessible high-level accounts of the major themes. The volume embodies and develops the recent revival of interest in natural theology as a topic of serious critical engagement. Frequently misunderstood or polemicized, natural theology is an under-studied yet persistent and pervasive presence throughout the history of thought about ultimate reality - from the classical Greek theology of the philosophers to twenty-first-century debates in science and religion. Of interest to students and scholars from a wide range of disciplines, this authoritative handbook draws on the very best of contemporary scholarship to present a critical overview of the subject area. Thirty-eight new essays trace the transformations of natural theology in different historical and religious contexts, the place of natural theology in different philosophical traditions and diverse scientific disciplines, and the various cultural and aesthetic approaches to natural theology to reveal a rich seam of multi-faceted theological reflection rooted in human nature and the environments within which we find ourselves.

Author : John M. DePoe,Tyler Dalton McNabb
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 265 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2020-02-06
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781350062764

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Debating Christian Religious Epistemology by John M. DePoe,Tyler Dalton McNabb Pdf

What does it mean to believe in God? What passes as evidence for belief in God? What issues arise when considering the rationality of belief in God? Debating Christian Religious Epistemology introduces core questions in the philosophy of religion by bringing five competing viewpoints on the knowledge of God into critical dialogue with one another. Each chapter introduces an epistemic viewpoint, providing an overview of its main arguments and explaining why it justifies belief. The validity of that viewpoint is then explored and tested in a critical response from an expert in an opposing tradition. Featuring a wide range of different philosophical positions, traditions and methods, this introduction: - Covers classical evidentialism, phenomenal conservatism, proper functionalism, covenantal epistemology and traditions-based perspectivalism - Draws on MacIntyre's account of rationality and ideas from the Analytic and Conservatism traditions - Addresses issues in social epistemology - Considers the role of religious experience and religious texts Packed with lively debates, this is an ideal starting point for anyone interested in understanding the major positions in contemporary religious epistemology and how religious concepts and practices relate to belief and knowledge.

Author : Kevin Diller
Publisher : InterVarsity Press
Page : 333 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2014-10-24
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780830896998

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Theology's Epistemological Dilemma by Kevin Diller Pdf

Karl Barth and Alvin Plantinga are not thought of as theological allies. Barth is famous for his opposition to philosophy's role in theology, while Plantinga is famous for his emphasis on warranted belief. Kevin Diller argues that they actually offer a unified response to the central epistemological dilemma in theology.

Author : J. V. Fesko
Publisher : Baker Academic
Page : 252 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2019-03-19
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781493411306

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Reforming Apologetics by J. V. Fesko Pdf

Challenging the dominant Van Tillian approach in Reformed apologetics, this book by a leading expert in contemporary Reformed theology sets forth the principles that undergird a classic Reformed approach. J. V. Fesko's detailed exegetical, theological, and historical argument takes as its starting point the classical Reformed understanding of the "two books" of God's revelation: nature and Scripture. Believers should always rest on the authority of Scripture but also can and should appeal to the book of nature in the apologetic task.

Author : N. T. Wright,Nicholas Thomas Wright
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2019
Category : Eschatology
ISBN : 0281081646

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History and Eschatology by N. T. Wright,Nicholas Thomas Wright Pdf

Building on his critically acclaimed Gifford Lectures, N. T. Wright presents a richly nuanced case for a theology based on a renewed understanding of historical knowledge.The question of 'natural theology' interlocks with the related questions of how we can conceive of God acting in the world, and of why, if God is God, the world is full of evil. Can specific events in history, like those reported in the Gospels, afford the necessary point from which to answer such questions? Widely shared cultural and philosophical assumptions have conditioned our understanding of history in ways that make the idea of divine action in history problematic. But could better historical study itself win from ancient Jewish and Christian cosmology and eschatology a renewed way of understanding the relationship between God and the world? N. T. Wright argues that this can indeed be done, and in this ground-breaking book he develops a distinctive approach to natural theology grounded in what he calls an 'epistemology of love'. This approach arises from his reflection on the significance of the ancient concept of the 'new creation' for our understanding the reality of the world, the reality of God and their relation to one another.

Author : S. Peterfreund
Publisher : Springer
Page : 193 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2012-08-20
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781137015273

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Turning Points in Natural Theology from Bacon to Darwin by S. Peterfreund Pdf

Discusses crucial moments in the historical development of natural theology in England from the time of Francis Bacon to that of Charles Darwin. While the argument from design remains the rhetorical method of choice for natural theologians throughout the three centuries in question, the locus and object of design undergo a change.

Author : Helen De Cruz,Johan De Smedt
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 265 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2024-06-11
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780262552455

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A Natural History of Natural Theology by Helen De Cruz,Johan De Smedt Pdf

An examination of the cognitive foundations of intuitions about the existence and attributes of God. Questions about the existence and attributes of God form the subject matter of natural theology, which seeks to gain knowledge of the divine by relying on reason and experience of the world. Arguments in natural theology rely largely on intuitions and inferences that seem natural to us, occurring spontaneously—at the sight of a beautiful landscape, perhaps, or in wonderment at the complexity of the cosmos—even to a nonphilosopher. In this book, Helen De Cruz and Johan De Smedt examine the cognitive origins of arguments in natural theology. They find that although natural theological arguments can be very sophisticated, they are rooted in everyday intuitions about purpose, causation, agency, and morality. Using evidence and theories from disciplines including the cognitive science of religion, evolutionary ethics, evolutionary aesthetics, and the cognitive science of testimony, they show that these intuitions emerge early in development and are a stable part of human cognition. De Cruz and De Smedt analyze the cognitive underpinnings of five well-known arguments for the existence of God: the argument from design, the cosmological argument, the moral argument, the argument from beauty, and the argument from miracles. Finally, they consider whether the cognitive origins of these natural theological arguments should affect their rationality.

Author : Eugene F. Rogers, Jr.
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 300 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2013-02-26
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781118397176

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Aquinas and the Supreme Court by Eugene F. Rogers, Jr. Pdf

This new work clarifies Aquinas’ concept of natural law through his biblical commentaries, and explores its applications to U.S. constitutional law. The first time the use of Aquinas on the U.S. Supreme Court has been explored in depth, and its applications tested through a rigorous reading of the biblical commentaries Shows how key judgments in the Supreme Court have rested on medieval natural law, and applies critical gender theory to discuss problems with these applications Offers new research data to give a different picture of Aquinas and natural law, and a fresh take on Aquinas’ biblical commentaries New research based on passages in the biblical commentaries never before available in English