Ancient Philosophical Theology

2010 ◽  
pp. 81-90
Author(s):  
Kevin L. Flannery
Keyword(s):  
Philosophical Theology

Biblical Knowing Toward Death

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Diamond
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Philosophical Theology ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Impending Death ◽  
Ethics Law

This chapter examines the meaning of death for Jewish philosophical theology. How is the biblical view of life, ethics, law, and the pursuit of knowledge informed by the prospect of death or impending death? The Hebrew Bible is bracketed by the question of death, from the death at history’s inception that Adam and all subsequent human beings anticipate, to Moses’ unique death that awaits no other human at the Torah’s conclusion. Close readings of these narratives yield the notion that death allows for the potential of the absolutely supreme act of dying for others that informs all other acts of self-sacrifice. All the biblical cases focusing on a yearning for death or suicide, relating to Moses, Saul, Elijah, Jonah, Samson, and Job, involve this notion of a death on behalf of others.

Unbinding Jewish Philosophical Theology

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Diamond
Keyword(s):  
Philosophical Theology ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Biblical Text

The voluminous corpus of the rabbinic genre known as midrash and aggadah involves not just law (halakhah), but also a prolific repository of unrefined philosophical theology. The aggadic and midrashic style encompasses narrative, allegory, and a deeply intimate exegetical engagement with every syllable of the biblical text. It may not correspond neatly to the kinds of systematic treatises, largely identified with the Christian tradition, through which theology is traditionally delivered. The philosophy and theology that inhere in the midrashic genre are, at the very least, of equal profundity and complexity. One needs only to be attuned to its manner and style of communication, consisting of an unrelenting intricate weave of ciphers and cross-references to its biblical antecedents, to hear a literal barrage of philosophical theology.

Conclusion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
First Century ◽  
Philosophical Theology ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Modern Thought ◽  
Metaphysics Of Time ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
The Impact

This Conclusion draws the study to a close, and recounts its developmental theses. The first thesis is that the complexity of positions on time (and space) defended in early modern thought is hugely under-appreciated. An enormous variety of positions were defended during this period, going far beyond the well-known absolutism–relationism debate. The second thesis is that during this period three distinct kinds of absolutism can be found in British philosophy: Morean, Gassendist, and Newtonian. The chapter concludes with a few notes on the impact of absolutism within and beyond philosophy: on twenty-first-century metaphysics of time; and on art, geology, and philosophical theology.

The Greatest Possible Being

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Speaks
Keyword(s):  
Philosophical Theology ◽  
Divine Attributes ◽  
Existence Of God ◽  
Concept Of God ◽  
Attributes Of God

Philosophical theology is the attempt to use reason to determine the attributes of God. An ancient tradition, which is perhaps more influential now than ever, tries to derive the attributes of God from the principle that God is the greatest possible being. This book argues that that constructive project is a failure. It also argues that the principle that God is the greatest possible being is unsuited to play two other theoretical roles. The first of these is the role of setting the limits of the concept of God, particularly in the context of debates over the existence of God. The second is the role of explaining the meaning of ‘God.’ This leaves us with three unanswered questions. If the principle that God is the greatest possible being can’t deliver results about the divine attributes, define the concept of God, or give the meaning of the name ‘God,’ what can? The last chapter makes some initial steps toward answering these questions.

scholarly journals Why Composition Matters

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (8) ◽  
pp. 934-949
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Bailey ◽  
Andrew Brenner
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Mind ◽  
Philosophical Theology ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Composite Objects ◽  
Ontological Disputes

AbstractMany say that ontological disputes are defective because they are unimportant or without substance. In this paper, we defend ontological disputes from the charge, with a special focus on disputes over the existence of composite objects. Disputes over the existence of composite objects, we argue, have a number of substantive implications across a variety of topics in metaphysics, science, philosophical theology, philosophy of mind, and ethics. Since the disputes over the existence of composite objects have these substantive implications, they are themselves substantive.

Erasmus versus Luther: A Contemporary Analysis of the Debate on Free Will

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-335
Author(s):  
Aku Visala ◽  
Olli-Pekka Vainio
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Philosophical Theology ◽  
Contemporary Debate ◽  
Will And Grace ◽  
To Come

SummaryIn this article, we will use contemporary analytic tools to make sense of the main arguments in the classic debate on free will between Erasmus of Rotterdam and the Reformer Martin Luther. Instead of offering another exegesis of these texts, we put forward an analysis that links this historical debate with contemporary discussions on free will and grace in philosophical theology. We argue that the debate was ultimately about how three theological core claims are related to one another: the Anti-Pelagian Constraint (humans are incapable of willing any good, in order to come to faith), the Responsibility Principle (humans are morally responsible in the eyes of God) and human free will. Erasmus attacks Luther by arguing that the Responsibility Principle cannot be maintained without free will, while Luther responds by arguing that Erasmus must reject free will, because it is in conflict with the Anti-Pelagian Constraint. Luther is then left with the dilemma of justifying the Responsibility Principle without free will – a task, which in our estimation, fails. In the concluding section of the article, we point out some continuities and discontinuities between the contemporary debate and that of Luther and Erasmus.

scholarly journals Rational and natural theology in Anne Conway's Principia

2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-51
Author(s):  
Jonathan Head
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Natural Theology ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Philosophical Theology ◽  
Religious Epistemology

AbstractThis paper gives an account of the religious epistemology and theological working methods used in Anne Conway's Principia Philosophiae antiquissimae et recentissimae (1690). It is argued that the epistemic foundations of Conway's philosophical theology are rooted in a personal revelation of the existence and nature of God, which forms a framework through which the natural world can be approached and studied as creation. In this way, we can clarify both the place of Conway's work in the intellectual currents of the seventeenth century and various aspects of her metaphysical system, such as her account of creation.

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