Doctrine Of God Research Articles

Balancing the transcendence and immanence of God in Nürnberger’s theology

Klaus Nürnberger has provided an invaluable contribution to theology over the course of his career, and he continues to do so. His recent writings focus on a model of theology that takes seriously the truth claims made by the natural sciences. This article investigates Nürnberger’s understanding of God in the context of the science–religion conversation. It particularly focuses on how Nürnberger describes the immanence and transcendence of God. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article provides an investigation of Klaus Nürnberger’s doctrine of God, with special reference to transcendence and immanence. It engages natural science, theology and philosophy as its conversation partners.

La huella de la 'unitione divina' de Dionisio en la doctrina de la incomunicabilidad divina de Tomás de Aquino

The aim of this paper is to explain the influence that Dionysius's doctrine of God's incommunicability has on Thomistic thought in De divinis nominibus, chapter II. lec. 2 and 3.

Der heilige Geist: Quelle von Kreativität und Neuheit

This contribution aims to research the meaning of the category of creativity and newness for the doctrine of God and particularly for the identity of the Holy Spirit. It is argued that the biblical narrative itself gives ample ground to criticize the traditional notion of immutability. By briefly analyzing the notion of God’s regret in some biblical passages the conclusion is drawn that God himself in situations of crisis is urged to search for a way forward. In this context the Holy Spirit plays a dominant role as the creative power of the kingdom that was on Jesus and empowered him during his life unto the cross. It is suggested that this should have a bearing on the doctrine of God: The Holy Spirit represents the eschatological drive in the life of God. Contemporary thought on the doctrine of God should take this eschatological accent more serious than traditionally was done.

Book Review: Gene L. Greene, Stephen T. Pardue, and K. K. Yeo (eds.), The Trinity among the Nations: The Doctrine of God in the Majority World

Book Review: Gene L. Greene, Stephen T. Pardue, and K. K. Yeo (eds.), <i>The Trinity among the Nations: The Doctrine of God in the Majority World</i>

The Trinity in the Canons of Dordt?

In this article the question regarding to the Trinity in the Canons of Dordt is specifically asked in the light of a broader structure of the Reformed orthodox doctrine of God in the early modern period (1500–1700). The first part of the article attempts to shed light on the Trinity in Reformed orthodoxy and, in this light, the second part will highlight an understanding of the inherent doctrine of the Trinity in the Canons of Dordt.

El Pablo de Žižek

Slavoj Žižek has pretended to identify the non-ideologized core of Christianity in order to find a point of departure to criticize global capitalism. First of all, as conceptual clarification, we want to expose how Žižek let his idea of dialectical materialism come out of trinitarian dogma of Encarnation, which was first formulated through St. Paul’s doctrine of God’s kenosis. According to his lecture of Schelling and Hegel, the materialist subversion of philosophical discourse can’t be understood without paying attention to how the notion of Absolute was elaborated in German Idealism as decision-scission and self-alienation of God. Lastly, we will try to show why only a praxis that has faced the predicaments which follow from it is able to obtain a non-abstract universality. Such a praxis was the one which Paul tried to shape at the constitution of the Church.

Peter Lombard on God’s Knowledge and Its Capacities: Sententiae, Book I, Distinctions 38-39

The global Peter Lombard research reinaugurated in 1990s has resulted in a number of recent publications, but the Master of the Sentences’ theology proper is partially underreseached. In particular, a more detailed exposition of the distinctions 35-41 of his Book of Sentences is needed in order to clarify his doctrine of God’s knowledge and its relation to the human free will. The article builds on the earlier established evidence that, for Peter Lombard in distinctions 35-38, God’s knowledge, in general, is not causative, although some causative power has to be ascribed to God’s knowledge of the good. The last part of distinction 38 and the content of distinction 39 further analyze the capacities and functionalities of the divine omniscience and explain how it interacts with acts of human will. The key question here deals with the problem of alternative states of affairs: whether something may be otherwise than God foreknew. As it is shown, Master Peter agrees that it is possible for created things and events to be otherwise than they are, but insists that God’s knowledge must be in any case exhaustive and infallible. He uses a number of logical tools to defend the thesis about God’s perfect knowledge and the possibility of things happening otherwise, but lacks strict definition of the notion of “possibility” used here. The study concludes that in few cases Lombard’s posse could mean a potency or a simple logical possibility, or the diachronic contingency, but the overall theological statement is clear: potentially, God’s knowledge can be different or include alternative state of affairs but it cannot change.

A Trinitarian Basis for a “Theological Ecology” in Light of Laudato Si’

This article responds to Pope Francis’s call in Laudato Si’ for an ecological expansion of mission and seeks to provide it with theological support. This support comes by way of a trinitarian rendition of the missiological concept missio Dei. Drawing from Thomas Aquinas and Bernard Lonergan’s accounts of the trinitarian missions, it articulates a theological ecology (as opposed to an ecological theology), in which the traditional doctrine of God is the controlling motif. Through the missions of the Son and Holy Spirit, God transforms the moral-intellectual-volitional comportment of humanity and recruits them into a shared mission of environmental concern.

Peter Lombard’s on God’s Will: Sententiae, Book I, Distinctions 45-46

The global Peter Lombard research continues, but the Master of the Sentences’ theology proper is still to be analyzed in detail. In particular, a more thorough exposition of the distinctions 45-48 of his Book of Sentences, which deal with the notion of God’s will and its relation to the human free will, has for some while remained a desideratum. The given article partly fills this lacuna and elucidates on the doctrine of the divine will as presented by the Lombard. The doctrine ofvoluntas divina has to be put into the «Trinitarian essentialist» model, according to which the Triunity of God means that all three Persons of the Godhead share one simple essence. This essence has no parts, and therefore such things as knowledge, wisdom, or will are actually one and the same thing in God: they are one essence. Therefore God’s will is first of all God himself as willing. Any theological proposition which uses the verb «to will» intransitively is a statement of God’s essence qua willing. Yet, God’s nature is differently manifested in his outward actions which allow a theologian to speak of some distinct and distinguishable properties or aspects of this nature as it relates to what is outside the Godhead. Therefore a theological proposition which uses the verb «to will» transitively and adds an object of willing means a statement of the divine will as an outward act. In this case, God’s will should not be identified with God’s essence nor the objects or outcomes of this willing. In particular, it is shown that for him there exist two ways of speaking about God’s will: «simply and absolutely» and «not simply and absolutely» which may be identified with intransitive and transitive use of the verb «to will,» respectively. The will is primarily understood in terms of execution of one’s will (active willing) but its relation to one’s desires and inclinations (wanting) are downplayed or altogether omitted from the Lombardian doctrine of God. The divine will is by definition free and efficient but Lombard highlights that there is place for human free will, too. His explanation of the relationship between the divine and the human wills seems somewhat unconvincing but the unfolding of his theory on the basis of a few biblical texts should be acknowledged a peculiar theological exercise.

Fear God and keep his commandments: Foundation for a relationship with God

This article argues that the “fear of God” concept links the theology and ethics of Qoheleth and plays a pivotal role in the quest for life’s meaning amidst its challenges. It explores what B. K. Waltke echoes as “the kernel and star of the whole book” and “the dominant note of the book.”1 It offers a cursory study of the relationship between God and human beings and its connection to the concept of “fearing God.” It concludes that the “fear of God” is foundational to a relationship with God, and for seeing life within the limits and bounds of God’s sovereignty. The key to Qoheleth’s realistic attitude to life occurs in his doctrine of God. He believes that the Creator of the world is intimately concerned with the details of human lives and determines the fate of every human creature. Like the book of Job and Proverbs, Qoheleth asserts that the “fear of God” is the beginning of wisdom.

GOD THE LAWGIVER ACCORDING TO THE WESTMINSTER DIVINE BURGESS

In this essay, we will consider the way in which Anthony Burgess—and therefore, presumably, the Westminster Confession of Faith—grounds its doctrine of God’s law in an “experimental awareness of the exalted Lawgiver.” His and their understanding of the law is not abstract or philosophical, but rather theological and therefore personal. We will conclude with some brief comments on the implications of Burgess’s work for contemporary reflections about natural law in the Reformed theological community.

Knowers by Nature and Their Burdens and Blessings: On John Goodwin's Arminian Turn

Much of John Goodwin's theological output can be viewed as a backlash against the “orthodox” doctrine of God. That God, as Goodwin conceived him, was too eager to command the “impossible” and too inclined to “delight” in the punishment of the noncompliant. During the early 1650s, Goodwin turned to the pagans in order to articulate the gracious countenance of a wise and equitable deity. In the process, he went close to canceling the operational distinction between grace and nature. For nature, according to Goodwin, preached unlettered sermons about “atonement.” And because, as Paul declared in Romans, the blessings of creation render the sins of creatures inexcusable, it is only because they willfully repudiate the deity's gracious overtures that pagans deprive themselves of excuse. The doctrine, as Goodwin presented it, horrified his many opponents. It seemed to them that Goodwin had lodged in the “free will” of rational creatures the power to attain salvation. He put himself on a collision course with the magisterial masters—Bucer, Vermigli, Calvin, Pareus, and others—whose lead he professed, in many respects, to follow. There is reason to suspect that Goodwin had been particularly indebted to Arminius, Episcopius, and Corvinus.

Is het gebed een dialoog?

This article explores the nature of prayer: is prayer dialogue? If so, how does this relate to the experience of the petitioner? In conversation with John Calvin, Sarah Coakley and Gerrit Immink, this essay argues that prayer is a dialogue in which the petitioner and God maintain their subjectivity, but in asymmetrical and reciprocal ways. It is argued that the affirmation of God’s subjectivity in prayer affects both the doctrine ofGod and theological anthropology in numerous ways. The most important of these is a diminished emphasis on causality in the approach to God and therefore a less deterministic history than is often assumed in the Reformed tradition. It also affords a serious reconsideration of the influence of the petitioner through prayer in Christ’s reign.

W. J. HANKEY, God in Himself. Aquinas' Doctrine of God as Expounded in The Summa Theologiae, Oxford University Press, New York 1987, 196 pp., 14 x 22.

W. J. HANKEY, God in Himself. Aquinas' Doctrine of God as Expounded in The Summa Theologiae, Oxford University Press, New York 1987, 196 pp., 14 x 22.

Stephen R. Holmes, The Quest for the Trinity: The Doctrine of God in Scripture, History, and Modernity

Stephen R. Holmes, The Quest for the Trinity: The Doctrine of God in Scripture, History, and Modernity

이슬람과 기독교 신론 비교연구

이슬람과 기독교 신론 비교연구

이슬람과 기독교 신론 비교연구

이슬람과 기독교 신론 비교연구

The Lord Will Reveal the Lord

Abstract The first pastoral epistle to Timothy follows a relatively traditional Jewish doctrine in the context of second temple Judaism: God is one “whom no one has ever seen or can see” (1 Timothy 6:16). This parallels a statement in chapter one in which God is described as “invisible” (1 Timothy 1:17). In both statements, the invisibility of God is contrasted with the visible quality of Jesus’ spiritual power or his second appearing. This paper argues that the Jewish monotheistic doctrine of God has been developed in a proto-Trinitarian manner by utilizing the qualities of invisibility and visibility.

Cancer, Theodicy, and Theology: A Personal Reflection

Abstract Theodicy wrestles with suffering and pain, while seeking to understand God’s engagement with these realities. Cancer raises similar questions, while focusing on specific aspects of those questions. Cancer appears to challenge many aspects of Christian doctrine, in particular issues regarding the origin of sin, Christology, and ultimately one’s doctrine of God. This article explores how my own personal diagnosis of colon cancer has led to an exploration and re-evaluation of these traditional doctrines and their relevance for my own faith journey. The realities of cancer, and random cell mutation as an evolutionary driver, appear to call into question traditional understandings of the origin of suffering and sin, and, I would argue, the very role of Jesus. A process theology that redefines core features of the nature of God is proposed as one way of addressing these doctrines and their impact for faith. These features will note the limited nature of God with regard to power and knowledge as well as the nature of a God who truly risks.

Theological Predication, Doctrinal Location, and Method in Analytic Theology

Abstract Theological method is situated properly in relation to a range of doctrinal commitments, especially commitments located in the doctrines of God, creation, and theological anthropology. In this article, I use Thomas Aquinas’s account of theological predication to illustrate this doctrinal and methodological interconnection. Then, I describe the methodological commitments of analytic theology as they have been articulated by its advocates and argue that analytic theology should embrace an explicitly theological methodology. This requires taking seriously the proper ends of theology and the varied means used by theologians in the Christian theological tradition. I argue that analytic theologians should nurture attentiveness to theology’s chief end (the visio Dei and the corresponding goals of faithful worship and personal formation), the doctrinal order in which specific doctrinal questions find their proper context and location (beginning from and ending with the doctrine of God), and the practices that facilitate good theological judgment-making (prayer and contemplation).