Essays In Philosophical Theology Research Articles

Conceivability, possibility and the resurrection of material beings

In his 1998 postscript to ‘The Possibility of Resurrection’ Peter van Inwagen argues that the scenario he describes by which God might resurrect a human organism, even though probably not true (cf. van Inwagen in, The possibility of resurrection and other essays in Christian apologetics, Westview Press, Boulder, 1998b, p. 51), is still conceivable and, consequently, ‘serves to establish a possibility’ (van Inwagen in, The possibility of resurrection and other essays in Christian apologetics, Westview Press, Boulder, 1998b, p. 51), namely, the metaphysical possibility of the resurrection of material beings. Van Inwagen, however, has also argued in favour of ‘modal scepticism’ [van Inwagen in, God, knowledge and mystery: essays in philosophical theology, Cornell University Press, Ithaca 1995b, pp. 11–12; van Inwagen in, Philos Stud 92:67–84 (69), 1998a]. That is, he thinks that we should limit all our claims about what is possible to ‘ordinary propositions about everyday matters’ (van Inwagen in, Philos Stud 92:67–84 (76), 1998a). In this paper I argue that van Inwagen’s modal argument as found in ‘The Possibility of Resurrection’ (van Inwagen in, The possibility of resurrection and other essays in Christian apologetics, Westview Press, Boulder, 1998b) is inconsistent with his modal scepticism as found in ‘Modal Epistemology’ (van Inwagen in, Philos Stud 92:67–84, 1998a). In consequence, I argue that, given his modal scepticism, the task van Inwagen set himself in ‘The Possibility of Resurrection’ (to establish the possibility of the Resurrection) has not been achieved.

Destiny and Deliberation: Essays in Philosophical Theology. By Jonathan L.Kvanvig. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Pp. xx + 191. $31.50.

Religious Studies ReviewVolume 41, Issue 1 p. 14-14 Theology Destiny and Deliberation: Essays in Philosophical Theology. By Kvanvig, Jonathan L.. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Pp. xx + 191. $31.50. Amos Yong, Amos Yong Fuller Theological SeminarySearch for more papers by this author Amos Yong, Amos Yong Fuller Theological SeminarySearch for more papers by this author First published: 06 March 2015 https://doi.org/10.1111/rsr.12193_15Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume41, Issue1March 2015Pages 14-14 RelatedInformation

God as Reason: Essays in Philosophical Theology. By VittorioHösle. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2013. Pp. xiii + 407. Paper, $48.00.

God as Reason: Essays in Philosophical Theology. By VittorioHösle. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2013. Pp. xiii + 407. Paper, $48.00.

God as Reason: Essays in Philosophical Theology

God as Reason: Essays in Philosophical Theology

Destiny and Deliberation: Essays in Philosophical Theology. By JONATHAN L. KVANVIG.

Destiny and Deliberation: Essays in Philosophical Theology. By JONATHAN L. KVANVIG.

Farewell to an Old Friend

This essay is a personal tribute to the life of philosopher Antony Flew (1923-20 0). After some brief comments about Flew's life, the article is divided into academic and personal memories that were shared between Gary Habermas and him. Included are details of variolls academic publications, debates, critiques, as well as several private discllssions. 214 PHILO SOPHIA CHRISTI of the relevant subjects.' For the vast majority of his career, he had rejected tenets such as God's existence and attributes, special revelation, the occurrence of miracles, or the likelihood of an afterlife. We studied his works for our classes when was a student. He was a giant. Only time will reveal the final impact of his life, views, and publications. So it came as no surprise that, in recent years, he made the headlines worldwide once again, this time after announcing that he had recently come to believe in the existence of God. He reported it many times-it had nothing to do with faith, and he did not affirm any religion'S account of special revelation, but he did come to hold to a rather traditional understanding of God's nature and attributes. This was simply a move that he thought he was compelled to make, strictly due to the evidence. As he said frequently over the last few years, especially in relation to his to deism, I had to go where the evidence leads.2 In spite of his age-eighty-seven years-his life came to a conclusion all too soon as far as was concerned. was very much saddened to hear of his death. Sure, he had lived a long and good life-the sort that makes people quip that they hoped that they would live so long and so well. However, through the years we had experienced many wonderful conversations, achieved some great insights, and simply did not want these times to come to an end. But when the time came, realized anew that had lost a dear friend. Some might conclude that my thoughts here had to do more with Tony's conversion from atheism to deism. But that was simply not the case. There is no question that we would have been friends regardless of his change in thinking. After all, we had maintained our friendship for almost twenty years before that time, in spite of our philosophical differences. The majority of our dozens of letters and phone calls had nothing to do with pushing each other towards our own positions. For my pari, it comes down to this: would have felt similarly even had he remained an atheist. But do not intend the remainder of this article to be primarily concerned with Tony's philosophical positions on this or that issue, or his conversion to Deism later in life, and so on. There is still much more ofthe latter story to be told, to be sure, but that will have to wait for another time. Rather, this essay will be concerned chiefly with anecdotes and memories of Tony l. God and Philosophy (1966; Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2005); HlIme's Philosophy of Belief (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1961); The Presllmption qlAtheism (New York: Barnes and Noble, 1976); Theology and Falsification, in Nell' Essays in Philosophical Theology, ed. Antony Flew andAlasdair MacIntyre (New York: Macmillan, 1955); in The Encyclopedia qlPhilosophy (New York: Macmillan, 1967); The Logic of Mortality (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1987); introduction to Of Miracles, by David I-Iume (La Salle, IL: Open Court,

God, Knowledge, and Mystery: Essays in Philosophical Theology.

In a book that will appeal to a general audience as well as philosophers of religion, a leading metaphysician tackles fundamental theological problems in a lucid and engaging manner. Peter van Inwagen begins with a provocative new introduction exploring the question of whether a philosopher such as himself is qualified to address theological matters. The chapters that follow take up the central problem of evil in a world created and sustained by God. -- Cornell University Press

Understanding an act of God: An essay in philosophical theology

Understanding an act of God: An essay in philosophical theology

Reasoned Faith: Essays in Philosophical Theology in Honor of Norman Kretzmann.

Overview: Dedicated to Norman Kretzmann - a major figure within medieval philosophy and a leader in the redifinition of philosophy of religion - this book presents important new essays by fourteen eminent philosophers. Examining aspects of the rationality of faith or bringing philosophical techniques to bear on particular religious texts or doctrines, each chapter deepens our understanding of the connections between faith and reason. In the first part of the collection, the contributors examine the assumption that faith can be epistemologically valid only if it is based on sufficient evidence. The following chapters explore the relationship between reason and revelation with reference to the book of Genesis. Additional essays provide analytic approaches to such traditional divine attributes as transcendence, eternality, perfect goodness, and freedom. Focusing on problems of redemption and evil, the concluding chapters apply categories of Anglo-American philosophy to central doctrines of the Christian faith. This book demonstrates the fruitfulness of the expanded range of topics now addressed by Anglo-American philosophers of religion. It will be valuable reading for scholars and students in the fields of philosophy of religion, medieval studies, biblical studies, theology, and metaphysics.

Reasoned Faith. Essays in Philosophical Theology in Honor of Norman Kretzmann

Reasoned Faith. Essays in Philosophical Theology in Honor of Norman Kretzmann

Being and Goodness: The Concept of the Good in Metaphysics and Philosophical Theology ed. by Scott MacDonald

150 BOOK REVIEWS Being and Goodness: The Concept of the Good in Metaphysics and Philosophical Theology. Edited by SCOTT MACDONALD. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991. Pp. 328. $43.95 cloth, $14.95 paper. The quality of these (mostly) new essays and the modest price make Being and Goodness recommendable, almost as two anthologies in one. This ambitious collection has a split personality: careful interpretations of medieval texts (in part I) are yoked to intriguing contributions to contemporary discussions in metaethics and philosophical theology (in part II). Four essays by Eleonore Stump, Norman Kretzman, or both, appear to he the heart and inspiration of this anthology. Their contributions are about 40% of the length of the volume; and their collaborative essay, "Being and Goodness" (the only reprinted essay included), pro· vides both the collection's title and its theme, which is to enrich con· temporary debate in philosophical theology and virtue ethics by :mining the resources of the ancient and medieval tradition that " the terms ' being ' and 'goodness ' are the same in reference, differing only in sense" 99). Other contributors (Scott MacDonald, Jan A. Aertsen, Ralph Mc· Inerny, Mark D. Jordan, and Jorge J. E. Gracia analyze medieval texts in the tradition from Augustine to Suarez; William E. Mann and Thomas V. Morris contribute essays in philosophical theology) do not integrate historical analysis and original speculation. The editor frames this collection with a fine introductory survey of the being/goodness tradition from Plato through the Middle Ages, a considerable (13 page) bibliography, and a new translation of Boethi.us's De hebdomadibus, which was an influential text in the tradition. There are two distinct ways of conceiving the necessary connection between being and goodness. The " participation approach," which sees being as metaphysically and causally dependent upon goodness, tends to a theological and relational account of goodness: creatures are good only because they are created by God, who is goodness in itself. The "nature approach," on the other hand, derives from Aristotle and tends to neither a theological nor a relational account of goodness. It identifies the good with the end, or telos of a being: an existing thing is good when it fully actualizes its intrinsic nature. The tension he0 tween these approaches can lead to confusion or to fruitful synthesis. For example, Albert the Great took up contradictory accounts of goodness in part hecause he failed to distinguish the two senses of " end " {as intention and as nature) characteristic of the pm:ticipation and BOOK REVIEWS 151 nature approaches, according to MacDonald's "The Metaphysics of Goodness and the Doctrine of the Transcendentals." On the other hand, Aquinas successfully combined approaches in his exploration of the tension between the views that ' good ' is a common name applicable to all beings (Aristotelian) and that only God is 'good' (Platonic), argues Jan A. Aer·tsen in "Good as Transcendental and the Transcendence of the Good." Stump and Kretzmann begin " Being and Goodness " with a lucid summary and defense of Aquinas's metaethics as a worthy contender for " the metaethical foundation that recent virtue-centered morality has been criticized for lacking" (p. 98). Aquinas's view that goodness is a property which supervenes upon a natural property, the actualiza· tion of the individual's " substantial form," follows the nature approach. Their derivation of Aquinas's normative ethical rules from this metae· thics responds to critics who claim virtue-theoretical approaches do not illumine the role of deontological rules in morality. They explore implications for theories of religious ethics (the divine-command theory is avoided) and certain solutions to the problem of evil; these explorations are relatively undeveloped, but intriguing. Stump builds on this collaborative essay in her "Aquinas on Faith and Goodness" when she argues that Aquinas's being/goodness meta· ethics explains why God would want humans to accept propositions about God on faith rather than knowledge, why having faith is meri· torious, and why epistemological weighing of evidence plays only a minor part in adult religious conversions. Stump's conclusions are based on her thesis that when one assents to the proposition " God exists" on faith, one is "metaphysically justified" in this belief because one hungers for perfect goodness, perfect...

Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:Van Huyssteen Response to Robbins: Does the Postfoundationalist Have to Be a Pragmatist?Clayton Response to Robbins: Religion/Science without God? Beyond the Big Bang: Quantum Cosmologies and God. By Willem B. DreesReview by AlbrightReview by van Till Divine Nature and Human Language: Essays in Philosophical Theology. By William P. Alston Epistemic Justification: Essays in the Theory of Knowledge. By William P. Alston Darwin on Trial. By Phillip E. Johnson Meeting God through Science: Hidden Realism. By Michael Mutsuo Yanase God and the Cosmologists. By Stanley L. Jaki

Divine Nature and Human Language: Essays in Philosophical Theology.

Divine Nature and Human Language: Essays in Philosophical Theology.

Divine Nature and Human Language: Essays in Philosophical Theology.

Divine Nature and Human Language: Essays in Philosophical Theology.

Book Review: Inscriptions and Reflections: Essays in Philosophical Theology

Book Review: Inscriptions and Reflections: Essays in Philosophical Theology

Book Review: Faith and Speculation: An Essay in Philosophical Theology

Book Review: Faith and Speculation: An Essay in Philosophical Theology

Theology and Integration: Four Essays in Philosophical Theology. Anders Jeffner

<i>Theology and Integration: Four Essays in Philosophical Theology</i>. Anders Jeffner

The Virtue of Faith and Other Essays in Philosophical Theology.

This collection of Robert Merrihew Adam's essays, two of them previously unpublished, draws on his extensive writings on philosophical theology, and discusses metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical issues surrounding the concept of God - questions of whether God exists or not, what He is or would be like, and how we ought to relate to such a being. Professor Adams, a leader in renewing philosophical respect for the idea that moral obligation may be founded on the command of God, studies the relation between religion and ethics, delving into an examination of moral arguments for theistic belief. Philosophers of religion; theologians.

Reason and Religion: Essays in Philosophical Theology. Anthony Kenny

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsReason and Religion: Essays in Philosophical Theology. Anthony Kenny David BurrellDavid Burrell Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Religion Volume 69, Number 4Oct., 1989 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/488223 Views: 1Total views on this site Copyright 1989 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:Faith, Will and Grammar by Heikki Kirjavainen, Risto Saarinen and Reijo Työrinoja,The Logic of God Incarnate by Thomas V. Morris,The Mysteries of Religion by Stephen R. L. Clark,Reason and Religion: Essays in Philosophical Theology by Anthony Kenny,Religions Imagination edited by James P. Mackey,God and the New Biology by Arthur Peacocke, J. M. Dent &amp; Sons,Science and Creation by John Polkinghorne, SPCK,