Thomistic divine simplicity and its analytic detractors : can one affirm divine aseity and goodness without simplicity?

I evaluate three of the most widespread analytic objections to the doctrine of divine simplicity: that it fails to cohere with the application of accidental predicates like ‘creator’ or ‘lord’ to God, problematically entails that God is identical to an abstract object, and is inconsistent with the freedom and contingency of God’s acts in creation resulting in modal uniformity/collapse. In dialogue with Thomas’s account of the doctrine, I suggest that each objection is either the product of a misinterpretation or is addressed by Thomas himself. This defence of Thomas’s view of divine simplicity further unearths the way his account of divine simplicity is, according to Thomas, necessary to secure divine aseity and ultimacy. This places a burden upon analytic objectors to divine simplicity, questioning whether their neo-classical conception of God offers an adequate account of divine ultimacy, aseity, and even goodness.Peer reviewe

A Barthian critique of Schleiermacher’s doctrine of God : questioning the Schleiermacher Renaissance

Schleiermacher is an increasingly important resource for contemporary systematic theology, particularly as Barth’s criticisms of Schleiermacher, which were thought to have undermined his dogmatic relevance, are subject to severe criticism. With reference to the doctrine of God, Barth argues that Schleiermacher’s theology generates a “God behind God” and is problematized by Feuerbach. I offer a detailed reading of Schleiermacher’s mature account of the divine being and attributes and suggest in view of this interpretation that a slightly nuanced version of Barth’s critique rightly applies to Schleiermacher’s doctrine of God. I make this argument in dialogue with the many contemporary voices arguing in Schleiermacher’s defense and raise some critical questions for those seeking to retrieve Schleiermacher’s doctrine of God.Peer reviewe

Ecumenism in St Andrews : a fact and a mandate

In a three-way conversation, ministers from Baptist, Presbyterian, and Episcopal churches in St Andrews, Fife reflect on their experience of ecumenical theology and local church practice. As they wrestle with the reality of the Church’s disunity, they seek to draw out some specific biblical, theological, and practical resources which have been especially helpful in their own ecumenical practice as local church ministers. What clearly emerges as a central feature is the gift which denominational differences and diversities can bring out of ecumenical efforts. Encountering sisters and brothers in other ecclesial communities can play a crucial role in enriching our own ecclesial identities, but, as these authors emphasise, it requires pushing against the consumerist competition which can easily creep up on us in a shrinking church ‘market’. Remaining open to the gift of another – in this case, another Christian communal expression – is at the heart of anything that can be called genuine ecumenism.Peer reviewe

Nothing in My Hand I Bring: Reformed Ecclesiology in a Secular Age

Reformed Protestantism is variously critiqued in a secular age. On the one hand, Roman Catholics and Anglo-Catholics represent Protestantism as individualistic, opposed to tradition and liturgy, and tending toward a world-denying spirituality. They see Protestantism as participating in modernity’s worst tendencies. On the other hand, missional churches tend to see Magisterial Protestantism as inflexible and overly traditional, being unable to relate to a modern, secular context. I seek to retrieve the often unrecognised missional potential of a robust Reformed ecclesiology for a secular age. I retrieve an account of Reformed ecclesiology in dialogue with Calvin and some key modern voices

Covenantal history and participatory metaphysics: formulating a Reformed response to the charge of legal fiction

To combat the charges raised by Radical Orthodoxy and others, which allege that Protestant soteriologies amount to a legal fiction, Bruce McCormack and Michael Horton suggest that Reformed theology embrace a covenantal ontology, which aims to overcome legal fiction objections without sacrificing Reformational insights or making recourse to medieval participatory metaphysics. For both theologians, covenantal history and participatory metaphysics are treated as rival paradigms. I suggest that their proposals display serious weaknesses and propose an alternative approach, inspired by the retrieval of Reformed scholastic insights, which treats covenant and participatory metaphysics as complementary motifs rather than rival paradigms, and is thereby able to overcome the legal fiction objection while maintaining Protestant distinctives

A Barthian critique of Schleiermacher’s doctrine of God:questioning the Schleiermacher Renaissance

Schleiermacher is an increasingly important resource for contemporary systematic theology, particularly as Barth’s criticisms of Schleiermacher, which were thought to have undermined his dogmatic relevance, are subject to severe criticism. With reference to the doctrine of God, Barth argues that Schleiermacher’s theology generates a “God behind God” and is problematized by Feuerbach. I offer a detailed reading of Schleiermacher’s mature account of the divine being and attributes and suggest in view of this interpretation that a slightly nuanced version of Barth’s critique rightly applies to Schleiermacher’s doctrine of God. I make this argument in dialogue with the many contemporary voices arguing in Schleiermacher’s defense and raise some critical questions for those seeking to retrieve Schleiermacher’s doctrine of God

Theology and economy ‘after’ Barth

The relation of theology and economy is a perennial theological challenge. Many contemporary theologians' understanding of this challenge is shaped by Karl Barth's attempt to resolve a set of tensions problematising this relation inherited from figures like Kant and Feuerbach. Barth ‘identified’ God's decision to be God with God's decision to be human. Further, he inconsistently but insistently claimed that the ‘form’ in which God reveals Godself in the person of Jesus somewhat isomorphically corresponds to God in Godself. The brilliance and yet instability of Barth's approach spawned a number of construals of theology and economy which depart from him in significant ways. I label these contemporary trajectories the post-Barthian temptation, Barthian revisionism, Barthian Balthasarianism, and Barthian catholicism and critically evaluate them, suggesting that Barthian catholicism is the most promising.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Thomistic divine simplicity and its analytic detractors:can one affirm divine aseity and goodness without simplicity?

I evaluate three of the most widespread analytic objections to the doctrine of divine simplicity: that it fails to cohere with the application of accidental predicates like ‘creator’ or ‘lord’ to God, problematically entails that God is identical to an abstract object, and is inconsistent with the freedom and contingency of God’s acts in creation resulting in modal uniformity/collapse. In dialogue with Thomas’s account of the doctrine, I suggest that each objection is either the product of a misinterpretation or is addressed by Thomas himself. This defence of Thomas’s view of divine simplicity further unearths the way his account of divine simplicity is, according to Thomas, necessary to secure divine aseity and ultimacy. This places a burden upon analytic objectors to divine simplicity, questioning whether their neo-classical conception of God offers an adequate account of divine ultimacy, aseity, and even goodness