How do religious believers describe God, and what sort of attributes do they attribute to him? These are central topics in the philosophy of religion. In this book Graham Oppy undertakes a careful study of attributes which are commonly ascribed to God, including infinity, perfection, simplicity, eternity, necessity, fundamentality, omnipotence, omniscience, freedom, incorporeality, perfect goodness and perfect beauty. In a series of substantial chapters, he examines divine attributes one by one, and relates them to a larger taxonomy of those attributes. He also examines the difficulties involved in establishing the claim that understandings of divine attributes are inconsistent or incoherent. Intended as a companion to his 2006 book Arguing about Gods, his study engages with a range of the best contemporary work on divine attributes. It will appeal to readers in philosophy of religion.
The question of divine agency in the world remains one important unresolved underlying obstacle in the dialogue between theology and science. Modern notions of divine agency are shown to have developed out of the interaction of three factors in early modernity. Two are well known: late medieval perfect-being theology and the early modern application of the notion of the two books of God's revelation to the understanding of the natural order. It is argued the third is the early modern appropriation of theAugustinian doctrine of inspiration. This assumes the soul's existence and a particular description of divine agency in humans, which became more generally applied to divine agency in nature. Whereas Newton explicitly draws the parallel between divine agency in humans and that in nature, Darwin rejects its supposed perfection and Huxley raises serious questions regarding the traditional understanding of the soul. This book offers an alternative incarnational description of divine agency, freeing consideration of divine agency from being dependent on resolving the complex issues of perfect-being theology and the existence of the soul. In conversation with Barth's pneumatology, this proposal is shown to remain theologically coherent and plausible while resolving or avoiding a range of known difficulties in the science-theology dialogue.
Examining important assertions that can transform your life into an adventure of faith, growth, and lasting fulfilment, this work shows how to relate to others with authenticity, and make a real difference in the midst of a culture that's unravelling at the seams.
This work argues that the author of the Gospel of Matthew structures his work as a Bios or biography of Jesus, so as to encapsulate, in narrative form, the essence of his theological understanding of God's Basileia (sovereign rule), as proclaimed and taught in the teaching and healing mission of Jesus. Evidence for this is found in Matthew's careful use of structural markers to divide his story of Jesus into significant thematic sub-sections in which he uses a series of Basileia logia at incisive points to highlight aspects of Jesus' teaching and healing mission. In this way, Matthew is able to portray Jesus, as God's promised Messiah, who instructs his disciples through discourse and narrative, hence in word and example, in the nature and demands of God's sovereign rule. By structuring his Gospel as a story, Matthew depicts Jesus giving instructions to his disciples and also instructs the readers of the text. Hence, Matthew's Gospel becomes a manual of instruction on the nature and demands of God's sovereignty. Its purpose is to ensure that not only the members of the Matthean community, but all future disciples of Jesus are competently trained to carry out Jesus' commission: "Go therefore and disciple all the nations ..." (28:19-20). In this way, the goods news of God's saving presence is proclaimed to all the nations until God's eschatological reign is finally established. LNTS 308
For half a century, J. I. Packer's classic has helped Christians around the world discover the wonder, the glory, and the joy of knowing God. Now featured in the IVP Signature Collection, this thought-provoking work seeks to renew and enrich our understanding of God, bringing together knowing about God and knowing God through a close relationship with Jesus Christ.
Since time immemorial, women have been the most consistently and universally abused people group on Planet Earth, as men in virtually every human culture have systematically, unrelentingly, and often violently dominated women . Unfortunately women of faith have also been virtually bound in chains of submission and gagged by demands for silence since the end of the apostolic era. God and Women brings serious biblical and historical scholarship to bear on the role of women in family, society, and church in an analysis of God's original intentions for women and for men at the moment when he created humanity. Whether you are a woman or a man, this book and the other volumes in this series will literally set you free, challenging you to think and to act on divine truths from the Hebraic foundations of your faith. You will clearly see God's original design and intent for women, and you will start tearing down prison walls that have deprived half of God's children of the freedom to pursue his gifts and calling in the family, in the society, and especially in the community of faith.
Nature, God and Humanity clarifies the task of forming an ethics of nature, thereby empowering readers to develop their own critical, faith-based ethics. Calling on original, thought-provoking analyses and arguments, Richard L. Fern frames a philosophical ethics of nature, assesses it scientifically, finds support for it in traditional biblical theism, and situates it culturally. Though defending the moral value of beliefs affirming the radical Otherness of God and human uniqueness, this book aims not to compel the adoption of any particular ethic but rather illumine the contribution diverse forms of inquiry make to an ethics of nature. How does philosophy clarify moral conviction? What does science tell us about nature? Why does religious faith matter? Rejecting the illusion of a single, rationally-compelling ethics, Fern answers these questions in a way that fosters both agreement and disagreement, allowing those holding conflicting ethics of nature to work together for the common good.
"Rumi, known in Iran and Central Asia as Mowlana Jalaloddin Balkhi, was born in 1207 in the province of Balkh, now the border region between Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Rumi expressed a new vision of reality in volumes of mystical poetry. His enormous collection of lyrical poetry is considered one of the best that has ever been produced, while his poem in rhyming couplets, the Masnavi, is so reversed as the most consummate expression of Sufi mysticism that it is commonly referred to as 'the Koran in Persian'."--BOOK JACKET.
“THIS BOOK is an attempt to fill the present striking need for an introduction to contemporary linguistic philosophy as it bears on theological discourse. Wherever I have gone, recently, among educated Christians in Britain and America, I have encountered profound curiosity—and a good deal of anxiety—concerning modern methods in philosophy as they relate to the logical nature and validity of theological affirmations. Similarly I have found many of my students in contemporary philosophy and in the philosophy of religion becoming deeply absorbed in the issues raised by a critical examination of theological speech. From both groups, the intellectually alert Christians and the thoughtful graduate and undergraduate students of philosophy and religion, I have been heavily bombarded with appeals for direction to some book which would (1) set forth the central issues and arguments concerning theological discourse for readers who have familiarity with traditional philosophy but who are relatively untrained in contemporary philosophical practices and (2) place into perspective the present state of philosophical and theological discussion in this area of burgeoning interest. To my frustration, I have had to answer such requests with the admission that no such book exists and with the promise that I would try, some day, to provide that book myself. In preparing this volume, therefore, I have done my best to keep those promises in mind.”
A study of Bible teaching about the nature of God, evidences for God, Jesus, and the Bible, including a careful study of creation vs. evolution Topics studied are: * God's power, wisdom, love, and holiness * The providence of God * The number of individuals in the Godhead * The Deity of Jesus * The Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts * Fulfilled prophecy, miracles, and the resurrection * The significance of the Bible doctrine of creation * The consequences of evolution * Humanism compared to the Bible * The length of the days of creation
The purpose of life is not to fix broken paradigms. It is to create a new, vital ones. God is not a Noun. Aquarius is not the Brotherhood of Man God is a Verb The Age of Aquarius: Humankind - Humans Being Kind The Original Sin was clearly not a sin. God wanted humans to declare their free will choice to Reflect back to God with acts of kindness to others. Noah missed his neighbors after a century of jeering and begged God not to destroy people again. Once you start with a positive, kind perspective on God and our purpose, there is an entirely fascinating outlook on history, our present and our future. What if there is one question? Is it nice? SELAH! Stop and Think
