No One Like Him : The Doctrine of God

by Feinberg, John S.

• ISBN13: 9781581342758
• ISBN10: 1581342756
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-07-01
• Publisher: Good News Pub

Summary

Feinburg tackles claims from modern thinkers who regard a classical view of God as outmoded and unbiblical by seeking to reconstruct a model that reflects the advances in understanding God's revelation and his unchanging nature.

Author Biography

John S. Feinberg is Chairman and Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and is the author of several books

Table of Contents

Foreword	xvii
Harold O. J. Brown
Introduction	xxi
General Editor
Preface	xxv
List of Abbreviations	xxvix
Introduction	31	(6)
PART ONE: CONCEPTS OF GOD
God---The Very Idea	37	(44)
What Sort of Reality is God/Does God Have?
God as Mental Projection
God as Being-Itself
God as a Being
God Without or Beyond Being
What Role(s) Does God Play in Our Universe?
Biblical Images, Motifs, and Metaphors for God
The Transcendence and Immanence of God
Several Models of Christian Theism
Three Understandings of the Metaphysics of Christian Theology
How Should We Understand Language about God?
What Happens to God in Contemporary Thought?	81	(68)
What Is Modernity?
Human Consciousness (``The Subjective Turn'')
Knowledge, Truth, Objectivity, and Theory of Meaning
Naturalism
Human Freedom and Individuality
The Goodness of Human Nature
Science and Progress
What Is Postmodernity?
Postmodern Epistemology
Naturalism, But...
Human Freedom in Community
The Goodness of Human Nature!?
Science and Progress
God in Contemporary Thought
Contemporary Theologies in the Modern Mindset
Contemporary Theologies in the Postmodern Mindset
Process Theology	149	(34)
Backgrounds of Process Theology
Developments in Science
Attack on Classical Theism
Philosophical Background
Theological/Religious Climate of the Times
Major Concepts in Process Thought
Key Definitions
Central Concepts
Assessment of Process Theology
Contributions of Process Theology
Problems with Process Theology
PART TWO: THE BEING AND NATURE OF GOD
The Existence and Being of God	183	(50)
Introduction to Theistic Proofs
The Ontological Argument
Anselm I
Anselm II
The Cosmological Argument
Causal Arguments
Contingency Arguments
Swinburne's Inductive Argument
Teleological Arguments
William Paley: The Watch and the Watchmaker
Moral Arguments
C. S. Lewis's Moral Argument
Objections
General Value of Theistic Arguments
The Reality of God
God Is Real
God Is a Being
God as a Perfect, Necessary, and Infinite Being
A Perfect Being
A Necessary Being
An Infinite Being
God as Spirit
Implications of God as Spirit
God as Person/Personal
The Attributes of God	233	(44)
Classifying the Divine Attributes
Non-Moral Attributes
Aseity
Infinity
Immensity and Omnipresence
Eternity
Immutability
The Non-Moral Divine Attributes (II)	277	(62)
Omnipotence
Biblical Data on Omnipotence
Defining Omnipotence
Testing the Definition
Sovereignty
Omniscience
The Bible and Divine Omniscience
Defining Divine Omniscience
Wisdom
Unity
Simplicity
The Moral Attributes of God	339	(36)
Holiness
Righteousness
Love
Grace
Mercy
Longsuffering
Goodness
Lovingkindness
Truth
God, Time, and Eternity	375	(62)
The Bible and Divine Eternity
Historical Interlude
Arguments for Timeless Eternity
Timelessness a Logical Derivation from Other Doctrines
Immutability Necessitates Timeless Eternity
Nature of Time Necessitates a Timeless God
Infinity and God as Everlasting
Creation and a Sempiternal God
Timelessness and Divine Freedom
Temporal Duration Inadequate for the Ground of All Being
Analogy of God as Spaceless
Temporal God Leads to Process Theism
Arguments Against Timeless Eternity
Timelessness and God as a Person
Divine Eternity and Divine Action
Divine Eternity and Divine Simplicity
Divine Eternity and Divine Immutability
Biblical Portrait of God Sanctions Sempiternity
Divine Eternity and Simultaneity with Events in Time
Divine Omniscience and Timeless Eternity
Atemporal God or a Temporal God?
Why a Temporal God?
Temporalism and Process Theology
The Doctrine of the Trinity	437	(64)
The Bible and the Doctrine of the Trinity
There Is Only One God
Evidences of Plurality in the Godhead
History and the Doctrine of the Trinity
Tertullian
Dynamic and Modalistic Monarchianism
Origen
Arianism
Councils of Nicea and Constantinople
Clarification and Defense of Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed
Filioque Controversy
Augustine
Formulation of the Doctrine of the Trinity
Logic and the Doctrine of the Trinity
PART THREE: THE ACTS OF GOD
The Decree of God	501	(36)
Is There a Divine Decree? Positions Described
Classical Theism
Process Theism
Mediating Positions
Scripture and the Decree
Is There a Divine Decree?
What Is the Nature of God's Decree?
The Decree and Foreknowledge
Further Theological Formulation of the Doctrine of God's Decree
The Order of the Decrees
The Doctrine of Creation	537	(88)
Various Theories of Origins
Dualistic Theories
Emanation Theories
Naturalistic Evolutionary Theories
Theistic Evolution
Creation Theories
Biblical Teaching on Creation
Creation Ex Nihilo
Other OT Themes
NT Themes
Genesis 1-2 and the Days of Creation
Creation and Ancient Near Eastern Literature
Structure of the Accounts
Theological Themes
Literary Genre of Genesis 1 and 2
The Days of Creation and the Age of the Universe, Earth, and Mankind
Naturalistic Evolutionary Theories
Day-Age Theories
Twenty-four-hour-day Theories
Literary Framework Theory
Assessment and Evaluation
Divine Providence: The Decree and Human Freedom	625	(52)
Basic Definitions
Indeterminism
Determinism
Other Definitions
Models of Providence
General Sovereignty vs. Specific Sovereignty
A Case for General Sovereignty Theologies
Biblical/Theological Arguments for General Sovereignty
Philosophical Arguments for General Sovereignty
A Case for a Compatibilist Specific Sovereignty Model	677	(58)
Biblical/Theological Arguments for Compatibilistic Specific Sovereignty
The Basic Argument
Objections to My Handling of Eph 1:11, and My Responses
Other Objections
Philosophical Considerations
Controlling Events, But Not Actions
What Kind of Determinism?
Choosing an Action
Are Reasons Causes?
The Agent Could Have Done Otherwise
Libertarian Freedom and the Ontological Argument
Other Indeterminist Objections
The Issue of Freedom and Foreknowledge	735	(42)
Clarifying the Problem
Determinist Responses to the Freedom/Foreknowledge Problem
Indeterminist Responses to the Freedom/Foreknowledge Problem
The Boethian Resolution
Simple Foreknowledge
Middle Knowledge
The Ockhamist Resolution
Present Knowledge
Conclusion
Divine Providence and Evil	777	(22)
Introducing the Problem
Strategy of Defenses and Theodicies
Two Modified Rationalist Defenses
The Free Will Defense
Integrity of Humans Defense
Conclusion
CONCLUSION
``No One Like Me''	799	(4)
Notes	803	(53)
Scripture Index	856	(13)
General Index	869