9780830827343

The Untamed God: A Philosophical Exploration of Divine Perfection, Immutability and Simplicity

by
  • ISBN13:

    9780830827343

  • ISBN10:

    083082734X

  • Format: Paperback
  • Copyright: 2003-10-01
  • Publisher: Intervarsity Pr
  • Purchase Benefits
List Price: $29.00

Summary

God is sovereign. God is perfect. God is immutable. God created everything. God is triune. The Son of God was incarnate in Jesus Christ. The essential tenets of classical theism regarding the doctrine of God can be stated fairly easily. However, questions have been raised regarding the coherence of these beliefs taken as a whole. Some have seen fit to abandon classical theism. Others have acknowledged tensions in the traditional concept of God and have sought to resolve them by means of making significant concessions. Jay Wesley Richards believes that classical theism with its biblical norm can and ought to be maintained. He shows how a philosophical defense, using the analytical tools of modal logic, can be mounted that preserves traditional Christian beliefs. Richards astutely defends essentialism, arguing that it is both intrinsic to the Christian understanding of God and preserves the contingency of creation and the God-world relation. To further clarify and defend his proposal he engages appreciatively and critically the thought of Karl Barth and Charles Hartshorne as well as addressing the related and currently debated matters of divine simplicity and immutability.

Author Biography

Jay W. Richards is vice president and senior fellow of the Discovery Institute.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgmentsp. 8
Abbreviationsp. 10
Introductionp. 15
Christian Theism: Some Preliminary Issuesp. 23
From Modai Speech to Essentialismp. 48
Theological Essentialismp. 82
Karl Barth's Actualistic Doctrine of Godp. 106
Dealing with Barth's Doctrine of Godp. 129
Charles Hartshorne's Surrelativist Doctrine of Godp. 152
Dealing with Hartshorne's Doctrine of Godp. 172
The Difficult Doctrine of Divine Immutabilityp. 195
The Difficult Doctrine of Divine Simplicityp. 213
Conclusionp. 241
Bibliographyp. 251
Author Indexp. 262
Subject Indexp. 265
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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