Pantheism, Trinitarian Theism and the Idea of Unity: Reflections on the Christian Concept of God

1996 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-77
Author(s):  
Douglas Hedley
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Religion ◽  
Analytic Philosophy ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Concept Of God ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Philosophical Aspect ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Trinity

Modern analytic philosophy of religion has become increasingly interested in the dogmatic substances of Christian theology. I argue that the doctrine of the Trinity provides an instance of the importance of dogmatic formulation for an appreciation of the philosophical aspect of the Christian concept of God. The starting point of my discussion is the recent defence of pantheism by Michael Levine, and his discussion of Neoplatonist and German Idealist models of deity. Both metaphysical theism and the alleged Neoplatonic metaphysical genealogy of pantheism are considered with particular reference to St Augustine's account of creation in the Confessions. Just as it is impossible to distinguish the purely philosophical from the purely dogmatic concept of God, one cannot give an adequate modern account of theism without a rigorous and sensitive treatment of the historical models. The issue of pantheism shows how a misunderstanding of the meaning of concept of ‘unity’ can distort our view of theism as a model of deity.

Phenomenology of Interior Life and the Trinity

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-88
Author(s):  
Robert Farrugia
Keyword(s):  
Conscious Experience ◽  
A Priori ◽  
The Self ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Inner Life ◽  
The World ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
Michel Henry ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
Static Nature

Michel Henry radicalises phenomenology by putting forward the idea of a double manifestation: the “Truth of Life” and “truth of the world.” For Henry, the world turns out to be empty of Life. To find its essence, the self must dive completely inward, away from the exterior movements of intentionality. Hence, Life, or God, for Henry, lies in non‑intentional, immanent self-experience, which is felt and yet remains invisible, in an absolutist sense, as an a priori condition of all conscious experience. In Christian theology, the doctrine of the Trinity illuminates the distinction between the immanent Trinity (God’s self‑relation) and the economic workings of the Trinity (God‑world relation). However, the mystery of God’s inmost being and the economy of salvation are here understood as inseparable. In light of this, the paper aims to: 1) elucidate the significance of Henry’s engagement with the phenomenological tradition and his proposal of a phenomenology of Life which advocates an immanent auto‑affection, radically separate from the ek‑static nature of intentionality, and 2) confront the division between Life and world in Henry’s Christian phenomenology and its discordancy with the doctrine of the Trinity, as the latter attests to the harmonious unity that subsists between inner life and the world.

Trinity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Howard-Snyder
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
The Other ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Trinity

The doctrine of the Trinity is central to Christian theology. The part of the doctrine that concerns us here may be stated in these words: although the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are different persons, each is the same God as the other; they are not three Gods, but exactly one God. These words arguably imply a contradiction. For example, if the Father is not the same person as the Son, then the Father is not identical with the Son; thus, if each is a God, there are at least two Gods, which contradicts the claim that there is exactly one God. Analytic theologians have responded to this line of argument and others related to it. Each response aims to model a consistent doctrine of the Trinity, one that provides the resources to reject such arguments while retaining Trinitarian orthodoxy. We can classify these attempts by distinguishing those according to which there is no numerical sameness without identity from those according to which there is numerical sameness without identity. Attempts in the first group tend to raise worries about consistency with orthodoxy. Attempts in the second group tend to raise worries about intelligibility.

Nygren, Anders (1890–1978)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diogenes Allen
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Philosophy Of Religion ◽  
Analytic Philosophy ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Liberal Theology

Nygren hoped to recover the uniqueness of Christianity from the impurities introduced by the attempts of nineteenth-century liberal theology to free it from metaphysical speculation and confessional dogmatism. He aimed to do this by grounding all religion in an analytic philosophy of religion which would enable him to stress the objective character of Christian theology in contrast to the arbitrariness of confessional theology. He achieved international influence by his claim in Agapē and Eros (1930–6) that the uniqueness of Christianity is love in the sense of agapē, as opposed to Platonic eros.

scholarly journals The Trinity in African Christian theology: An overview of contemporary approaches

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teddy C. Sakupapa
Keyword(s):  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
African Theology ◽  
Doctrine Of God ◽  
Concepts Of God ◽  
Theological Discourse ◽  
Primary Literature ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Trinity

This contribution offers a survey of the modern African theological discourse on the Trinity as a distinctive Christian doctrine of God. It is a systematic narrative review of primary literature on the doctrine of the Trinity in modern African theology with a view to identify main trends, key concepts and major proponents. It is argued that the contemporary African Trinitarian Hermeneutics cannot be understood in isolation from African debates on translatability of concepts of God framed first in terms of the reinterpretation of the theological significance of pre-Christian African concepts of God and subsequently as an outcome of African Christological reflection. The article affirms an apophatic resistance to any tendency to take God for granted as recently advanced by Ernst Conradie and Teddy Sakupapa.

scholarly journals Trinitology towards Challenges of Pluralistic Theology of Religion Systematical, Moral and Theological Reflection

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2(16)) ◽  
pp. 167-181
Author(s):  
Ignacy Bokwa
Keyword(s):  
Immanuel Kant ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Practical Importance ◽  
Far East ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
The World ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity

Nowadays pluralistic theology of religion is rightly regarded as one of the greatest threats to Christianity. It specifically concerns Christology. A threat to the Christian belief in the Trinity, which is created by pluralistic theology of religion, is seen more rarely. Many scholars consider pluralistic theology of religion as a further step of the modern fight against Christianity and the Church. The increasing spread of religions of the Far East plays a significant role. Pluralistic theology of religion refers to the basic ideas of Buddhism, trying to create a universal religion of the world. Pluralist theology of religion treats every religion of the world with affection- with the exception of Christianity. It is Christianity that is supposed to be tolerant and to adapt to other religions by means of losing its own identity. Pluralistic theology of religion relativizes the Person of Jesus Christ, undermining the uniqueness of the incarnation of God. Jesus of Nazareth was only a prominent man standing near Reality itself (God). Since Jesus Christ was not an ontological Son of God, the doctrine of the Trinity is being undermined. Representatives of pluralistic theology of religion reject the idea of a personal God, at the same time hitting in all monotheistic religions. From their point of view, God is for the human mind unattainable reality which no revelation is able to bring. Various religions are only stages of searching for the final Reality itself. Father, Son and Spirit are nothing more than a projection of human yearnings and religious pursuits. Faced with such claims, Christian theology cannot remain silent. One should be reminded of development of faith in the Triune God in the life of the Church. This is a theoretical- scientific dimension of the problem. It also has its practical and existential meaning. Although Immanuel Kant claimed that the doctrine of the Trinity has no practical importance, contemporary theological reflection presents a new aspect of this problem. Communio- theology comprehends the mystery of the Trinity as an event of constant communication in which Father gives Himself to the Son and so they create the Holy Spirit. The mystery of diversity reconciled in the unity stands at the beginning of every reality. The mystery of the Holy Trinity has its significance not only inside (life of the Church) but also outside (life of the secular, political and economic community). Nowadays the latter has a special meaning in particular. It is a theological and moral surface of the reflection, showing that one should not be afraid of multiplicity and diversity but treat them as an opportunity. In the era of new conflicts and divisions that are increasing and the renewal of the old traumas, it turns out that appeals of the representatives of pluralist theology of religion are fake and are supposed to challenge the principles of Christianity, whereas Christian theology offers modern societies interesting proposals acceptable not only for those who believe.

Trinity

2019 ◽  
pp. 226-245
Author(s):  
Bruce L. McCormack
Keyword(s):  
Church Dogmatics ◽  
Final Volume ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Trinity

The development of Karl Barth’s doctrine of the Trinity is traced from its origins in the Göttingen Dogmatics (1924) through Christliche Dogmatik im Entwurf (1927) and on into the final volume of Church Dogmatics. Questions of starting point and method, location and significance of the doctrine, the distinction of common and personal properties, and critical appropriation of classical terms are discussed. Changes of mind are noted and assessed with regard to their significance. A thesis is advanced, viz. that Barth’s doctrine of the ‘essential’ Trinity is grounded (epistemically) in his concept of revelation, leading to the conclusion that what God is eternally is what God is in His Self-revelation in time—and vice versa.

Trinity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter van Inwagen
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Holy Trinity ◽  
De Doctrina Christiana ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Face ◽  
The One ◽  
The Trinity

The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is a central and essential element of Christian theology. The part of the doctrine that is of special concern in the present entry may be stated in these words: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are each God; they are distinct from one another; and yet (in the words of the Athanasian Creed), ‘they are not three Gods, but there is one God’. This is not to be explained by saying that ‘the Father’, ‘the Son’ and ‘the Holy Spirit’ are three names that are applied to the one God in various circumstances; nor is it to be explained by saying that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are parts or aspects of God (like the leaves of a shamrock or the faces of a cube). In the words of St Augustine: Thus there are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and each is God and at the same time all are one God; and each of them is a full substance, and at the same time all are one substance. The Father is neither the Son nor the Holy Spirit; the Son is neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son. But the Father is the Father uniquely; the Son is the Son uniquely; and the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit uniquely. (De doctrina christiana I, 5, 5) The doctrine of the Trinity seems on the face of it to be logically incoherent. It seems to imply that identity is not transitive – for the Father is identical with God, the Son is identical with God, and the Father is not identical with the Son. There have been two recent attempts by philosophers to defend the logical coherency of the doctrine. Richard Swinburne has suggested that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be thought of as numerically distinct Gods, and he has argued that, properly understood, this suggestion is consistent with historical orthodoxy. Peter Geach and various others have suggested that a coherent statement of the doctrine is possible on the assumption that identity is ‘always relative to a sortal term’. Swinburne’s formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity is certainly free from logical incoherency, but it is debatable whether it is consistent with historical orthodoxy. As to ‘relative identity’ formulations of the doctrine, not all philosophers would agree that the idea that identity is always relative to a sortal term is even intelligible.

scholarly journals Principles of Christian Theology in Augustine’s Perspective with An Attitude to the Divine Justice

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 183
Author(s):  
Sajad Zangane-tabar ◽  
Ghorban Elmi ◽  
Jafar Shanazari
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Formal Theory ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Concept Of God ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Divine Justice ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Modern Era

Faith had a special place in the thought of Augustine, so that it should be considered essential as a starting point in the process of human purification. In this opinion, our knowledge to the seen and believable affairs would be the thoughts and faith respectively. This approch stated about the role of faith in the understanding that revelation invites us to believe and we cannot understand as long as we don’t believe. The Greek ideas have been used during Fathers period and its subject matter emphasized that there is a great and infinite God. The concept of God in Greek philosophy was close to the God of the Bible in some ways. Justin martyr confirmed that the Christian faith is the only valid and useful philosophy. More righteous God should be inclusive to the extent of justice’s concept. God worship must be a responsibility not just for the chosen nation, but other people also worship him. Augustine and holy texts considered attributes to God such as infinite, substantive, creative, love, goodness, justice, almighty, creator, eternal and penetrating. Augustine knew the God's righteousness attribute eternal and said about God that he is an eternal and immutable truth that is present in our minds and he agreed the formal theory of three hypostases (God, Christ or the Logos and the Holy Spirit). He was one of the greatest Christian theorist of the Trinity; the only real God has been formed from three persons under the names of Father, Son and the Holy Spirit in his view. The most important attribute of God is unity. The doctrine of grace is as the basic Christian concepts. Paul knew the grace implies on the act of mercy of God and also a major factor for salvation. Augustine knew the first humanity's sin great and unjust somehow our minds are unable to understand the damages caused by it. No one are known to be exempted of this just and true punishment unless, free mercy and grace of God release him. Religious reformation motion also questioned the authoritarianism in religious life and its emphasis on the personal aspect of faith that played a role in the transition from the medieval world to the modern era. The impact of Christian classical teachings and the ideas of Augustine was undeniable on the development of Christian theology.

The failure of a laudable project: Gunton, the Trinity and human self-understanding

2009 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-420
Author(s):  
Bernhard Nausner
Keyword(s):  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Trinitarian Theology ◽  
Modern Culture ◽  
Strong Emphasis ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Trinity

AbstractThis article seeks to summarise and critically analyse Colin Gunton's trinitarian theology in regard to the claim that the doctrine of the Trinity is a doctrine with radical consequences for human life. To this end it engages, first, in an examination of Gunton's trinitarian project following his thought from a cultural critical starting point finally leading to the establishment of three open transcendentals and, second, in a critical analysis of this approach, highlighting some essential inconsistencies in regard to Cappadocian theology, the concepts of relationality and personhood and practical consequences for human life. In conclusion, the article suggests that Gunton's strong emphasis on relationality and his search for open transcendentals could be understood as the result of his passionate aspiration to heal the wounds of an egocentric, individualistic and alienating modern culture through an ontology of communion.

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