The problem of being and the question about God

Matthew J. Coté, 2024

The doctrine of analogy is of paramount importance in religious epistemology and philosophical theology; one which affects what is communicated about the knowledge of God. If quidditative knowledge begins in the senses, and God is not directly part of sensible reality, it follows that knowledge of God is not quidditative. Further, if the intellectual concept is a product of abstracting quiddities from sensible reality, then it also follows that there is no quidditative concept of God. Aquinas, following from this reasoning and leading into his demonstration of God’s existence with his five ways, states that one can know that God is, but not what God is. Given this, it seems to follow that when one is predicating of God, that such predications are not ultimately a matter of any type of conceptualization through abstraction, but rather a matter of a series of necessary metaphysical judgments rooted in negation, causality, and supereminence, even though originally stemming from our knowledge of delimited acts of being in sensible reality. It is contended that any predication of God that is not purified through this threefold way ends up entailing a delimiting of the Simple Pure Act of Being Itself Subsisting, i.e., God. This dissertation serves to more clearly identify and enunciate the problem of concepts in relation to analogical predication of God, and reiterates a consistent method already proposed by Aquinas, and found augmented in the works of Étienne Gilson, Joseph Owens, and Gregory Rocca. In contrast, those views of predication of God that use or entail abstraction and conceptualization without the necessary purification by the threefold way are shown to be both inconsistent with an existential Thomistic metaphysic and philosophy of human nature, and bring the implication that God’s being is not Qui Est, but rather a delimited being according to some relation of act/potency and essence/existence according to human sensible experience.

The preliminary version of the 15th volume of God Theory: The Case for Supernaturalist Theism, by Z. E. Kendall, includes preliminary bibliography, recommended references, and glossary sections, giving scholars and other readers an idea of what the God Theory multi-volume-set project is going to be like. The stand-alone title for the 15th volume of God Theory is The Bibliographic God.

JETS 66.4, 2023

Is classical theism a necessary condition for an orthodox doctrine of God? In this article, I present the negative answer. I argue (1) that Thomism is determinative of certain untenable or undesirable implications for the doctrine of God and (2) that an alternate metaphysic, in this case, Christian idealism, is able to avoid these implications. The possibility of this metaphysic and its cogency as addressed to certain cruxes in Thomistic doctrine suggests that a coherently biblical doctrine of God may be developed on a different foundation. I conclude from this that we should not equate any metaphysic with Christian orthodoxy and that Thomism should not be treated as an unassailable framework within which to perform Christian theology. Instead, we should foster a "global public square" approach to evangelical metaphysics.

Studia Gilsoniana, 2024

In the article I will try to show that considerations on God on the ground of philosophy not only have to start with the image of God handed down by Revelation and Tradition, but they are complementary to the latter ones. In the first part I will refer to the most prominent philosophical conceptions of the absolute being developed by Plato, Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas. In the second part I will sketch the problem of God shown on the ground of Revelation, considering the question of “The God of the Fathers” and “The God of Christians.” And in the last part I will present the tools which make it possible to reconcile both approaches, indicating the basics of predicating about God as well as the problem of analogy which makes it possible to predicate about the first cause on the basis of its effects.

Chicago, New York, Toronto Publishers of Evangelical Literature : Fleming H. Revell Company & The New Alexandria Library of Texas , 1902

This theological book is a rare small but jam packed outstanding Volume of its kind and known as a systematic treatise that explores the nature and attributes of God within Christian dogmatics. The work examines both natural and supernatural revelation, the philosophical and theological proofs of God's existence, and the essential characteristics of divine personality. It further investigates classical and biblical conceptions of the Trinity, predestination, creation, providence, miracles, and angelology, addressing historical, doctrinal, and critical perspectives. The text also engages with modern objections and alternative theological paradigms while maintaining a foundation in scriptural exegesis and church tradition. The inclusion of extensive literature references and examination questions underscores its scholarly rigor and pedagogical utility. Table of Contents THEOLOGIA; OR, THE DOCTRINE OF GOD • The Treatment of the Doctrine of God in Dogmatics • The Natural Revelation of God and Its Significance • The Limits of Revelation • Definition of Revelation • General Revelation • Literature • The So-Called Proofs of the Existence of God • Belief in the Existence of God • The Cosmological Argument • The Teleological Argument • The Historical Argument • The Ontological Argument • The Moral Argument • The Religious Argument • Literature • The Supernatural Revelation of God • The Reality of Revelation • Definition of Supernatural Revelation • The Constituent Parts of Revelation • The Contents of Supernatural Revelation • Literature • The Necessity, Possibility, and Actuality of Supernatural Revelation • The Necessity of Supernatural Revelation • The Possibility of Supernatural Revelation • The Relation of Reason to Revelation • The Actuality and Truth of Revelation • Literature • God as the Absolute Personality • The Knowableness of God • Definition of the Absolute and of Personality • The Personality of God • Pantheism and Theism • Non-Biblical History of the Notion of God • The Biblical Notion of God • The Notion of God in Christian Theology • Literature • God as Essential Goodness, Holiness, and Love • God as Perfect Goodness • God as Perfect Holiness • God as Perfect Love • Literature • The Doctrine of the Divine Attributes • Definition of the Divine Attributes • Methods of Determination • Classification • Definition of Particular Attributes • Literature • The Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity • The Doctrine of the Old Testament • The Doctrine of the New Testament • Literature • The Church Doctrine of the Trinity • The History of the Doctrine • The Dogmatic Formulation • Explanatory Analogies and Scientific Deductions • Attacks upon the Church Doctrine • Literature • The Doctrine of Predestination • The Scripture Doctrine of Predestination • The Church Doctrine • Attacks and Modifications • Literature • The Doctrine of Creation • The Biblical Account of Creation • The Old Testament Teaching • The New Testament Teaching • Church Doctrine Before the Reformation • The Teaching of Lutheran Theologians • Modern Theories Opposing the Scripture Doctrine • Literature • The Doctrine of Providence • The Relation of God to the World • The Certainty of Providence • The Definition of Providence • The Object of Providence • The Form of Providence • The Aim of Providence • Opposing Theories • Literature • The Doctrine of Miracles • The Scripture Doctrine of Miracles • Miracles in the Church • Definition of Miracles • The Possibility of Miracles • The Necessity of Miracles • The Reality and Genuineness of Miracles • The Divisions of Miracles • Literature • The Doctrine of Angels • The Scripture Doctrine of Angels • a) The Doctrine of the Old Testament • b) The Doctrine of the New Testament • The Church Doctrine • Modern Criticism • Literature • The Doctrine Concerning Satan • The Scripture Doctrine Concerning Satan • a) The Doctrine of the Old Testament • b) The Doctrine of the New Testament • The Church Doctrine • Modern Criticism • Practical Use of the Doctrine • Literature Examination Questions (p. 129) Index (p. 143) Tags Sure! 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