Monthly Archives: May 2018

Free-will Theodicies of Hell

Posted on 31 May 2018 by

by Thomas Talbott, Ph.D. Every free-will theodicy of hell (and, for that matter, every free-will defense of it as well) rests upon an incompatibilist (or so-called libertarian) understanding of human freedom. C. S. Lewis, one of the earliest proponents of … Continue reading →

Posted in Eschatology, Philosophical Theology | 30 Comments

Dionysian Ponderings: Transcendence and the Plotinian One

Posted on 30 May 2018 by

I come to my reading of the Corpus Areopagaticum with a specific understanding of divine transcendence, an understanding which I will be testing along the way. We might put it this way: God infinitely surpasses all creaturely distinctions and dualities—transcendence … Continue reading →

Posted in Dionysius the Areopagite | Tagged , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

How to Read the Bible from a Universalist Perspective

Posted on 29 May 2018 by

by Thomas Talbott, Ph.D. Introduction I begin with a confession. For I must confess here at the outset that I am now utterly confident in the exegetical case for a universalist reading of the Bible as a whole, and I … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Eschatology | 28 Comments

Dionysian Ponderings

Posted on 27 May 2018 by

At some point during the past five years, I realized that I had no choice but to read The Divine Names by St Dionysius the Areopagite. I have been captivated by the Christian doctrine of the creatio ex nihilo and have sought … Continue reading →

Posted in Dionysius the Areopagite | 21 Comments

The Kneeling Prayers of Pentecost

Posted on 26 May 2018 by

Deacon: Again and again, on bended knees, let us pray to the Lord. Choir: Lord, have mercy. (3x) Priest: O Lord, Who art immaculate, spotless, without beginning, invisible, incomprehensible, inscrutable, unchanging, unsurpassable, immeasurable, forbearing, Who alone hast immortality, Who dwellest … Continue reading →

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“Having been shown, even in His human form, to share the Father’s glory, Christ now sent forth the Spirit Who comes from the Father and is sent by Him from heaven”

Posted on 26 May 2018 by

1. A Short while ago, with the strong eyes of faith, we beheld Christ ascending, no less clearly than those accounted worthy to be eye-witnesses, nor are we less favoured than they. “Blessed are they that have not seen, and … Continue reading →

Quote | Posted on 26 May 2018 by

“Our being is to be in relation to ultimacy, even when we deny ultimacy”

Posted on 24 May 2018 by

“The urgency of ultimacy”: elsewhere I have spoken of religion as marked by this. Different possibilities are suggested, none devoid of ambiguity, and as I will shortly indicate I would now modify this language. We can name the ultimate in … Continue reading →

Quote | Posted on 24 May 2018 by