Tag Archives: classical theism

How Anthropomorphic is your G-O-D?

Posted on 5 August 2020 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Confession time: for most of my parochial ministry, I was a theistic personalist, to use the term coined by Brian Davies. “Egads! Tell me that’s not true.” “Yes, I’m afraid so.” “But what is a theistic personalist?” “Someone who espouses … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophical Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

On the Putative Threat of Modal Collapse Within the Doctrine of Divine Simplicity

Posted on 25 September 2018 by Fr Aidan Kimel

by Alexander Earl Prompted by Dionysius’s doctrine of God and its Neoplatonic foundations, the question of Divine freedom has been the subject of theological reflection on this blog for the past few months. That it would become a sustained avenue of … Continue reading →

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Dionysian Ponderings: Beyond the Beyond … and then Beyond

Posted on 3 June 2018 by Fr Aidan Kimel

“Dionysius adopts the doctrine of God as ‘nameless,’ ‘unknowable,’ and ‘beyond being’ from the Neoplatonic tradition established by Plotinus,” writes Eric Perl, “and his thought can be understood only in that context” (Theophany, p. 13). We will need to revisit … Continue reading →

Posted in Dionysius the Areopagite | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Thomas Aquinas, Eleonore Stump, and the Maverick Philosopher: Is God “a” being among beings?

Posted on 20 March 2018 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Is God a being among beings? It seems like the kind of question that only a fussy scholastic might worry about. Christians typically speak of God as if he were a being. We tell stories about him. We proclaim his … Continue reading →

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Eternal God and a World That Need Not Be

Posted on 6 June 2016 by Fr Aidan Kimel

As I write this article, I am sitting on my deck with my two Collies, Tiriel and Fëanor. They are keeping vigilant watch. The clouds are gathering. The thunder is getting closer. With each peal they scramble around the deck, … Continue reading →

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Divine Simplicity as Negative Theology

Posted on 16 May 2016 by Fr Aidan Kimel

“From first to last,” writes philosopher Brian Davies, “the doctrine of divine simplicity is a piece of negative or apophatic theology and not a purported description of God” (“Classical Theism and the Doctrine of Divine Simplicity,” in Language, Meaning and … Continue reading →

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Revisiting God and Odin: Classical Theism versus Theistic Personalism

Posted on 16 April 2016 by Fr Aidan Kimel

When I wrote my “God is Not Odin …” it quickly became one of Eclectic Orthodoxy’s most frequently viewed articles, and I’m delighted that the reblog has also generated interest, presumably among those who missed it the first go-around. For … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophical Theology | Tagged , , | 17 Comments

If God is Being, does prayer make sense?

Posted on 25 May 2015 by Fr Aidan Kimel

In a recent article, Roger Olson contrasts his own “biblical” understanding of God as a personal being, albeit “the greatest of all beings, transcendently surpassing in greatness and glory all creatures,” with the traditional understanding of God as Being itself, infinite, … Continue reading →

Posted in Herbert McCabe & Friends | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments