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Tag Archives: divine simplicity
Perfect Being Theology, Theistic Personalism, and the Eclipse of the Apophatic
Readers of this blog will by now be well-acquainated with the term “theistic personalism.” It was coined by Brian Davies to describe what he believes to be a problematic understanding of divinity, commonly advanced by analytic philosophers. He specifically names … Continue reading
Divine Simplicity: Into the Negative Zone
by David Mahfood, Ph.D. Introduction A clear set of premises leading to a conclusion is a remarkable intellectual gift, for then one’s options are clear: accept the conclusion, reject one or more premises, or find a fallacy in the way … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophical Theology
Tagged divine creation, divine freedom, divine simplicity, Ed Feser, God, modal collapse, Ryan Mullins
84 Comments
The Absolute Freedom of the Simple Life
In the preceding article, “An Utterly Simple State of Affairs,” we were left with questions about divine freedom: specifically, if the act of creation of essential to the divine being, as Hugh McCann claims, how does this not entail the … Continue reading
Posted in Hugh McCann
Tagged divine creation, divine freedom, divine nature, divine simplicity, God, libertarian freedom, modal collapse, universals
23 Comments
An Utterly Simple State of Affairs
If God is the Absolute who stops all the bucks, the answer to our most profound existential and metaphysical questions, then he must be characterized by an absence of parts and potency; otherwise, classical theists maintain, we would still find … Continue reading
Posted in Hugh McCann
Tagged divine creation, divine freedom, divine simplicity, God, Hugh McCann, ipsum esse, modal collapse, necessity, Ryan Mullins
9 Comments
On the Putative Threat of Modal Collapse Within the Doctrine of Divine Simplicity
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
Hugh McCann and the Simplicity of Divinity
The late Hugh J. McCann characterizes his book Creation and the Sovereignty of God as an exercise in perfect being theology: “I wish to defend the thesis that God is an absolutely perfect being, who as creator exercises complete sovereignty over … Continue reading
Posted in Hugh McCann
Tagged analytic philosophy, divine freedom, divine simplicity, God, Hugh McCann
1 Comment
Aquinas and Divine Freedom: God Might Have Willed Otherwise
Finally we come to the contentious question driving this series on Aquinas: Is the divine act of creation truly free? 7) God wills the world freely and non-necessarily (SCG 81–83, 88). While it may appear that if the metaphysically simple and … Continue reading
Dionysian Ponderings: Divine Knowledge, Creation, and Modal Collapse
How does the infinite Creator know the contingent realities he has brought into existence without compromising his metaphysical simpleness? Or as St Dionysius the Areopagite asks: How is God to comprehend something among the intelligibles since he does not have … Continue reading
