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Tag Archives: God
Purification by Atheism
by Olivier Clément I. Christianity against Freedom? Christianity first appeared as the affirmation of man’s liberty in the prison of a view of the universe in decay and seen no longer as the place of God’s revelation but as the … Continue reading
Rowboating with God: The Mystery of Synergism
Several years ago I telephoned a well-known Orthodox theologian and asked him to elaborate on the doctrine of synergism. He pointed me to the words of the Apocalypse of John: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophical Theology
Tagged Austin Farrer, causal joint, cooperation, divine agency, God, human freedom, Kallistos Ware, synergism
5 Comments
Double Agency: Conceiving Divine and Creaturely Causality
We begin, I suggest, by getting clear in our minds the kind of relationship that exists between Creator and creatures: God’s creative activity is not external to the universe, as is our relation to such things as stoves and books. … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophical Theology
Tagged creation, creator, creaturely agency, divine agency, divine causality, God, Herbert McCabe, intelligent design
12 Comments
Knowing the Mind of God with Stephen Hawking
If I want to understand why my closet door becomes difficult to open and close when it gets cold or how it is that a plant can convert light energy into chemical energy, I call a scientist. I do not … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophical Theology
Tagged creatio ex nihilo, creator, deism, Diogenes Allen, divine creation, God, Stephen Hawking
6 Comments
When Making Makes No Nuttin’ Difference
We have to be careful. It’s easy to misconstrue the Christian claim that God has created the universe out of nothing. In his popular book Theology and Sanity, Frank Sheed writes: God made it. And He made it of nothing. … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophical Theology
Tagged big bang, cosmology, creatio ex nihilo, Denys Turner, divine creation, God, Herbert McCabe, nothing
33 Comments
Ex Nihilo Nonnihil Fit: “from nothing something comes”
Can we imagine the universe spontaneously emerging from nothing? I would have thought that the answer would obviously and logically be no—as long as nothing is understood as it was in classical philosophy and theology: the absence of any thing … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophical Theology
Tagged atheism, being, big bang, creatio ex nihilo, creation, creatures, God, Lawrence Krauss, nothing, why something rather than nothing
6 Comments
It’s Tortoises All the Way Down!
“In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. Yet the earth was invisible and unformed, and darkness was over the abyss, and a divine wind was being carried along over the water.” (Gen 1:1-2) That the one God … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophical Theology
Tagged creatio ex nihilo, creation, creator, God, Mormon, preexistent matter, Thomas Oord
7 Comments
Exorcizing the God of the Gaps
The rise of modern science created a problem for Christian theology. If God is not scientifically needed to explain why water freezes at 32°F or why the stars come out at night, if the universe is just a self-powered machine … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophical Theology
Tagged big bang, cosmology, creatio ex nihilo, creation, creator, creaturely causality, deism, divine causality, God, Robert Jastrow
60 Comments
