Divine Agency and Divine Action, Volume III
Divine Agency and Divine Action, Volume III

Author: William J. Abraham

Publisher:

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 0198786522

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Volume 4: In the final of four volumes, the author seeks an account of God as agent. Systematic theology raises deep metaphysical questions about the central concepts we use in our thinking about God. Abraham illumines the concept of God as agent by attending to various traditional problems in Christina doctrine like the relation of freedom and grace, divine action in liberation theology, the presence of God in the Eucharist, divine providence, the relationship of Chrisitanity and Islam, the relation of the natural science to theology and apparent design, and the realm of the demonic. Divine action is the point of departure for reflection on these topics.

Divine Agency and Divine Action, Volume III
Divine Agency and Divine Action, Volume III

Author: William J. Abraham

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-11-01

Total Pages: 425

ISBN-13: 0192561731

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Volume III of a tetralogy devoted to Divine Agency and Divine Action articulates a comprehensive vision of systematic theology focused on divine action from creation to eschatology. Volume I developed the foundational conceptual work by showing that the concept of action is a radically open concept that readily makes possible the appropriation of divine action for today. Volume II explained that in exploring divine action one needs to specify the actual divine actions under review and thus showed that there could be no progress with extensive soundings across the tradition from Paul to Molina. Work on divine action requires extended work in doctrinal criticism rooted in the history of theology as a prelude to normative work that communicates a normative vision of divine action for today. This vision is best explored by taking up the great themes of systematic theology from creation to eschatology yet treating them in a deflationary manner that sees systematic theology as university-level, postbaptismal, Christian instruction. Leading scholar William J. Abraham recognises that we live in a golden period of theological studies-the range and depth of material is extraordinary-yet we also live in a period of disorientation and confusion that calls for a fresh engagement with the demands of systematic theology. Divine Agency and Divine Action, Volume III meets that demand by insisting that systematic theology has its own content and modes of inquiry; that it belongs intimately to the journey of faith; and that it requires authentic academic clarity and rigor. It reclaims the rightful place of systematic theology as the center of gravity for theological studies but does so in a manner that makes it available to both the church and to the academy.

Divine Agency and Divine Action
Divine Agency and Divine Action

Author: William James Abraham

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 0198786506

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Divine Agency and Divine Action, Volume I lays the groundwork for a constructive contribution to the contemporary debate regarding divine action. Noted scholar William J. Abraham argues that the concept of divine action is not a closed concept--like knowledge--but an open concept with a variety of context-dependent meanings. This volume charts the history of debate about divine action among key Anglophone philosophers of religion, and observes that they were largely committed to this erroneous understanding of divine action as a closed concept. After developing an argument that divine action should be understood as an open, fluid concept, Abraham engages the work of William Alston, Process metaphysics, quantum physics, analytic Thomist philosophy of religion, and the theology of Kathryn Tanner. Abraham argues that divine action as an open concept must be shaped by distinctly theological considerations, and thus all future work on divine action among philosophers of religion must change to accord with this vision. Only deep engagement with the Christian theological tradition will remedy the problems ailing contemporary discourse on divine action.

Divine Action and the Human Mind
Divine Action and the Human Mind

Author: Sarah Lane Ritchie

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-07-25

Total Pages: 387

ISBN-13: 1108476511

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Challenges theological models of divine action that locate God's activity in human mind. Emphasizes God's relationship with all of nature.

Divine Agency and Divine Action, Volume II
Divine Agency and Divine Action, Volume II

Author: William J. Abraham

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017-10-20

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 0191090077

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Divine Agency and Divine Action, Volume II builds on Volume I, which established that no generic concept of action will suffice for understanding the character of divine actions explicit in the Christian faith. Volume II argues that in order to understand divine action, one must begin with the array of specific actions predicated of God in the Christian tradition. William J. Abraham argues that one must practice theology in order to analyze properly the concept of divine action. Abraham offers a careful review and evaluation of the particularities of divine action as they appear in the work of biblical, patristic, medieval, and Reformation-era theologians. Particular attention is given to the divine inspiration of scripture, creation, incarnation, transubstantiation in the Eucharist, predestination, and divine concurrence. The work does not simply repeat the doctrinal formulations found in the Christian tradition, but examines them in order to find fresh ways of thinking about these issues for our own time, especially with respect to the contemporary debates about divine agency and divine action.

Human Agency and Divine Will
Human Agency and Divine Will

Author: Charlotte Katzoff

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2022-04

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 9780367517526

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This book explores the conjuncture of human agency and divine volition in the biblical narrative - sometimes referred to as "double causality." A commonly held view has it that the biblical narrative shows human action to be determined by divine will. Yet, when reading the biblical narrative we are inclined to hold the actors accountable for their deeds. The book, then, challenges the common assumptions about the sweeping nature of divine causality in the biblical narrative and seeks to do justice to the roles played by the human actors in the drama. God's causing a person to act in a particular way, as He does when He hardens Pharaoh's heart, is the exception rather than the rule. On the whole, the biblical heroes act on their own; their personal initiatives and strivings are what move the story forward. How does it happen, then, that events, remarkably, conspire to realize God's plan? The study enlists concepts and theories developed within the framework of contemporary analytic philosophy, featured against the background of classical and contemporary bible commentary. In addressing the biblical narrative through these perspectives, this book holds appeal for scholars of a variety of disciplines - bible studies, philosophy, religion and philosophical theology - as well as for those who simply delight in reading the Bible.

Divine Agency and Divine Action, Volume I
Divine Agency and Divine Action, Volume I

Author: William J. Abraham

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017-10-20

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 0191090069

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Divine Agency and Divine Action, Volume I lays the groundwork for a constructive contribution to the contemporary debate regarding divine action. Noted scholar, William J. Abraham argues that the concept of divine action is not a closed concept-like knowledge-but an open concept with a variety of context-dependent meanings. The volume charts the history of debate about divine action among key Anglophone philosophers of religion, and observes that they were largely committed to this erroneous understanding of divine action as a closed concept. After developing an argument that divine action should be understood as an open, fluid concept, Abraham engages the work of William Alston, Process metaphysics, quantum physics, analytic Thomist philosophy of religion, and the theology of Kathryn Tanner. Abraham argues that divine action as an open concept must be shaped by distinctly theological considerations, and thus all future work on divine action among philosophers of religion must change to accord with this vision. Only deep engagement with the Christian theological tradition will remedy the problems ailing contemporary discourse on divine action.

Canon and Criterion in Christian Theology
Canon and Criterion in Christian Theology

Author: William James Abraham

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 528

ISBN-13: 9780199250035

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This is a study of canon in the Christian tradition. Standard accounts locate the canonical heritage of the church within epistemology. The author explores the consquences of this move, from the Fathers to modern feminist theology.

Unlocking Divine Action
Unlocking Divine Action

Author: Michael J. Dodds

Publisher: CUA Press

Published: 2012-09-26

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 0813219892

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Provides a sustained account of how the thought of Aquinas may be used in conjunction with contemporary science to deepen our understanding of divine action and address such issues as creation, providence, prayer, and miracles.

God's Own Ethics
God's Own Ethics

Author: Mark C. Murphy

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13: 0198796919

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Every version of the argument from evil requires a premise concerning God's motivation - about the actions that God is motivated to perform or the states of affairs that God is motivated to bring about. The typical source of this premise is a conviction that God is, obviously, morally perfect, where God's moral perfection consists in God's being motivated to act in accordance with the norms of morality by which both we and God are governed. The aim of God's Own Ethics is to challenge this understanding by giving arguments against this view of God as morally perfect and by offering an alternative account of what God's own ethics is like. According to this alternative account, God is in no way required to promote the well-being of sentient creatures, though God may rationally do so. Any norms of conduct that favor the promotion of creaturely well-being that govern God's conduct are norms that are contingently self-imposed by God. This revised understanding of divine ethics should lead us to revise sharply downward our assessment of the force of the argument from evil while leaving intact our conception of God as an absolutely perfect being, supremely worthy of worship.