Presentation Type

Presentation

Department

Christian Studies

Location

Berry-Peeples Bible Building Room 126

Description

The doctrine of divine simplicity is significant because it is fundamental to the way that a person thinks about God and who God is. How one thinks about the simplicity, or non-simplicity, of God will have implications for the way that one thinks about all of God’s attributes, being, and existence. Moreover, the doctrine of divine simplicity is a doctrine that has been affirmed throughout church history by the church fathers, medieval theologians, and both Roman Catholics and Protestants. In fact, some have argued that, until Enlightenment thinking made inroads into Christian theology, virtually all Christian theologians affirmed that God was a simple, uncompounded being. Therefore, this paper will seek to address the doctrine of divine simplicity. It will do so by first explaining the basic claims of the doctrine, along with some implications of the doctrine as these two subjects overlap frequently. Next, an explanation of significant alternate views will be offered, followed by an evaluation of these views. Finally, conclusions will be drawn concerning divine simplicity and the alternative views suggested.

Comments

This paper was presented to Dr. Eubanks as part of the Philosophy of Religion course.

Share

COinS
 
Apr 23rd, 3:10 PM Apr 23rd, 3:25 PM

God Without Parts: The Doctrine of Divine Simplicity

Berry-Peeples Bible Building Room 126

The doctrine of divine simplicity is significant because it is fundamental to the way that a person thinks about God and who God is. How one thinks about the simplicity, or non-simplicity, of God will have implications for the way that one thinks about all of God’s attributes, being, and existence. Moreover, the doctrine of divine simplicity is a doctrine that has been affirmed throughout church history by the church fathers, medieval theologians, and both Roman Catholics and Protestants. In fact, some have argued that, until Enlightenment thinking made inroads into Christian theology, virtually all Christian theologians affirmed that God was a simple, uncompounded being. Therefore, this paper will seek to address the doctrine of divine simplicity. It will do so by first explaining the basic claims of the doctrine, along with some implications of the doctrine as these two subjects overlap frequently. Next, an explanation of significant alternate views will be offered, followed by an evaluation of these views. Finally, conclusions will be drawn concerning divine simplicity and the alternative views suggested.

 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.