Christine Hayes
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691165196
- eISBN:
- 9781400866410
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691165196.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
In the thousand years before the rise of Islam, two radically diverse conceptions of what it means to say that a law is divine confronted one another with a force that reverberates to the present. ...
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In the thousand years before the rise of Islam, two radically diverse conceptions of what it means to say that a law is divine confronted one another with a force that reverberates to the present. This book untangles the classical and biblical roots of the Western idea of divine law and shows how early adherents to biblical tradition—Hellenistic Jewish writers such as Philo, the community at Qumran, Paul, and the talmudic rabbis—struggled to make sense of this conflicting legacy. This book shows that for the ancient Greeks, divine law was divine by virtue of its inherent qualities of intrinsic rationality, truth, universality, and immutability, while for the biblical authors, divine law was divine because it was grounded in revelation with no presumption of rationality, conformity to truth, universality, or immutability. The book describes the collision of these opposing conceptions in the Hellenistic period, and details competing attempts to resolve the resulting cognitive dissonance. It shows how Second Temple and Hellenistic Jewish writers, from the author of 1 Enoch to Philo of Alexandria, were engaged in a common project of bridging the gulf between classical and biblical notions of divine law, while Paul, in his letters to the early Christian church, sought to widen it. The book then delves into the literature of classical rabbinic Judaism to reveal how the talmudic rabbis took a third and scandalous path, insisting on a construction of divine law intentionally at odds with the Greco-Roman and Pauline conceptions that would come to dominate the Christianized West. This book sheds critical light on an ancient debate that would shape foundational Western thought, and that continues to inform contemporary views about the nature and purpose of law and the nature and authority of Scripture.Less
In the thousand years before the rise of Islam, two radically diverse conceptions of what it means to say that a law is divine confronted one another with a force that reverberates to the present. This book untangles the classical and biblical roots of the Western idea of divine law and shows how early adherents to biblical tradition—Hellenistic Jewish writers such as Philo, the community at Qumran, Paul, and the talmudic rabbis—struggled to make sense of this conflicting legacy. This book shows that for the ancient Greeks, divine law was divine by virtue of its inherent qualities of intrinsic rationality, truth, universality, and immutability, while for the biblical authors, divine law was divine because it was grounded in revelation with no presumption of rationality, conformity to truth, universality, or immutability. The book describes the collision of these opposing conceptions in the Hellenistic period, and details competing attempts to resolve the resulting cognitive dissonance. It shows how Second Temple and Hellenistic Jewish writers, from the author of 1 Enoch to Philo of Alexandria, were engaged in a common project of bridging the gulf between classical and biblical notions of divine law, while Paul, in his letters to the early Christian church, sought to widen it. The book then delves into the literature of classical rabbinic Judaism to reveal how the talmudic rabbis took a third and scandalous path, insisting on a construction of divine law intentionally at odds with the Greco-Roman and Pauline conceptions that would come to dominate the Christianized West. This book sheds critical light on an ancient debate that would shape foundational Western thought, and that continues to inform contemporary views about the nature and purpose of law and the nature and authority of Scripture.
Luigi Gioia
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199553464
- eISBN:
- 9780191720796
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199553464.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Early Christian Studies
Augustine's doctrine of revelation is formulated through the divine attributes of invisibility (Augustine's equivalent for unknowability) and immutability. This approach gives to revelation a ...
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Augustine's doctrine of revelation is formulated through the divine attributes of invisibility (Augustine's equivalent for unknowability) and immutability. This approach gives to revelation a characteristically Trinitarian shape: only from his own side can the unknowable and immutable God make himself known ‘from his own side’, of course, means ‘in Christ through the Holy Spirit’. On the basis of the divine character of Christ's work of revelation and reconciliation through the Holy Spirit it emerges that God (the Father) can only be known and loved through God (the Son and the Holy Spirit) because he is unknowable and immutable; and that God the Father can really be known and loved through the Son and the Holy Spirit because the Three are inseparably and equally one God.Less
Augustine's doctrine of revelation is formulated through the divine attributes of invisibility (Augustine's equivalent for unknowability) and immutability. This approach gives to revelation a characteristically Trinitarian shape: only from his own side can the unknowable and immutable God make himself known ‘from his own side’, of course, means ‘in Christ through the Holy Spirit’. On the basis of the divine character of Christ's work of revelation and reconciliation through the Holy Spirit it emerges that God (the Father) can only be known and loved through God (the Son and the Holy Spirit) because he is unknowable and immutable; and that God the Father can really be known and loved through the Son and the Holy Spirit because the Three are inseparably and equally one God.
Alan F. Segal
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199246120
- eISBN:
- 9780191600531
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199246122.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Alan Segal outlines the history of binitarianism and the criticism it met within Hellenistic Jewish culture. Segal begins by identifying ‘those who say there are two powers in heaven’, a rabbinic ...
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Alan Segal outlines the history of binitarianism and the criticism it met within Hellenistic Jewish culture. Segal begins by identifying ‘those who say there are two powers in heaven’, a rabbinic heresy probably referring to Christians. He shows that Philo did not hesitate to call the logos a ‘second God’ because he felt it was more important to protect the immutability than the unity of God. The arguments, in turn, became the basis for Justin's christology and from there entered Christian discussions of the nature of the Trinity. At the same time, rabbinic opposition to all such notions, whether philosophical or Christian or both, intensified.Less
Alan Segal outlines the history of binitarianism and the criticism it met within Hellenistic Jewish culture. Segal begins by identifying ‘those who say there are two powers in heaven’, a rabbinic heresy probably referring to Christians. He shows that Philo did not hesitate to call the logos a ‘second God’ because he felt it was more important to protect the immutability than the unity of God. The arguments, in turn, became the basis for Justin's christology and from there entered Christian discussions of the nature of the Trinity. At the same time, rabbinic opposition to all such notions, whether philosophical or Christian or both, intensified.
David Cunning
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195399608
- eISBN:
- 9780199866502
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195399608.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter argues that Descartes’ considered view is that God is the eternal, simple and immutable author of any reality that exists—both possible and actual—and that such a being does not create ...
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This chapter argues that Descartes’ considered view is that God is the eternal, simple and immutable author of any reality that exists—both possible and actual—and that such a being does not create unactualized possibilities. Descartes is committed to the doctrines of divine simplicity, divine independence, and divine immutability, and as a result he is a necessitarian. The chapter considers passages that might appear to suggest otherwise—especially passages that treat voluntarism and the eternal truths and passages that treat contingency—and argues that these demand a fresh reading. The chapter further explores views that were introduced in chapter 5—for example, that Descartes has a compatibilist understanding of freedom and that he thinks that Christian orthodoxy is in need of review. The chapter also considers Descartes’ stoicism. One of the themes that runs throughout this chapter is that most of the Meditations would not make any sense to a Cartesian, or to a meditator who is reading the Meditations a second time through.Less
This chapter argues that Descartes’ considered view is that God is the eternal, simple and immutable author of any reality that exists—both possible and actual—and that such a being does not create unactualized possibilities. Descartes is committed to the doctrines of divine simplicity, divine independence, and divine immutability, and as a result he is a necessitarian. The chapter considers passages that might appear to suggest otherwise—especially passages that treat voluntarism and the eternal truths and passages that treat contingency—and argues that these demand a fresh reading. The chapter further explores views that were introduced in chapter 5—for example, that Descartes has a compatibilist understanding of freedom and that he thinks that Christian orthodoxy is in need of review. The chapter also considers Descartes’ stoicism. One of the themes that runs throughout this chapter is that most of the Meditations would not make any sense to a Cartesian, or to a meditator who is reading the Meditations a second time through.
Paul Helm
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199590391
- eISBN:
- 9780191595516
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199590391.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Metaphysics/Epistemology
Is divine timelessness a case of the intrusion of Greek thought into Jewish and Christian ideas drawn from Scripture, or is the concept of God's timeless eternity warranted by scriptural texts? It is ...
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Is divine timelessness a case of the intrusion of Greek thought into Jewish and Christian ideas drawn from Scripture, or is the concept of God's timeless eternity warranted by scriptural texts? It is argued that the lack of a ‘reflective context’ in which the concept of time is introduced and used in Scripture means that nevertheless divine timelessness may be warranted of other features of theism, such as the idea of divine perfection, or divine immutability, or divine Creatorhood, warrant it. What matters is not where ideas originate but whether or not they are materially adequate in explicating scriptural texts.Less
Is divine timelessness a case of the intrusion of Greek thought into Jewish and Christian ideas drawn from Scripture, or is the concept of God's timeless eternity warranted by scriptural texts? It is argued that the lack of a ‘reflective context’ in which the concept of time is introduced and used in Scripture means that nevertheless divine timelessness may be warranted of other features of theism, such as the idea of divine perfection, or divine immutability, or divine Creatorhood, warrant it. What matters is not where ideas originate but whether or not they are materially adequate in explicating scriptural texts.
Paul Helm
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199590391
- eISBN:
- 9780191595516
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199590391.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Metaphysics/Epistemology
Omniscience and indexicality of various types are discussed. Can an immutable God know what is happening to me? The indexicality objection to timeless omniscience is reduced to absurdity. ...
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Omniscience and indexicality of various types are discussed. Can an immutable God know what is happening to me? The indexicality objection to timeless omniscience is reduced to absurdity. Indexicality and facts. What counts as the same fact? Co-reporting and the paradox of perfection. The objection from personal indexicals once more. God's supposed temporality and omniscience: are these logically compatible? Arguments against the consistency of divine personality and immutability considered. The consistency of eternity, immutability and omniscience is defended. Omniscience and the problem of human freedom. The possibility of trading off the ways in which God's omniscience may be expressed against the compatibility of omniscience and human freedom is considered.Less
Omniscience and indexicality of various types are discussed. Can an immutable God know what is happening to me? The indexicality objection to timeless omniscience is reduced to absurdity. Indexicality and facts. What counts as the same fact? Co-reporting and the paradox of perfection. The objection from personal indexicals once more. God's supposed temporality and omniscience: are these logically compatible? Arguments against the consistency of divine personality and immutability considered. The consistency of eternity, immutability and omniscience is defended. Omniscience and the problem of human freedom. The possibility of trading off the ways in which God's omniscience may be expressed against the compatibility of omniscience and human freedom is considered.
Philipp W. Rosemann
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195155440
- eISBN:
- 9780199849871
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195155440.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
To the modern reader, it might seem surprising that the Book of Sentences finds allusions to the Trinity in the Old Testament. Book 1 of the Sentence opens with the use/enjoyment distinction, with ...
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To the modern reader, it might seem surprising that the Book of Sentences finds allusions to the Trinity in the Old Testament. Book 1 of the Sentence opens with the use/enjoyment distinction, with which we have already acquainted ourselves. There follows a section comprising several chapters in which Lombard examines the evidence for the existence of three persons in the one Godhead. This chapter also tries to reflect upon Peter Lombard's ambiguous attitude toward the theological debates of his time, or at least toward certain aspects of these debates—he was taking up a question reluctantly, not because of its inherent value but only in order not to pass over a point which featured prominently in contemporary debates. It concludes that Lombard was well aware of the kind of counterarguments that his teaching on charity was likely to provoke; indeed, a lively controversy about it seemed to have started during his own lifetime.Less
To the modern reader, it might seem surprising that the Book of Sentences finds allusions to the Trinity in the Old Testament. Book 1 of the Sentence opens with the use/enjoyment distinction, with which we have already acquainted ourselves. There follows a section comprising several chapters in which Lombard examines the evidence for the existence of three persons in the one Godhead. This chapter also tries to reflect upon Peter Lombard's ambiguous attitude toward the theological debates of his time, or at least toward certain aspects of these debates—he was taking up a question reluctantly, not because of its inherent value but only in order not to pass over a point which featured prominently in contemporary debates. It concludes that Lombard was well aware of the kind of counterarguments that his teaching on charity was likely to provoke; indeed, a lively controversy about it seemed to have started during his own lifetime.
Sandra Visser and Thomas Williams
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195309386
- eISBN:
- 9780199852123
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309386.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter explores Anselm's account of the divine attributes in the Monologion and Proslogion. His arguments in those works reveal a being that is far removed from the objects of ordinary ...
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This chapter explores Anselm's account of the divine attributes in the Monologion and Proslogion. His arguments in those works reveal a being that is far removed from the objects of ordinary experience: a being without parts, without accidents, without location in space or time. Because of his eternity and immutability, God alone exists in an unqualified sense.Less
This chapter explores Anselm's account of the divine attributes in the Monologion and Proslogion. His arguments in those works reveal a being that is far removed from the objects of ordinary experience: a being without parts, without accidents, without location in space or time. Because of his eternity and immutability, God alone exists in an unqualified sense.
Paul S. Fiddes
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198263470
- eISBN:
- 9780191682568
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263470.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
The belief that God is a suffering God has become compelling for recent theology. Centuries of traditional belief about the impassability and the immutability of God have been overturned in this age. ...
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The belief that God is a suffering God has become compelling for recent theology. Centuries of traditional belief about the impassability and the immutability of God have been overturned in this age. This chapter reviews the ways in which recent theology has come to its convictions about a suffering God, noting four main themes for the change in mind in Christendom. The first section examines the meaning of the love of God. The next section explores the central place of the cross of Jesus within Christian faith. The third section looks into the problem of human suffering. The fourth section looks at the overall modern picture.Less
The belief that God is a suffering God has become compelling for recent theology. Centuries of traditional belief about the impassability and the immutability of God have been overturned in this age. This chapter reviews the ways in which recent theology has come to its convictions about a suffering God, noting four main themes for the change in mind in Christendom. The first section examines the meaning of the love of God. The next section explores the central place of the cross of Jesus within Christian faith. The third section looks into the problem of human suffering. The fourth section looks at the overall modern picture.
Richard Swinburne
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198240709
- eISBN:
- 9780191598586
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198240708.003.0012
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
God is immutable in his basic character, but this does not mean that he cannot change at all. He is eternal, but this is to be understood as everlasting, not as ‘outside time’. If we take all the ...
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God is immutable in his basic character, but this does not mean that he cannot change at all. He is eternal, but this is to be understood as everlasting, not as ‘outside time’. If we take all the properties analysed in Part 2 of this book together, God is to be conceived as a ‘personal ground of being’. There could only be more than one such personal ground if all such grounds were dependent for their existence on the first ground. That leaves open the possibility that God is a Trinity.Less
God is immutable in his basic character, but this does not mean that he cannot change at all. He is eternal, but this is to be understood as everlasting, not as ‘outside time’. If we take all the properties analysed in Part 2 of this book together, God is to be conceived as a ‘personal ground of being’. There could only be more than one such personal ground if all such grounds were dependent for their existence on the first ground. That leaves open the possibility that God is a Trinity.
