Divine Agency and Contemporary Neo-Thomism

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Abraham
Keyword(s):  
Divine Action ◽  
Philosophical Work ◽  
Divine Agency

In this chapter, the author explores the severe criticism directed at those who would talk of God as a being, or a person, and therefore also as an agent. The author engages the work of Thomist philosophers of religion Brian Davies and Herbert McCabe, and concentrates on their claims about divine agency and divine action. He argues that their criticisms against conceiving God as an agent fail for a variety of reasons. He further argues that these Thomists lose the concept of divine agency in their philosophical work, despite the fact that they need it to sustain their theological commitments. Finally, he argues that they are also guilty of confusion and equivocation in their account of the relation between divine agency and free human acts.

The Stamp of the Infinite

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Abraham
Keyword(s):  
Divine Action ◽  
Divine Agency ◽  
Book Of Acts ◽  
The Church

In this chapter, the author engages what Paul of Tarsus says about divine agency and divine action in his letters and in the book of Acts. Attention is given to the types of divine actions Paul identifies, whether he identifies God as an agent of various actions, and his comments about whether we have access to divine agency and divine action. The author identifies particular divine actions seen in Paul’s writings, like the work of God in his own life and in his calling as an apostle, personal revelations from Christ, and divine action in the church that brings about unity.

Divine Agency and Divine Action, Volume II

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Abraham
Keyword(s):  
Christian Faith ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Divine Action ◽  
Generic Concept ◽  
Divine Inspiration ◽  
Divine Agency ◽  
Divine Concurrence ◽  
Ways Of Thinking

This book builds upon the groundwork laid in the first volume, where it was established that no generic concept of action will suffice for understanding the character of divine actions explicit in the Christian faith. This volume argues that in order to understand divine action rightly, one must begin with the array of specific actions predicated of God in the Christian tradition. The author argues, in a way, that one must do theology in order to analyze properly the concept of divine action. Thus the book 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 motive here is not simply to repeat the doctrinal formulations found in the Christian tradition, but to examine 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.

Where in the world is God? On finding the Divine in Esther

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-191
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Newman
Keyword(s):  
Human Agency ◽  
Human Action ◽  
The Other ◽  
Divine Providence ◽  
Divine Action ◽  
Divine Agency ◽  
The World ◽  
Insight Into

The word “God” does not appear in the book of Esther. Some argue that this divine absence highlights human action over against Divine providence or sovereignty. I maintain, however, that it is a theological mistake to place divine and human action in separate domains. Divine action is not only the ground that makes human action possible; it is also the compelling spring that draws persons to act faithfully. Aristotle’s account of friendship sheds light on how friends act through one another, enabling each to become and do more than they would have otherwise. Aquinas’s discussion of primary and secondary causality provides compelling insight into how human agency relies upon Divine agency enabling us to move toward our true telos: communion with God. With Esther and Mordecai, one sees shared human agency: both rely upon the other to act. Even more, one sees how their faithfulness derives from their identity as persons in covenant with God, whose saving deeds on behalf of the Jews and the world make their lives possible.

Divine Agency, Divine Freedom, and Divine Suffering

2021 ◽  
pp. 21-37
Author(s):  
William J. Abraham
Keyword(s):  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Divine Action ◽  
Rational Deliberation ◽  
Concepts Of God ◽  
Divine Agency ◽  
Divine Freedom

This chapter argues that traditional concepts of God as pure act, impassible, atemporal, and simple should be rethought in light of the canonical claims the Christian tradition makes about divine action. First, it examines why we should hold to a strong account of divine agency. On this basis, it argues that we cannot avoid predicating such concepts as choice, mercy, rational deliberation, love, suffering, wrath, and patience to God. The chapter calls this divine “agentism.” Second, it argues that the central claims of agentism are incompatible with the thought of Thomas Aquinas (“Thomism”) and some of its major exponents. Third, it argues why Thomism is unpersuasive. Finally, it indicates some directions for future research in this area.

Divine Agency and Divine Action, Volume IV

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Abraham
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Theology ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Divine Action ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
Concept Of God ◽  
Presence Of God ◽  
Divine Agency ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Following the first three volumes in the series on divine action, this fourth and final volume seeks a prescriptive account of God as an agent. Christian systematic theology raises deep metaphysical questions about the central concepts we use in our thinking about God. One of these central concepts bequeathed by the Christian tradition is that God is an agent. While volumes 2 and 3 offered a wide range of specific divine actions offered in the canonical Christian tradition, the question of how to articulate this basic conviction arises. In this volume, Abraham expounds the concept of God as agent by applying it to various traditional problems in Christian 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 Christianity and Islam, the relation of the natural sciences to theology and apparent design, and the realm of the demonic. In keeping with the argument of the tetralogy as a whole, specific divine actions are the points of departure for reflection on these topics. The book aims not only to clarify the concept of God as an agent but also to articulate solutions to these traditional problems. It is designed to be the launchpad for further research in divine agency and divine action and how an account of God as an agent can throw fresh light on old theological and philosophical problems.

Divine Action is Constitutive of Theology: William Abraham, John Webster, and Theological Theology

2021 ◽  
pp. 002114002110391
Author(s):  
Fellipe do Vale
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Theological Method ◽  
John Webster ◽  
Divine Providence ◽  
Divine Action ◽  
Divine Agency

This article puts forward the view that divine action is constitutive of Christian theology. More precisely, it claims that what makes a theologian’s work theological is her commitment to a narrative composed by God’s actions to create, redeem, sustain and perfect creatures. It begins with a systematic summary of William Abraham’s four-volume Divine Agency and Divine Action. Two objections are then put to it, one regarding the breadth of the concept ‘action’ and another regarding its ability to facilitate a complete theological method. It then argues that these objections can be overcome when partnered with John Webster’s ‘theological theology’ approach, as it supplies the crucial concept of an ‘economy’ of divine action. A final section presents a ‘Websterian/Abrahamic’ approach, with the result that divine action is no longer relegated to discussions of special divine providence but is the defining feature of all theological work.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document