Imitation and ‘Infinite’ Will

Author(s):  
Marie Jayasekera

This chapter investigates Descartes’s conception of the imago Dei, that it is above all in virtue of the will that human beings bear the image and likeness of God. The chapter begins by illuminating his understanding of the doctrine—how he conceives of the relation between human beings and God. It is argued that Descartes is alluding not to Scholastic conceptions of analogy but instead to the Augustinian–Thomistic tradition on the nature of image. Turning to Descartes’s conception of the likeness between the human will and God’s will, the chapter argues that he thinks the likeness is that both are infinite in ‘extent’. This means that human will can ‘extend itself’ to things that can be the object of God’s will, notable because Descartes famously thinks that absolutely anything can be the object of God’s will. An explanation is offered for why this interpretation is not implausible, contrary to first appearances.

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 407-419
Author(s):  
Makmudi Makmudi

Man consists of two elements, namely body and spirit, so that human beings are jasiman and ruhiyah at once. Hummans are also part of one element of the elements that exist in an educational process. Three element include the soul, the mind, the heart, and the human body. Humman and education, can not be separated from each other. Both are an interconnected entity, human as the perpetrator and education as a syistem in the process to achieve the goal of education itself.  Mental health education requires alignment and harmony in various stages and sectors as well as attention to the three elements that exist in the human self that is the physical element (psychomotor) which includes body building, skill (skill) and sexual education, the spiritual element (affective) which includes the formation of faith, and iradah (the will), the element of reason (cognitive) which includes the coaching of intelligence and the provision of knowledge. The purpose of writing this research is to know and analyze thoughts about the concept of life education perspective Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyyah. Soul education is considered successful, if one's soul has reached the degree of nafs muthmainnah, which has three main characteristics that mutually reinforce one another, namely; (1) a faithful soul to God, (2) a patient soul, (3) a soul that is self-serving to Allah (tawakal). Through the process of mental education which includes: the foundation of theology, the purpose of mental education, integrated curriculum / manhaj at-takamul, appropriate methods and applicable according to its stages, such as: takhliyah stages, tahliyah stages, muhasabah an-nafs, dzikrullah, and tahqiq 'ubudiyah. So that from the process will give birth ihsan attitude, and will increase the piety in worship, both related to God and those related to humans and the surrounding natural environment. Because, the essence of ihsan attitude itself is upholding 'ubudiyah.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-48
Author(s):  
Stevri Indra Lumintang

The movement of globalization caused postmoderns to "replace the modern worldview" with "postmodern worldview". That means there are massive and fundamental changes. Therefore, this transition period is a period of great change, which is not easily accepted by many people because it has caused many major problems with humanity. Globalization presses in many directions, so that nothing is lost. Globalization has made many people and organizations become voracious and ferocious. That means using the time available. Nothing is greater than God's will. The will of globalization is under God's will. This is the strong foundation of a servant of God acting as the main actor of globalization. The main role of God's servants as the main actor of globalization, namely preaching the Word.  Gerakan globalisasi menyebabkan kaum postmodern “mengganti worldview modern” dengan “worldview postmodern”. Itu artinya terjadi perubahan besar-besaran dan mendasar. Karena itu, masa peralihan ini merupakan masa perubahan besar, yang tidak mudah diterima oleh banyak orang karena telah menyebabkan banyak masalah yang besar terhadap humanistas.  Globalisasi menekan ke banyak arah, sehingga tidak ada yang luput dari pengaruhnya. Globalisasi telah membuat banyak orang dan organisasi tertentu menjadi rakus dan ganas tiada ampun. Itu artinya menggunakan waktu yang ada. Tidak ada yang lebih hebat dari pada kehendak Allah. Kehendak globalisasi berada di bawah kehendak Allah. Inilah dasar yang kuat dari seorang hamba Tuhan berperan sebagai aktor utama globalisasi. Peran utama hamba Tuhan sebagai aktor utama globalisasi, yaitu memberitakan Firman.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
J Sutarjo ◽  
Nurwadjah Ahmad ◽  
Andewi Suhartini

One object of study of God is God's order for humans, commonly known as Sunatullah. Allah SWT as a substance that is the creator of all beings both human and the entire universe is one of the regularities of Allah SWT. Furthermore, the phenomenon of the order of God Almighty in His creation can be seen starting from the creation of humans and nature and their contents. In the level of theology, God's order for human beings (Sunatullah) is not limited to the regularities possessed by His creatures, but more than that, the various regularities that occur in creatures are the will of Allah SWT. Allah Almighty is the substance that wills, and controls the order in His creatures. Sunnatullah as a concept should be invested in Islamic education. Therefore it is necessary to understand about sunnatullah as something that must be believed, used as guidelines and translated at the level of education. After being translated into the education curriculum, the next task of education is to implement sunnatullah as a theological concept into a practical action for students.


Author(s):  
Stephan P. Pretorius

Many people plagued with incurable diseases or diseases that seem to be resistant to medical treatment, in desperation turn to preachers who claim to administer divine healing. These divine healers make certain claims, based on their interpretation of the Scriptures and a so-called revelation of God’s will. They furthermore preach that healing and health are included in atonement and that nobody should be sick. Illness is an indication of a lack of faith on the part of the believer. It could also be attributed to an attack from the devil. In order to obtain healing, a process of ignoring the symptoms, followed by an unyielding and repeated confession of the healing needed, based on selected verses from the Scriptures, is proposed.This article is based on the contention that the healing practised by these divine healers is nothing more than a ‘mind-over-matter’ approach, leading people into confessing over and over that they have been healed. These practices are reminiscent of the utilisation of affirmations that lead to positive thinking, which will evidently result in a change of behaviour on the part of the confessor. No indication of Godly intervention seems to be evident in this healing ministry, and neither is any submission to the will and purpose of God.


Karl Barth ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 61-83
Author(s):  
Christiane Tietz

The social circumstances in Barth’s new parish in Safenwil were shaped by the poor working conditions at the town’s two textile factories. Barth soon took public positions on behalf of the workers, what led to the public accusation of a “red Messiah”. He was convinced of the continuity between Jesus’s teachings and the goals of social democracy, becoming a member of the Swiss Socialist Party. During these years Barth’s friendship with Eduard Thurneysen deepened and their joint theological work began. Barth got to know Hermann Kutter and Leonhard Ragaz, the important Swiss religious socialists. The First World War and the support for that war among German theologians, including several of his professors, was a decisive turning point, leading Barth to conclude theologically that human beings should not identify any human cause with God’s will. In 1913, Barth married Nelly Hoffmann. During their time in Safenwil, they had four children.


Author(s):  
Mark Timmons

This chapter provides a brief overview of certain elements of Kant’s metaphysics and epistemology that are essential background for understanding certain features of his ethical theory. In particular, it presents Kant’s distinction between the ‘world of sense’ or ‘phenomenal world’ and the ‘world of understanding’ or ‘noumenal world’ as a basis for explaining the limits of theoretical cognition which rules out theoretical cognition and knowledge of God, immortality of the soul, and freedom of the will, yet allows Kant to affirm their reality on moral grounds, needed to explain how the highest good is possible. Of importance for understanding certain claims in his work on virtue is the distinction between the phenomenal world and the noumenal world as it applies to human beings. The chapter concludes with reflections on the relation between Kant’s ethics and his metaphysical and epistemological commitments.


2019 ◽  
pp. 121-168
Author(s):  
Han-luen Kantzer Komline

Chapter 3 begins to look at how Augustine’s thought on the good will developed during the Pelagian controversy. It considers Augustine’s answers to the question of what is within human power with respect to the will by addressing two subsidiary questions: How much can people do to achieve a good will? and How much can people do to enact a good will, to carry through with the good they want even when their will is weak? Augustine’s conviction that human beings need God’s help for the latter remained constant throughout the Pelagian controversy. Over time, however, he understood the need for God’s electing grace for the former, to meet the preconditions of conversion, in more and more radical terms. This development was not a result of polemical exigency alone but the gradual outworking of decades of struggling with the writings of Paul following Augustine’s initial flash of insight in Ad Simplicianum.


Author(s):  
Stephen H. Daniel

For Berkeley, I am not a substance who just happens to associate ideas; rather, I am the differentiation and association of those ideas, the will that there be such an order, variety, and comprehension. In creating minds, God creates an infinity of active principles in terms of which objects are intentionally identified in virtue of actions for which we are justifiably held responsible. As Malebranche suggests, God impels us toward the good in general, but we fixate on particular goods. For both thinkers, we need to see how things exhibit God’s grandeur in being related in infinite ways. In this way, we are freed to identify all things as purposive and harmonious.


2020 ◽  
pp. 128-145
Author(s):  
Adam Pryor

This chapter offers a constructive account of interpreting the Anthropocene and the imago Dei as corroborative symbols interpreted in an astrobiological context of engagement by weaving the crucial themes of intra-action, refraction, planetarity, and deep time together. It proposes that to be the imago Dei is not a property of individuals or even a species but describes a categorical shift in planetary flows of energy and matter. This is a shift from biogeochemical cycles to technobiogeochemical cycles. If human beings live into our shared responsibility for being the imago Dei, then the Earth should be understood as not only a living planet, but an artful one.


Author(s):  
George I. Mavrodes

Predestination appears to be a religious or theological version of universal determinism, a version in which the final determining factor is the will or action of God. It is most often associated with the theological tradition of Calvinism, although some theologians outside the Calvinist tradition, or prior to it (for example, Augustine and Thomas Aquinas), profess similar doctrines. The idea of predestination also plays a role in some religions other than Christianity, perhaps most notably in Islam. Sometimes the idea of predestination is formulated in a comparatively restricted way, being applied only to the manner in which the divine grace of salvation is said to be extended to some human beings and not to others. John Calvin, for example, writes: We call predestination God’s eternal decree, by which he compacted with himself what he willed to become of each man. For all are not created in equal condition; rather, eternal life is foreordained for some, eternal damnation for others. Therefore, as any man has been created to one or the other of these ends, we speak of him as predestined to life or to death. (Institutes, bk 3, ch. 21, sec. 5) At other times, however, the idea is applied more generally to the whole course of events in the world; whatever happens in the world is determined by the will of God. Philosophically, the most interesting aspects of the doctrine are not essentially linked with salvation. For instance, if God is the first cause of all that happens, how can people be said to have free will? One answer may be that people are free in so far as they act in accordance with their own motives and desires, even if these are determined by God. Another problem is that the doctrine seems to make God ultimately responsible for sin. A possible response here is to distinguish between actively causing something and passively allowing it to happen, and to say that God merely allows people to sin; it is then human agents who actively choose to sin and God is therefore not responsible.


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