Cusanus’ Concept of God and Man in the Light of His Reflection on Time

1992 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 252-274
Author(s):  
Norbert Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Yujin Nagasawa
Keyword(s):  

This chapter considers existing arguments against perfect being theism, classifying them into three types: (i) arguments that purport to show the internal incoherence of God’s individual properties, (ii) arguments that purport to show the mutual inconsistency between God’s properties, and (iii) arguments that purport to show the mutual inconsistency between the set of God’s properties and a certain fact about the actual world. The chapter then develops a radically new and economical defence of perfect being theism, a defence that appeals to the maximal concept of God. This defence, it is argued, undercuts nearly all the arguments of the three types at once.


Author(s):  
Frederick C. Beiser

This chapter is an examination of Cohen’s main work on the philosophy of religion, his Religion der Vernunft aus den Quellen des Judentums. Cohen’s religion of reason was an attempt to respond to two opposing conceptions of religion: that of the romantics (Schleiermacher, Fries) and that of the Tübingen school (Baur, Strauβ‎). The romantics saw the essence of religion in feeling, the Tübingen school saw it in myth. Cohen tried to rescue the rational content of religion by interpreting it mainly in ethical terms, which he believed to consist in rational imperatives. Cohen’s concept of God is interpreted in terms of the validity of these ethical imperatives and not in terms of the existence of any entity. One section considers Cohen’s re-examination of the relationship between religion and ethics, which now stresses the distinctive characteristics of religion within ethics. The final section criticizes Rosenzweig’s interpretation of Cohen as a proto-existentialist.


Author(s):  
Jeff Speaks

Philosophical theology is the attempt to use reason to determine the attributes of God. An ancient tradition, which is perhaps more influential now than ever, tries to derive the attributes of God from the principle that God is the greatest possible being. This book argues that that constructive project is a failure. It also argues that the principle that God is the greatest possible being is unsuited to play two other theoretical roles. The first of these is the role of setting the limits of the concept of God, particularly in the context of debates over the existence of God. The second is the role of explaining the meaning of ‘God.’ This leaves us with three unanswered questions. If the principle that God is the greatest possible being can’t deliver results about the divine attributes, define the concept of God, or give the meaning of the name ‘God,’ what can? The last chapter makes some initial steps toward answering these questions.


1973 ◽  
Vol 84 (10) ◽  
pp. 292-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Gunton
Keyword(s):  

2006 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samir Trimeche ◽  
Genevieve Vinsonneau ◽  
Etienne Mullet

Author(s):  
Eva Mārtuža

The Latvian folk songs include the version of God’s love and the concept of God as a creative creature, which I will see in relation to the subject of mourning, pregnant women, orphans (for the sake of clarity, orphans) as a particularly sensitive reflection of society. The poetic layer of these songs reveals Latvian mentality, basic ethical and aesthetic values, and the nation’s understanding of God’s love for the most vulnerable members of society, using vivid symbolism and metaphors. Orphans do not question the existence of God, they see it as a comprehensive, unifying, self-respecting, compassionate, and understanding creature. We do not find proof that there is no God at all. In symbolic images, there is a proven belief in one God you understand. In this sense, there is a similarity with the assumption of process theology about God’s existence as an open concept in a situation where it is impossible to offer any other proof of God’s existence. In their lives, orphans encounter God as a responsive, creative, optimistic love; God encourages an orphan to learn, be smart, be morally complete, live with pleasure, not indulge in pessimism, and be creative. The abstract nature of God is depicted in two ways. On the one hand, God has all the power that a creature may have; on the other hand, God does not have all the power that exists because the creatures he creates also have the power that allows them to choose good or evil opportunities in their own lives. Evil is the choice of people to be cruel to the weaker. The folklore researchers also believe that this set of folk songs belongs to the most realistic, even natural songs because they are based on the direct observation of life, express frustration with this life, and the desire to make what they want into reality seeking support from God. In this situation, God is both responsive and compassionate to a human and a person who does not interfere in events. The orphan must learn to see the positive power of the love offered by God and, together with God’s involvement, to discover human self-worth, create the beautiful, seek creative self-fulfilment and creativity as the most desirable expression of spiritual existence. God exists as the originator of this process.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (121) ◽  
pp. 185-195
Author(s):  
Zatov Zatov

A comparative study of the mythological picture of the world, early forms of religion allows us to identify common features characteristic of the worldview and spiritual guidelines of mankind as a whole. These features can be traced in archaic ideas about the structure of the universe, in understanding their spiritual and bodily essence, the infinity of God and the eternity of the soul, the relationship and interdependence of life forms in the world. This allows us to assert the thesis of the unity of mankind in its spiritual origins, despite racial and ethnic diversity. In the process of a comparative analysis of mythology, early forms of religion, the concept of God, the pantheon and the function of the gods, similar moments and ethnological specifics of understanding the essence of the soul and reincarnation in totemistic beliefs, in cosmological and theogonistic concepts are revealed.The author also analyzes the role and significance of the cult of ancestors, traces the evolution of the idea of proto-monotism (the creative function of Tengri and Brahma, the intention of henotheistic faith) and its place in religious knowledge.


2005 ◽  
Vol 61 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
André J. Groenwald ◽  
Johan Buitendag

This article examines the reasons that brought Nietzsche to the point of declaring that God is dead, thus doubting the existence of God. Nietzsche’s was a reaction to modernity’s belief in progress as perceived through the philosophy of Hegel, while also being a reaction to the knowing subject of Descartes and Kant and the theology of Strauss. Nietzsche’s quest was for a concept of God that would be free from human domination.


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