Christ and the Principle of Alternative Possibilities

Classical Christology provides reason to reject the principle of alternative possibilities [PAP]. The Gethsemane prayer highlights an instance in which Jesus Christ performs a voluntary and morally significant action which he could not have done otherwise, namely, Christ’s submission to God’s will. Two classical Christological doctrines undermine PAP: (1) impeccability, and (2) volitional non-contrariety. Classical Christology teaches that Christ could not sin, and that Christ’s human will could not be contrary to his divine will. Yet, classical Christology also teaches that Christ’s death is voluntary and morally praiseworthy. First, I present the relevant elements of classical Christology: dyothelitism, impeccability, and volitional non-contrariety. Second, I define and disambiguate varieties of PAP. Third, I show that Christ’s prayer in Gethsemane disproves PAP. I respond to several objections along the way. Finally, I reflect on the implications of denying PAP.

Az isteni jogalaptól a népszuverenitásig

The study intends to present the main features of the political doctrine commonly called by contemporaries the ‘divine right of kings’ in seventeenth-century England, and its transformation brought on by the ‘glorious revolution’ of 1688. The new version of the doctrine was named ‘divine right of providence” (G. Straka) and it was refl ected not only in written sources, the Bill of Rights included, but also in the change of the iconography of coronation coins. However, by 1714, the growth of the power of parliament led to a new perception of the right to the throne: popular sovereignty replaced divine will, which caused a major change in the imagery of coronation coins. Henceforward, for the rest of the century, in coronation coins power was conferred on the ruler not by the act of the Almighty but by the hand of the female allegorical figure of Britannia.

Non-accidental piety: reliable reasoning and modally robust adherence to the divine will

In this article I formulate a skeptical argument against the possibility of adhering to the divine will in a non-accidental way. In particular, my focus in the article is on a widely embraced modal condition of accidentality, according to which non-accidentality has to do with a person manifesting dispositions that result in a given outcome in a modally robust way. The skeptical argument arises from two observations: first, various authors in the epistemology of religion have argued that it is often not possible to reason reliably about religious matters, and second, non-accidentally adhering to a given norm is often associated with reasoning about the requirements of the norm in question in a reliable way. In addition to pointing out the existence of the argument, I outline strategies in which religious thinkers could reasonably challenge it by denying that reliable reasoning about the requirements of divine will is necessary for adhering to it in a non-accidental manner. Hence, I argue that the possibility of non-accidental adherence to the divine will does not depend solely on whether it is possible to reliably reason about what it requires one to do.

Lost to Presence: The Entanglements of Writing, Protestant Christianity, and Empire in the 19th-Century Southern Africa

This essay takes interest in a dialectical relationship between writing as affirmation and writing as a system of codification. It explores this dialectic as it relates to the interaction between Sotho-speaking communities and Protestant Christian missionaries in the 19th-century Southern Africa. It shows that this dialectical relationship dissolves truth as a construct of writing as affirmation because it is informed by an ontology of force that conceives of truth (Christian truth in this case) as an outcome of victory over an adversary. This ontology of force, in which Christianity participates, is a consequence of a modern metaphysics that splits individual and divine will. Cut off from participation in divine will, the autonomous will of Protestant Christian missionaries became the basis for organizing the world of the 19th-century Sotho speakers. This opened doors for Christianity to participate in the broader imperial project of the racial subordination of colonized people that Sotho speakers resemble. The consequence of this was not only the delegitimization of personhood as a construct of indigenous African religion, but also the introduction of conceptions of personhood that partook of race and racism.

Hizb ut-Tahrir’s Caliphal Counter-Narrative

The article has a history of religions approach, and analyzes the “counter-narrative” of Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is a global political Islamist group which aims to establish a universal caliphate. It is a “vocal radical” radical group, rejecting the use of violence. The group is against democracy, secularization and liberal values, and promotes a return to “true Islam”, which obliges Muslims to establish a caliphate, ruled by divine will. The analysis of the ideology will contextualize it within Islamic theology and other current interpretative Islamic currents that dominate, with the aim of explaining why they are banned in several countries.

Davenant on the Will of God and the Divine Decrees

This chapter discusses another important doctrine relative to John Davenant’s hypothetical universalism: the divine will. Observing that the doctrine of God’s will in early modern scholastic theology, including among Reformed theologians, involved a plethora of scholastic distinctions, the chapter shows that Davenant’s theology of the divine will was heavily influenced by these distinctions, which were themselves ways of making sense of apparent contradictory claims in Scripture. Davenant’s employment of these medieval distinctions, such as between God’s love of simple complacency and his absolute will, are given extended treatment. This chapter also gives attention to the difference between a divine conditional and an absolute will. Finally, tying all these distinctions together, this chapter explains how Davenant employs them to buttress his hypothetical universalism.

John Davenant's Hypothetical Universalism

AAaJohn Davenant’s hypothetical universalism has consistently been misinterpreted and misrepresented as a via media between Arminianism and Reformed theology. This study examines Bishop Davenant’s hypothetical universalism in the context of early modern Reformed orthodoxy. In light of the various misunderstandings of early modern hypothetical universalism, including English hypothetical universalism, as well as the paucity of studies touching on the theology of Davenant in particular, this book gives a detailed exposition of Davenant’s doctrine of universal redemption in dialogue with his understanding of closely related doctrines such as God’s will, predestination, providence, and covenant theology and (2) defends the thesis that Davenant’s version of hypothetical universalism represents a significant strand of the Augustinian tradition, including the early modern Reformed tradition. In service of these two aims, this book examines the patristic and medieval periods as they provide the background for the Lutheran, Remonstrant, and Reformed reactions to the so-called Lombardian formula (“Christ died sufficiently for all; effectually for the elect”). Moreover, it traces how Davenant and his fellow British delegates at the Synod of Dordt shaped the Canons of Dordt in such a way as to allow for their English hypothetical universalism. A careful exposition of the various theses found in Davenant’s De Morte Christi makes up the central core of this book. Finally, this study explores Davenant’s covenant theology and doctrine of the divine will.

War and Order in Eighteenth Dynasty Egypt (1550‒1295 BCE)

Summary This paper studies royal inscriptions of the Eighteenth Dynasty—a period of extensive military activity in Nubia and the Levant—to examine the prevailing assumption that earthly wars were conceived as mirroring a cosmic struggle between order and chaos. Instead, the sources suggest a more intricate picture, in which royal prerogative and divine will are at play, often ambiguously intertwined.