Jerry L. Martin has served as chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities and of the Philosophy Department at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is founding Chairman, Theology Without Walls Group, American Academy of Religion and author of God: An Autobiography, As Told to a Philosopher (Caladium, 2016). http://godanautobiography.com/ Address: Doylestown, United States
Canadian Journal of Philosophy Supplementary Volume, 1975
It is only because the solution is possible that the problem exists. So with all transcendental a... more It is only because the solution is possible that the problem exists. So with all transcendental arguments (p. 30).Although P. F. Strawson mentions transcendental arguments only once in Individuals, there is no doubt as to his commitment to transcendental method. This paper will offer a critique of such a method, as it functions in a single context. Strawson gives a transcendental argument to refute scepticism with regard to other minds. We are all familiar with the gist of this argument. The sceptic holds that one can ascribe states of consciousness only to oneself. This assertion obviously implies that one can ascribe states of consciousness to oneself. But, Strawson argues, “One can ascribe states of consciousness to oneself only if one can ascribe them to others” (p. 96). In other words, the second assertion implies a third, that one can ascribe states of consciousness to others. The third assertion, though implied by the sceptic's initial assertion, contradicts it. Thus scep...
Transreligious theology is impossible yet inevitable. It is impossible because theology is almost... more Transreligious theology is impossible yet inevitable. It is impossible because theology is almost by definition the articulation of religious truths as held as by particular tradition. It is that tradition that provides the canonical texts, hermeneutical strategies, theological questions, an array of offered answers, and methods for assessing and modifying them. In addition, the tradition provides the full-bodied religious life that its theologies serve. Nevertheless, transreligious theology is inevitable, in the sense of necessary if theology is to reach its goal. For surely the goal of theology is to provide, as best we can, the logos of theos, the fullest articulation of the divine or ultimate reality we can achieve. The exclusivist can avoid transreligious theology, but the more we study various traditions, in a scholarly and spiritually open way, and come to know their adherents and their practices, the more truth about divine reality we find there and, consequently, the more urgent the task of thinking across religious divides. The theology of religions and comparative theology are important steps in this direction. If developed in a way that is sufficiently robust, they might be able to shed light on the divine reality in its wider scope. Those approaches look beyond their traditions, but keep intact sufficient elements to provide compasses and rudders. However, it might be necessary to go further and to consider the total spiritual resources of humankind, every source of revelation and enlightenment and insight anew, without dragging our traditional anchors behind us. Some thinkers – among whom one would certainly number Wilfrid Cantwell Smith, Ramon Panikkar, and Robert Cummings Neville – have begun to explore the divine terrain through a very wide lense indeed. In the United States and Canada, issues of transreligious theology have been the focus of the Theology Without Walls Project, which meets under the auspices of the American Academy of Religion. Hence, some of the papers in this volume refer to this form of transreligious inquiry and cite remarks I have made defining and defending this project. Those presentations can be found online at the Theology Without Walls Forum.1 At this point, transreligious theology should be considered an exploratory program, at best a “research programme” in Imre Lakatos’ sense. That it is necessary – if theology is to live up to its goal of explicating the divine reality as fully as possible – does not ensure that it is achievable. The only way to discover that is to begin the exploration, put the concept itself to the test, explore the most promising precedents, methods, and lines of inquiry, and see what illumination our best efforts can attain. That is exactly what this special issue of Open Theology proposes to do.
Conversions, in Alasdair MacIntyre's view, allows the convert to understand
something she could n... more Conversions, in Alasdair MacIntyre's view, allows the convert to understand something she could not understand before and to become something she couldnot be before. A conversion comes about, according to psychologist James E. Loder, through a "rupture in the knowing context," as exemplied in casesreported by Miller and C'de Baca in "Quantum Change." The author offers aphenomenological reading of his own conversions to love and belief in God asreported in his book, "God: An Autobiography, as Told by a Philosopher."The examination includes his earlier conversion from belief to non-belief.Is there a "logic" that guides conversion. Not exactly, but there is a heuristics, most fruitful when conceived in relation to what Eric Voegelin calls "the tension toward the divine."
While traditions give quite different accounts of ultimacy, they do report encounters, experience... more While traditions give quite different accounts of ultimacy, they do report encounters, experiences, and epiphanies that are taken to be of the ultimate and that provide evidence for the nature and availability of the ultimate. Otherwise, it would not be obvious what claim they had to be revelatory or disclosive of the ultimate. Tradition and religious authorities can be appealed to but they derive their validity from the revelations and enlightenments. Epistemically, religions do not just float on air or the stilts of social convention. When the theologian steps beyond the boundaries of received beliefs, the question of marks of ultimacy becomes even more acute. Even the pluralist must ask which religions, and which texts, practices, and inconic figures from those religions, bear the marks of ultimacy. The student of comparative religion need not ask that question, but the theologian must.
One of the greatest challenges of the spiritual life is discernment. Joan of Arc and her divine ... more One of the greatest challenges of the spiritual life is discernment. Joan of Arc and her divine voices, documented in two trials, provide materials for a case study in discernment. Were her voices really divine? How can we tell?
The human encounter with the Divine Reality is often with a personal God. Using Eric Voegelin’s h... more The human encounter with the Divine Reality is often with a personal God. Using Eric Voegelin’s hermeneutic, the symbol “Person” is rich in implications, some of which are evident in religious texts, some of which is explicated by John Macmurray and Emmanuel Mounier. These implications include involvement with other persons, caring about them and responding to them, and developing in relationship with them. If so, God does have a history, the meaning of which is found, as it is for human persons, in the divine-human encounter.
According to the Buber-Rosenzweig translation, the voice from the burning bush announces itself a... more According to the Buber-Rosenzweig translation, the voice from the burning bush announces itself as “I will be-there howsoever I will be-there.” God is not only being, but being-there, being-present. Nicholas of Cusa spoke of the “omnivoyance” of God and Eric Voegelin placed the divine-human encounter at the center of his phenomenology. But God also appears concretely at particular times and places. In the Hindu concept of darshan, the worshipper sees and is seen by the god present through a consecrated image. Three theophanies are arresting cases of divine encounter – a Catholic priest with a Hindu goddess, Sojourner Truth with Jesus, and an Apinouye chief with a god. To credit these experiences involves a scandal due to their shocking anthropomorphism. But, as Dutch theologian Hendrikus Berthof argues, the anthropomorphic language is precisely apt. It is God’s language, not our own, Karl Barth reminds us. And, Voegelin argues, it is not for us to determine how the divine reality can and cannot present itself. The paper concludes that anthropomorphic language, in fact, fits the natural context and semantic field for these encounters. Our task is not to discount concrete divine presence, but to accept it “howsoever” it is available to us.
Every religion and many philosophies offer a soteriology – its own version of the human predicame... more Every religion and many philosophies offer a soteriology – its own version of the human predicament and its solution. Instead, Voegelin offers a meta-soteriology allowing various worldviews to be assessed by their openness to truth. At the same time, Voegelin rejects generic (Kantian and Husserlian) philosophies of consciousness on the grounds that all experience is personal. This paper argues that, similarly, soteriology cannot be merely generic, as if there were one human predicament and a single solution for everyone. Each of us has her or her own predicament and calling. Tolstoy’s War and Peace and George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda are illuminating in this regard, as is the author’s own encounter with God and subsequent prayerful reading of the scriptures of the world’s religions. Finally, Socrates behavior in the Euthydemus provides a telling example of existential soteriology.
The experience of divine presence is compelling. Yet it immediately confronts the Epistemology o... more The experience of divine presence is compelling. Yet it immediately confronts the Epistemology of Doubt that has dominated modern philosophy since Descartes. Among its many limitations, this tradition is ill-equipped to understand divine self-presentation. But an alternative tradition can be conceived. Drawing on Thomas Reid and G.E. Moore, as well as other thinkers, we can envision an Epistemics of Trust. This is not so much a theory (like those offered by Alston and Plantinga) as a research program, in the sense expounded by Imre Lakatos, that would address a wide range of knowings. It is here applied to two experiences of divine presence, Moses' and the author's own. The analysis illuminates not only the experiences, but the nature of the divine reality presenting itself.
Canadian Journal of Philosophy Supplementary Volume, 1975
It is only because the solution is possible that the problem exists. So with all transcendental a... more It is only because the solution is possible that the problem exists. So with all transcendental arguments (p. 30).Although P. F. Strawson mentions transcendental arguments only once in Individuals, there is no doubt as to his commitment to transcendental method. This paper will offer a critique of such a method, as it functions in a single context. Strawson gives a transcendental argument to refute scepticism with regard to other minds. We are all familiar with the gist of this argument. The sceptic holds that one can ascribe states of consciousness only to oneself. This assertion obviously implies that one can ascribe states of consciousness to oneself. But, Strawson argues, “One can ascribe states of consciousness to oneself only if one can ascribe them to others” (p. 96). In other words, the second assertion implies a third, that one can ascribe states of consciousness to others. The third assertion, though implied by the sceptic's initial assertion, contradicts it. Thus scep...
Transreligious theology is impossible yet inevitable. It is impossible because theology is almost... more Transreligious theology is impossible yet inevitable. It is impossible because theology is almost by definition the articulation of religious truths as held as by particular tradition. It is that tradition that provides the canonical texts, hermeneutical strategies, theological questions, an array of offered answers, and methods for assessing and modifying them. In addition, the tradition provides the full-bodied religious life that its theologies serve. Nevertheless, transreligious theology is inevitable, in the sense of necessary if theology is to reach its goal. For surely the goal of theology is to provide, as best we can, the logos of theos, the fullest articulation of the divine or ultimate reality we can achieve. The exclusivist can avoid transreligious theology, but the more we study various traditions, in a scholarly and spiritually open way, and come to know their adherents and their practices, the more truth about divine reality we find there and, consequently, the more urgent the task of thinking across religious divides. The theology of religions and comparative theology are important steps in this direction. If developed in a way that is sufficiently robust, they might be able to shed light on the divine reality in its wider scope. Those approaches look beyond their traditions, but keep intact sufficient elements to provide compasses and rudders. However, it might be necessary to go further and to consider the total spiritual resources of humankind, every source of revelation and enlightenment and insight anew, without dragging our traditional anchors behind us. Some thinkers – among whom one would certainly number Wilfrid Cantwell Smith, Ramon Panikkar, and Robert Cummings Neville – have begun to explore the divine terrain through a very wide lense indeed. In the United States and Canada, issues of transreligious theology have been the focus of the Theology Without Walls Project, which meets under the auspices of the American Academy of Religion. Hence, some of the papers in this volume refer to this form of transreligious inquiry and cite remarks I have made defining and defending this project. Those presentations can be found online at the Theology Without Walls Forum.1 At this point, transreligious theology should be considered an exploratory program, at best a “research programme” in Imre Lakatos’ sense. That it is necessary – if theology is to live up to its goal of explicating the divine reality as fully as possible – does not ensure that it is achievable. The only way to discover that is to begin the exploration, put the concept itself to the test, explore the most promising precedents, methods, and lines of inquiry, and see what illumination our best efforts can attain. That is exactly what this special issue of Open Theology proposes to do.
Conversions, in Alasdair MacIntyre's view, allows the convert to understand
something she could n... more Conversions, in Alasdair MacIntyre's view, allows the convert to understand something she could not understand before and to become something she couldnot be before. A conversion comes about, according to psychologist James E. Loder, through a "rupture in the knowing context," as exemplied in casesreported by Miller and C'de Baca in "Quantum Change." The author offers aphenomenological reading of his own conversions to love and belief in God asreported in his book, "God: An Autobiography, as Told by a Philosopher."The examination includes his earlier conversion from belief to non-belief.Is there a "logic" that guides conversion. Not exactly, but there is a heuristics, most fruitful when conceived in relation to what Eric Voegelin calls "the tension toward the divine."
While traditions give quite different accounts of ultimacy, they do report encounters, experience... more While traditions give quite different accounts of ultimacy, they do report encounters, experiences, and epiphanies that are taken to be of the ultimate and that provide evidence for the nature and availability of the ultimate. Otherwise, it would not be obvious what claim they had to be revelatory or disclosive of the ultimate. Tradition and religious authorities can be appealed to but they derive their validity from the revelations and enlightenments. Epistemically, religions do not just float on air or the stilts of social convention. When the theologian steps beyond the boundaries of received beliefs, the question of marks of ultimacy becomes even more acute. Even the pluralist must ask which religions, and which texts, practices, and inconic figures from those religions, bear the marks of ultimacy. The student of comparative religion need not ask that question, but the theologian must.
One of the greatest challenges of the spiritual life is discernment. Joan of Arc and her divine ... more One of the greatest challenges of the spiritual life is discernment. Joan of Arc and her divine voices, documented in two trials, provide materials for a case study in discernment. Were her voices really divine? How can we tell?
The human encounter with the Divine Reality is often with a personal God. Using Eric Voegelin’s h... more The human encounter with the Divine Reality is often with a personal God. Using Eric Voegelin’s hermeneutic, the symbol “Person” is rich in implications, some of which are evident in religious texts, some of which is explicated by John Macmurray and Emmanuel Mounier. These implications include involvement with other persons, caring about them and responding to them, and developing in relationship with them. If so, God does have a history, the meaning of which is found, as it is for human persons, in the divine-human encounter.
According to the Buber-Rosenzweig translation, the voice from the burning bush announces itself a... more According to the Buber-Rosenzweig translation, the voice from the burning bush announces itself as “I will be-there howsoever I will be-there.” God is not only being, but being-there, being-present. Nicholas of Cusa spoke of the “omnivoyance” of God and Eric Voegelin placed the divine-human encounter at the center of his phenomenology. But God also appears concretely at particular times and places. In the Hindu concept of darshan, the worshipper sees and is seen by the god present through a consecrated image. Three theophanies are arresting cases of divine encounter – a Catholic priest with a Hindu goddess, Sojourner Truth with Jesus, and an Apinouye chief with a god. To credit these experiences involves a scandal due to their shocking anthropomorphism. But, as Dutch theologian Hendrikus Berthof argues, the anthropomorphic language is precisely apt. It is God’s language, not our own, Karl Barth reminds us. And, Voegelin argues, it is not for us to determine how the divine reality can and cannot present itself. The paper concludes that anthropomorphic language, in fact, fits the natural context and semantic field for these encounters. Our task is not to discount concrete divine presence, but to accept it “howsoever” it is available to us.
Every religion and many philosophies offer a soteriology – its own version of the human predicame... more Every religion and many philosophies offer a soteriology – its own version of the human predicament and its solution. Instead, Voegelin offers a meta-soteriology allowing various worldviews to be assessed by their openness to truth. At the same time, Voegelin rejects generic (Kantian and Husserlian) philosophies of consciousness on the grounds that all experience is personal. This paper argues that, similarly, soteriology cannot be merely generic, as if there were one human predicament and a single solution for everyone. Each of us has her or her own predicament and calling. Tolstoy’s War and Peace and George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda are illuminating in this regard, as is the author’s own encounter with God and subsequent prayerful reading of the scriptures of the world’s religions. Finally, Socrates behavior in the Euthydemus provides a telling example of existential soteriology.
The experience of divine presence is compelling. Yet it immediately confronts the Epistemology o... more The experience of divine presence is compelling. Yet it immediately confronts the Epistemology of Doubt that has dominated modern philosophy since Descartes. Among its many limitations, this tradition is ill-equipped to understand divine self-presentation. But an alternative tradition can be conceived. Drawing on Thomas Reid and G.E. Moore, as well as other thinkers, we can envision an Epistemics of Trust. This is not so much a theory (like those offered by Alston and Plantinga) as a research program, in the sense expounded by Imre Lakatos, that would address a wide range of knowings. It is here applied to two experiences of divine presence, Moses' and the author's own. The analysis illuminates not only the experiences, but the nature of the divine reality presenting itself.
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something she could not understand before and to become something she couldnot be before. A conversion comes about, according to psychologist James E. Loder, through a "rupture in the knowing context," as exemplied in casesreported by Miller and C'de Baca in "Quantum Change." The author offers aphenomenological reading of his own conversions to love and belief in God asreported in his book, "God: An Autobiography, as Told by a Philosopher."The examination includes his earlier conversion from belief to non-belief.Is there a "logic" that guides conversion. Not exactly, but there is a heuristics, most fruitful when conceived in relation to what Eric Voegelin
calls "the tension toward the divine."
something she could not understand before and to become something she couldnot be before. A conversion comes about, according to psychologist James E. Loder, through a "rupture in the knowing context," as exemplied in casesreported by Miller and C'de Baca in "Quantum Change." The author offers aphenomenological reading of his own conversions to love and belief in God asreported in his book, "God: An Autobiography, as Told by a Philosopher."The examination includes his earlier conversion from belief to non-belief.Is there a "logic" that guides conversion. Not exactly, but there is a heuristics, most fruitful when conceived in relation to what Eric Voegelin
calls "the tension toward the divine."