Sacrificial love is a prevailing topic throughout the Christian tradition, and is often thought t... more Sacrificial love is a prevailing topic throughout the Christian tradition, and is often thought to bring us closest not only to the historic actions of God in the form of Jesus, but to the very heart of God. As such it is understandably perceived as integral to most Christian visions of moral life.
In dialogue with a range of post-enlightenment critiques of Christian theologies regarding sacrificial love, Asle Eikrem presents an unconventional systematic approach to this multi-layered and complex theological topic. From Hegel to prominent 20th century theologians, from feminist theologies to post-modern philosophers, this volume engages in a critical conversation with a host of different voices on all the classical topics in theology (creation, trinity, incarnation, atonement, sin, faith, sacraments, and eschatology), also providing a moral and socio-historical vision for Christian living. The result is a unique appraisal of the significance that the life and death of Jesus holds for the world today.
Mats Wahlberg argues that evolutionary theodicies fail to show how an evolutionary process was ne... more Mats Wahlberg argues that evolutionary theodicies fail to show how an evolutionary process was necessary in order to reach the goal(s) God is said to have had when creating our world. The authors of this article argue that Wahl-berg's critique fails if one takes into consideration the distinction between type-and token-values. The question that guides Wahlberg's discussion is whether or not unique type-values require an evolution in order to be instantiated or not. He does not, however, discuss whether unique token-values require evolution. This article will address this question, and argue that the theodicies he claims to fail does not do so for the reasons put forward by Wahlberg if interpreted as focusing on token-unique values. The authors will also argue that theodicies other than those evaluated by Wahlberg succeed in identifying type-unique values that can only be brought about through evolution. Zusammenfassung: Mats Wahlberg argumentiert, dass evolutionäre Theodizeen nicht zeigen, wie ein evolutionärer Prozess notwendig war, um das Ziel zu erreichen, das Gott bei der Erschaffung unserer Welt gehabt hat. Die Autoren dieses Artikels argumentieren, dass Wahlbergs Kritik nicht haltbar ist, wenn man die Unterscheidung zwischen Typ-und Token-Werten berücksichtigt. Die er-kenntnisleitende Frage für Wahlbergs Diskussion ist, ob eindeutige Typ-Werte eine Evolution erfordern oder nicht, um somit instanziiert zu werden oder nicht. Er diskutiert jedoch nicht, ob einzigartige Token-Werte eine Evolution erfordern. Dieser Artikel befasst sich mit dieser Frage und argumentiert, dass die von Wahlberg angeführten Theodizeen nicht aus den von ihm vorgelegten Gründen aussagelos sind, wenn sie auf die Darstellung von einzigartigen Token-Werten hin interpretiert werden. Die Autoren argumentieren auch dafür, dass andere als
A: M philosophers of religion follow Heidegger in his tendency to identify metaphysical discourse... more A: M philosophers of religion follow Heidegger in his tendency to identify metaphysical discourse on God with onto-theological discourse on God. is tendency is regrettable. Onto-theological discourse is problematic because it is based on a problematic metaphysics, not because of its metaphysical character per se. In this essay I will, by recourse to the theoretical framework developed by German philosopher Lorenz Puntel, attempt to show that there is indeed a coherent way to understand God metaphysically that does not succumb to the metaphysics of onto-theology. In my view both onto-theological, as well as non-metaphysical, notions of God remain philosophically underdetermined.
Religious Studies recently published a very interesting and well-argued article by Samuel Shearn ... more Religious Studies recently published a very interesting and well-argued article by Samuel Shearn on moral critique of theodicies. In part one he argues that ambitious theodicies trivialize horrendous suffering in an unacceptable way by reinterpreting evils in a way sufferers do not accept. Against Shearn, the authors of this article will argue that sufferer acceptance should not be used as criterion for moral acceptability of what theodicies say about horrendous evils. Also, since theodicy is a done in the public square, Shearn does not find it relevant to distinguish between contexts in which it is morally improper to communicate theodicies and those in which it is not. We disagree, and present some arguments as to why making such distinctions is morally relevant. In part two Shearn argues that theodicy is self-defeating if it aims to comfort sufferers of horrendous evils. We will critically reexamine the examples used to support his conclusion, and suggest that theodicies do have a comforting function. Finally, Shearn describes the difference between theodicy, and anti-theodicy as an aesthetic impasse, rather than a moral issue. Against this, we find good reasons to affirm its predominant moral character.
Sacrificial love is a prevailing topic throughout the Christian tradition, and is often thought t... more Sacrificial love is a prevailing topic throughout the Christian tradition, and is often thought to bring us closest not only to the historic actions of God in the form of Jesus, but to the very heart of God. As such it is understandably perceived as integral to most Christian visions of moral life.
In dialogue with a range of post-enlightenment critiques of Christian theologies regarding sacrificial love, Asle Eikrem presents an unconventional systematic approach to this multi-layered and complex theological topic. From Hegel to prominent 20th century theologians, from feminist theologies to post-modern philosophers, this volume engages in a critical conversation with a host of different voices on all the classical topics in theology (creation, trinity, incarnation, atonement, sin, faith, sacraments, and eschatology), also providing a moral and socio-historical vision for Christian living. The result is a unique appraisal of the significance that the life and death of Jesus holds for the world today.
Mats Wahlberg argues that evolutionary theodicies fail to show how an evolutionary process was ne... more Mats Wahlberg argues that evolutionary theodicies fail to show how an evolutionary process was necessary in order to reach the goal(s) God is said to have had when creating our world. The authors of this article argue that Wahl-berg's critique fails if one takes into consideration the distinction between type-and token-values. The question that guides Wahlberg's discussion is whether or not unique type-values require an evolution in order to be instantiated or not. He does not, however, discuss whether unique token-values require evolution. This article will address this question, and argue that the theodicies he claims to fail does not do so for the reasons put forward by Wahlberg if interpreted as focusing on token-unique values. The authors will also argue that theodicies other than those evaluated by Wahlberg succeed in identifying type-unique values that can only be brought about through evolution. Zusammenfassung: Mats Wahlberg argumentiert, dass evolutionäre Theodizeen nicht zeigen, wie ein evolutionärer Prozess notwendig war, um das Ziel zu erreichen, das Gott bei der Erschaffung unserer Welt gehabt hat. Die Autoren dieses Artikels argumentieren, dass Wahlbergs Kritik nicht haltbar ist, wenn man die Unterscheidung zwischen Typ-und Token-Werten berücksichtigt. Die er-kenntnisleitende Frage für Wahlbergs Diskussion ist, ob eindeutige Typ-Werte eine Evolution erfordern oder nicht, um somit instanziiert zu werden oder nicht. Er diskutiert jedoch nicht, ob einzigartige Token-Werte eine Evolution erfordern. Dieser Artikel befasst sich mit dieser Frage und argumentiert, dass die von Wahlberg angeführten Theodizeen nicht aus den von ihm vorgelegten Gründen aussagelos sind, wenn sie auf die Darstellung von einzigartigen Token-Werten hin interpretiert werden. Die Autoren argumentieren auch dafür, dass andere als
A: M philosophers of religion follow Heidegger in his tendency to identify metaphysical discourse... more A: M philosophers of religion follow Heidegger in his tendency to identify metaphysical discourse on God with onto-theological discourse on God. is tendency is regrettable. Onto-theological discourse is problematic because it is based on a problematic metaphysics, not because of its metaphysical character per se. In this essay I will, by recourse to the theoretical framework developed by German philosopher Lorenz Puntel, attempt to show that there is indeed a coherent way to understand God metaphysically that does not succumb to the metaphysics of onto-theology. In my view both onto-theological, as well as non-metaphysical, notions of God remain philosophically underdetermined.
Religious Studies recently published a very interesting and well-argued article by Samuel Shearn ... more Religious Studies recently published a very interesting and well-argued article by Samuel Shearn on moral critique of theodicies. In part one he argues that ambitious theodicies trivialize horrendous suffering in an unacceptable way by reinterpreting evils in a way sufferers do not accept. Against Shearn, the authors of this article will argue that sufferer acceptance should not be used as criterion for moral acceptability of what theodicies say about horrendous evils. Also, since theodicy is a done in the public square, Shearn does not find it relevant to distinguish between contexts in which it is morally improper to communicate theodicies and those in which it is not. We disagree, and present some arguments as to why making such distinctions is morally relevant. In part two Shearn argues that theodicy is self-defeating if it aims to comfort sufferers of horrendous evils. We will critically reexamine the examples used to support his conclusion, and suggest that theodicies do have a comforting function. Finally, Shearn describes the difference between theodicy, and anti-theodicy as an aesthetic impasse, rather than a moral issue. Against this, we find good reasons to affirm its predominant moral character.
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In dialogue with a range of post-enlightenment critiques of Christian theologies regarding sacrificial love, Asle Eikrem presents an unconventional systematic approach to this multi-layered and complex theological topic. From Hegel to prominent 20th century theologians, from feminist theologies to post-modern philosophers, this volume engages in a critical conversation with a host of different voices on all the classical topics in theology (creation, trinity, incarnation, atonement, sin, faith, sacraments, and eschatology), also providing a moral and socio-historical vision for Christian living. The result is a unique appraisal of the significance that the life and death of Jesus holds for the world today.
In dialogue with a range of post-enlightenment critiques of Christian theologies regarding sacrificial love, Asle Eikrem presents an unconventional systematic approach to this multi-layered and complex theological topic. From Hegel to prominent 20th century theologians, from feminist theologies to post-modern philosophers, this volume engages in a critical conversation with a host of different voices on all the classical topics in theology (creation, trinity, incarnation, atonement, sin, faith, sacraments, and eschatology), also providing a moral and socio-historical vision for Christian living. The result is a unique appraisal of the significance that the life and death of Jesus holds for the world today.