A Cause Among Causes? God Acting in the Natural World
Contemporary debates on divine action tend to focus on finding a space in nature where there would be no natural causes, where nature offers indeterminacy, openness, and potentiality, to place Gods action. These places are found through the natural sciences, in particular quantum mechanics. Gods a...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Innsbruck in cooperation with the John Hick Centre for Philosophy of Religion at the University of Birmingham
[2015]
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| In: |
European journal for philosophy of religion
Year: 2015, Volume: 7, Issue: 4, Pages: 99-114 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Thomas Aquinas 1225-1274
/ God
/ Plot
/ Law of nature
/ Cause
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| RelBib Classification: | NBC Doctrine of God |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) Volltext (teilw. kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Contemporary debates on divine action tend to focus on finding a space in nature where there would be no natural causes, where nature offers indeterminacy, openness, and potentiality, to place Gods action. These places are found through the natural sciences, in particular quantum mechanics. Gods action is then located in those ontological causal-gaps offered by certain interpretations of quantum mechanics. In this view, God would determine what is left underdetermined in nature without disrupting the laws of nature. These contemporary proposals evidence at least two unexamined assumptions, which frame the discussion in such a way that they portray God as acting as a secondary cause or a cause among causes. God is somewhat required to act within these gaps, binding God to the laws of nature, and placing Gods action at the level of secondary causes. I suggest that understanding Gods action, following Thomas Aquinas, in terms of primary and secondary causation could help dissolve this difficulty. Aquinas moves away from this objection by suggesting to speak of an analogical notion of cause, allowing for an analogical understanding of Gods causality in nature. With a radically different understanding of the interplay between secondary causes and God, Aquinas manages to avoid conceiving God as a cause among causes, keeping the distinctive transcendent character of Gods causality safe from objections. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: European journal for philosophy of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.24204/ejpr.v7i4.89 |