Divine Ideas and the Dependent Nature of Creation
In the first part of this essay, I explain why Aquinas thinks that it is better to understand ‘creation’ as a relation rather than a change, and I establish what it means in Christian theology to say that the world depends on God. I then argue that one of the most philosophically and theologically p...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group
2021
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| In: |
Medieval mystical theology
Year: 2021, Volume: 30, Issue: 1, Pages: 47-58 |
| RelBib Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality KAE Church history 900-1300; high Middle Ages KAF Church history 1300-1500; late Middle Ages VA Philosophy |
| Further subjects: | B
Participation
B Divine Ideas B Platonism B Aquinas B Eckhart B creation ex nihilo |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In the first part of this essay, I explain why Aquinas thinks that it is better to understand ‘creation’ as a relation rather than a change, and I establish what it means in Christian theology to say that the world depends on God. I then argue that one of the most philosophically and theologically persuasive ways of articulating this relation of dependence is via the Platonic metaphysics of divine ideas. Through a careful reading of Aquinas and Eckhart, I respond to some of the pantheistic fears which led to the virtual disappearance of the divine ideas paradigm in the Christian tradition after the medieval period, and argue that a keen sense of our own ontological fragility is a good thing – both metaphysically and spiritually. |
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| ISSN: | 2046-5734 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Medieval mystical theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/20465726.2021.1923245 |