Ep. #29 – Defending Conciliar Christology with Dr. Pawl

by John DeRosa · Published February 25, 2019 · Updated February 25, 2019

Summary

If Christ is God, does that mean God can die? That God gets hungry? That God goes to the bathroom? Dr. Timothy Pawl joins us to defend the Christological teachings of the first seven ecumenical councils against the charge of incoherence. He explains how we can understand specific statements of the councils and why they do not necessitate a contradiction in the Catholic Christian worldview.

Guest Bio

Dr. Tim Pawl is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of St. Thomas, in Minnesota. Much of his published work focuses on presenting the philosophical arguments against the teachings of the Catholic Church, then assessing whether they succeed. He’s published two books defending the philosophical coherence of the Christian teaching of the incarnation.

Show Outline

In the first segment, Dr. Pawl describes his own story and how he became interested in philosophy. He explains what he sets out to do as an analytical philosopher who holds to the authority of the first seven ecumenical councils. Dr. Pawl is Catholic, so he holds to all of the councils, but his claims in the book in question only concern the first seven.

In the next segment, Dr. Pawl explains what those councils teach. Along the way, he provides helpful examples and definitions. He concludes that what they teach about Christ, including the “incompatible predicates,” are not incoherent.

In the final segment, Dr. Pawl explains how the traditional doctrine of divine immutability is consistent with the Incarnation. Also, he provides a overview of the claims of his new book: In Defense of Extended Conciliar Christology.