hosted by John DeRosa
Does Aquinas hold that God is merciful? How can we say that the God of classical theism is merciful when he is immutable and timeless? What is the distinction made by Thomists between simple perfections and mixed perfections? Can we actually think of God as “most passionate” and what does this mean? Ryan Hurd rejoins the show to discuss these topics and more.
Aquinas from the standpoint of existential Thomism? Is it possible to establish the real distinction between essence and esse in creatures prior to arguing for God as the Primary Cause? Dr. John F.X. Knasas joins us to discuss these topics and more.
How do Thomists think about issues in philosophy of mind? What is dualism? What is hylomorphism? Why think Thomistic hylomorphic dualism is true? How would a Thomistic dualist explain the interaction problem? How should a Thomistic dualist think about intentional action? Dr. Jeremy Bells joins us to discuss these topics and more.
Professor Christopher Tomaszewski (Belmont Abbey College) responds to Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Ryan Mullins on the doctrine of divine simplicity. Recently, Craig and Mullins were hosted by Cameron Bertuzzi of Capturing Christianity. They offered various critiques against the doctrine of divine simplicity including: (1) It’s unbiblical, (2) it’s anti-biblical, (3) it leads to modal collapse, and (4) it leads to unacceptable agnosticism regarding God. In this commentary episode, Tomaszewski responds to these objections and more.
Why do many Christians object that divine simplicity conflicts with the Trinity? What does divine simplicity teach? How can St. Thomas’ doctrine of divine simplicity be viewed as compatible with orthodox trinitarianism? Don’t the relations between the persons introduce accidents into God? Aren’t all such Thomistic answers an example of special pleading? Doesn’t saying the Father is identical to the divine nature introduce an irresolvable transitivity issue? Dr. James Dolezal joins us to discuss these questions and more.
What has led Dr. Matthew Barrett to write two books on the doctrine of God? How did we “drift away” from the classical doctrine of the Trinity? What does it mean that the Son is “eternally begotten” of the Father and why should Christians believe this? Why should we think the Trinitarian persons act inseparably? Dr. Matthew Barrett joins us to discuss topics in his recent book Simply Trinity: The Unmanipulated Father, Son, and Spirit.
What is classical theism? Can the simple, immutable God of classical theism do any actions? And even if so, can He act intentionally? How can we account for such intentional action without contradicting divine simplicity or immutability? What did Anscombe and Davidson argue regarding intentional action? How are these accounts relevant to the questions about God? Dr. Gaven Kerr joins us to share some of his recent research on intentional action.
In this episode, Pat Flynn sits down with John to respond to Ben Watkins’ opening statement in his debate with Trent Horn. In particular, they examine definitions of theism and naturalism, an argument from simplicity, an argument from imperfection, and an argument from modal collapse. See the timestamps below for more details.
What is classical theism? How does it comport with the Biblical text? Don’t the Scripture writers say God has emotions and passions like human beings do? What should we think when Scripture describes God changing his mind? How can we read 1 Samuel 15 in light of a classical doctrine of God? John joins Gary Michuta’s show Hands on Apologetics to tackle these topics.
h movements of doubt? How did Pope Benedict XVI conceive of faith? Is his view consistent with that of Aquinas? Dr. Matthew Ramage joins us to discuss these issues.
