Ep. #136 – God, Divine Action, and Modal Collapse Revisited w/ Steven Nemes
Summary
What can we say about God and what he causes? What view of time seems to fit best with classical theism? Can classical theism account for teleology, providence, and theodicy? Does the biblical account provide evidence for neo-classical theism over against classical theism? How can classical theists respond to some recent modal collapse objections? Steven Nemes joins the podcast to discuss these questions and more?
Guest Bio
Steven Nemes is a PhD candidate in systematic theology at Fuller Theological Seminary and adjunct professor of philosophy at Grand Canyon University. He’s the author of the paper: “Divine Simplicity Does Not Entail Modal Collapse” as well as several others. His doctoral dissertation is titled: A Constructive-Theological Phenomenology of Scripture.
Topics
- How do classical theists think about God, Creation, Divine causality, and providence?
- Does the Biblical narrative constitute significant evidence for neo-classical theism over against classical theism?
- An updated response from Nemes to some recent modal collapse arguments from Ryan Mullins and Omar Fahkri.
- Should classical theists deny God has intentional actions?
- Does Fahkri show that classical theism has a problematic explanatory gap by denying the difference principle?
Resources
Why Everyone Must Deny the Difference Principle (blog post) by Steven Nemes
Divine Simplicity Does Not Lead to Modal Collapse by Steven Nemes
Christopher Tomaszewski and Steven Nemes Respond to Modal Collapse (YouTube Video) – This video contains the diagram Steven references
Pat Flynn’s Recent Podcast with Steven Nemes on 2 Ways to God’s Existence
T & T Clark Handbook of Analytic Theology – This has a chapter written by Ryan Mullins with the modal collapse formulation I read on the show
Omar Fahkri’s website with the abstract of his paper (the final paper has not yet been published in EJPR)
Related Episodes
BONUS|Modal Collapse and Existential Inertia w/ Steven Nemes
Ep. #121 – Divine Knowledge & Divine Simplicity w/ Christopher Tomaszewski
Ep. #101 – Does the Trinity entail Simplicity? w/ Tomaszewski
Ep. #100 – Divine Simplicity & the Holy Trinity w/ Fr. Thomas Joseph White
Ep. #66 – Simplicity & Modal Collapse w/ Christopher Tomaszewski
