OFFICE Hours|God and Common Objections to DDS w/ Pat Flynn

Summary

What is divine simplicity? What are some of the motivations for it? Who are some teachers that Pat has found helpful when researching this doctrine? How can classical theists respond to common objections from 1) multiple properties, 2) modal collapse, 3) contingent knowledge, and 4) the Trinity? Pat Flynn joins us to tackle these issues and more.

Guest Bio

Pat Flynn describes himself as a generalist who helps people get good at many things. He is a writer, philosopher, business coach, and fitness coach. He’s also a black belt and a Catholic. He writes at chroniclesofstrength.com and is the author of many books, including How to Be Better at (Almost) Everything and his recent eBook How to Think About God.

Topics

• What is divine simplicity?
• Who are some people who you’ve found helpful in explaining this doctrine?
• What are the motivations for divine simplicity?
• How can God be simple if he has multiple properties?
• Why doesn’t divine simplicity necessarily lead to modal collapse?
• How can God be absolutely simple if he has changing or contingent knowledge?
• How can God be absolutely simple if He is a Trinity of persons?

Some People that Pat & John Have Found Helpful in Understanding Classical Theism

• W. Matthews Grant
• Edward Feser
• Fr. Brian Davies O.P.
• Fr. Herbert McCabe O.P.
• Fr. W. Norris Clarke S.J.
• Fr. Lawrence Dewan O.P.
• Fr. Thomas Joseph White O.P.
• Fr. Barry Miller
• Eleonore Stump
• Gaven Kerr O.P.
• Christopher Tomaszewski
• Steven Nemes

Other Resources

• How to Think About God by Pat Flynn
• Pat Flynn’s episodes with Dr. Gaven Kerr and Karlo Broussard on the Five Ways and Deriving a Unique First Cause that is Pure Actuality: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
• Thinking about God by Brian Davies
• The God of the Bible and the God of the Philosophers by Eleonore Stump
• Pat Flynn hosts Gaven Kerr for a discussion of Essence, Existence, and Existential Intertia
• Five Proofs of the Existence of God by Edward Feser
• Free Will and Divine Universal Causality: The Dual Sources Account by Dr. W. Matthews Grant
• Collapsing the Modal Collapse Argument by Christopher Tomaszewski (journal article, 2018)
• Divine Simplicity Does Not Entail Modal Collapse by Steven Nemes (published in a 2020 volume of philosophical essays)
• De Artifice Divino: A Thomistic Analysis of God’s Creative Act by Dwight Stanislaw (master’s thesis)
• Divine Simplicity and the Holy Trinity by Fr. Thomas Joseph White O.P. (International Journal of Systematic Theology)
• Nicene Orthodoxy and Trinitarian Simplicity by Fr. Thomas Joseph White O.P. (American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly)
• Ep. #107 – Classical Theism & Fr. Barry Miller w/ Dr. Kremer
• Conciliar Trinitarianism, Divine Identity Claims, and Subordination by Dr. Timothy Pawl (Theologica)
• A Trinitarian Trilemma for Deniers of Divine Simplicity (blog post) by Christopher Tomaszewski
• A Reply to Mullins’ Reply to Feser by John DeRosa (blog post)

Related Episodes

Ep. #82 – Divine Impassibility w/ Dr. Dolezal

Ep. #37 – Classical Theism & Simplicity with Dr. Stump

Ep. #120 – Classical Theism and the Incarnation w/ Dr. Michael Gorman

BONUS|Modal Collapse and Existential Inertia w/ Steven Nemes

Ep. #121 – Divine Knowledge & Divine Simplicity w/ Christopher Tomaszewski

Ep. #119 – Divine Simplicity in the Summa w/ Dr. Gaven Kerr

Ep. #117 – A Biblical Case for Divine Simplicity w/ Dr. Steven Duby

Ep. #116 – The One Creator God w/ Fr. Michael Dodds O.P.

Ep. #64 – Absolute Divine Simplicity w/ Dr. Dolezal

Ep. #65 – Simplicity & the Trinity w/ Paul Chutikorn

Ep. #67 – Simplicity & Incarnation w/ Dr. Tim Pawl