[article] Creation and Divine Being in the Christian Neoplatonism of William of Auvergne

ABSTRACT: This paper considers William of Auvergne’s understanding of creation and divine being.  As William of Auvergne, and especially his doctrine of creation, have been largely overlooked, the present paper outlines the metaphysical foundations for his understanding of creation, his understanding of divine being, how God is the cause of all things, and how all things then, in some sense, manifest God.  Additionally, this paper considers William’s extensive use of metaphors to give some understanding of the relationship between God and creatures, how God is the exemplar cause or archetypal world for all things, and the spiritual vision animating his philosophical teachings.… Read More [article] Creation and Divine Being in the Christian Neoplatonism of William of Auvergne

[article] Étienne Gilson’s Christian Philosophy of Creation

ABSTRACT: When the name “Étienne Gilson” is mentioned, a multitude of appropriate phrases and notions easily come to mind due to Gilson’s significant contributions in multiple areas of philosophical scholarship.  Two of those areas concern 1) the notion of Christian philosophy, as well as 2) the metaphysics of Aquinas.  In fact, Gilson would consider the exercise of the latter—that is, the explication and application of Thomistic metaphysics to reality—to be a significant portion of the exercise of the former.  In the following paper, I aim to show Gilson’s doctrine of creation, while significantly inspired by his reading of the metaphysics of Aquinas, is first and foremost, an exercise in Christian philosophical inquiry.  To this end, in Part One, I will first give a brief explanation of what Christian philosophy is for Gilson and, secondly, will show how Gilson regards the philosophical treatment of creation to be an act of Christian philosophy.  Part Three will consist in a brief textual treatment of Gilson’s Christian philosophy of creation from the emphasis on the doctrine qua philosophical understanding to the doctrine as influenced by Christianity.… Read More [article] Étienne Gilson’s Christian Philosophy of Creation