Tag: theology

[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

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[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

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[article] A Theory of Natural Culture and Cultural Nature

ABSTRACT: This essay offers an extended, reasoned walk-through Nathan Lyons’ path-breaking text, Signs in the Dust.  Every so often, a book comes about that manages to show how a variety of philosophical paths, hitherto regarded as separate, are converging on a common terrain.  The value of such texts is to name this common terrain, and to go beyond mere juxtaposition of different philosophical trajectories, actually to disclose the deeper affinity that makes them belong together in a coherent whole.  This is what this book manages to accomplish: by showing the rich tapestry of inquiries converging around the nature/culture relationship, it successfully retrieves the medieval conversation on natural culture and cultural nature.… Read More [article] A Theory of Natural Culture and Cultural Nature

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