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Conceptions Of A Triune God Summary

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CHAPTER III

Comparison and Analysis of the Other Competitive
Conceptions of a Triune God

In the previous chapter, Swinburne’s a priori reasons for considering God to be triune are exposed. This chapter has two major concerns. The first concern is to present the arguments in favour of Swinburne’s concept of a triune God as well as to make a reasonable response to the challenges posited to Swinburne by two all time great Philosophers of the Christian world, namely Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. The second concern is to make a brief exposition, comparison and analysis of the other competing conceptions of the selected Christian philosophers of the present era with that of Swinburne. This second part examines only the three-self theories …show more content…

Aquinas even recommends rational justification in order to refute the accusations that arise against the truth of the Christian doctrines. Aquinas writes: «For since faith rests on unfailing truth, and the contrary of truth cannot really be demonstrated, it is clear that alleged proofs against faith are not demonstrations, but charges that can be refuted» . Aquinas himself has devoted seventy seven articles (in 26 questions: Summa Theologiae Ia, 27-43) of Summa Theologiae to exploring, analysing and meticulously providing the details of the doctrine …show more content…

Davies also writes the same: «[...] he [Aquinas] does think that God is essentially a life of love between equals, though not one between members of a kind, and not one that we can comprehend» .
It is clear that Aquinas has employed demonstrative arguments in his exposition of the concept of a triune God but it was only to defend the doctrine and to clarify the doctrine and in no way to establish the existence of a triune God. Aquinas does make a difference between two kinds of argumentation: one is to argue that there are enough rational grounds for the proof of theory and another that presupposes a theory and merely demonstrates that the given evidences support the theory . [add more]
Swinburne through his inductive method aims to establish the existence of a simplest being. One could argue that, given our epistemic limits, these arguments cannot but be inductive. These inductive arguments are based on the inductive principles of reason such as simplicity and sufficient reason.
Swinburne offers the most promising (even though far from satisfactory and need to be modified further) of the concept of a triune God: deductive argument from theism to trinitarian

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Response to Objections Even if one resonate with Swinburne in his concept of a trinune God, some questions needs to be clarified such as whether the perfection of the divine beings requires dependence (even among themselves), the necessity of being loved for the divine persons, the difference between the Father’s creation of the Son (admitting the inevitable existence of the Son) and the creatures, the justification for the use of the term «create» to denote the existence of the Son and the Holy Spirit, the causal dependence relations among the divine persons. The responses to these questions are presented with the help of objections from the various scholars and at the end the necessary modifications are presented. Since Swinburne’s concept of a triune God has gone through a process of further modifications and clarifications, the latest versions are always considered for study.

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Anselm of Canterbury, a medieval philosopher, believed that there was a natural tie between faith and reason. He thought using our own rational powers could prove our faith. His goal was in finding a rational and logical proof for the existence of God. He sought to provide demonstration of the existence of God through a philosophical argument referred to as the ontological argument for the existence of God. Anselm's approach was based on a priori, which is the use of reason alone to get to a conclusion.

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In relation to the Aquinas’ second proof, Anselm of Canterbury created the ontological argument as evidence for the existence of God. This philosophy suggests that when an unbeliever hears the term “God,” they immediately have an understanding what the term “God” means. Consequently, they understand what they understand (e.g. I know what I know, because I know it). Looking specifically at Abrahamic religions, God is considered to be greater than anything that can be imagined, and is supremely perfect. This Ultimate Reality cannot simply exist in thought or idea because existence in reality is greater.

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Trinitarian panentheism is also dubbed as classical panentheism, which contrasts with radical panentheism. This sort of panentheism attempts to resolve the problems of classical theism while not falling into the absolute historicization of the transcendence of God that we can see in radical panentheism. As you already know from your reading of the articles, Trinitarian panentheism is characterized by its understanding of the dynamic presence and action of the Triune God within the entire cosmos. According to this view, while the Logos is the principle of God's continuous creation, through the immanence of the Spirit, the Triune God continues "creatio continua" present in the whole of the cosmos (i.e., in the evolution of the cosmos). God in

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As I reach for the doorknob, Anselm, Aquinas and Kant enter the room. Aquinas : Whatever you are trying to say, Anselm, doesn’t prove His existence. It’s a priori argument. I say that we have to search for a posteriori evidence instead.

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The three divine persons relate to one another in an intercommunal manner that is responsible for the creation of a relational universe in which their mutual relations are the reason for its ongoing creation. In this model, the divine persons give expression to who they are through the finite creatures that exist within creation. The Trinity’s self-expression, therefore, not only creates new creatures, but it also allows them to exist and to be independent. In the act of creation, the three divine persons give a portion of what is proper to themselves to the creatures that they create. This is only possible because each person of the Trinity is distinct and is properly engaged in one act of creating.

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In this essay, I will set out to prove that Thomas Aquinas’ First Cause Argument does not show that God exists and the conclusion that God exists does not follow from the premises of the first cause argument. I do think that the conclusion is valid and could be sound/or has the potential to be, but the premises fail to provide the basis upon which to reach such a conclusion. Hence, I will be raising some objections to the premises and will try to disprove any counter-arguments that could be raised in its defense. This would be done by examining Aquinas’ First Cause Argument and trying to disprove it whilst countering arguments in its defense.

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This approach supports the discovery of religious truths through rational argument, proofs, and reason, and often concerned with two

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In Thomas Aquinas, " Summa Theologica ", the author conveys that the nature of his universe is a place where you believe in the existence of God. However, in his universe not everyone believes in the existence of God. Aquinas argues against anyone that deny the existence of God and the goodness and salvation that bring to his universe. He wants his readers to believe and have faith in God and not question his existence. God is very important figure in Aquinas universe.

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And God is the only being that I can think of from my understanding of him, better yet, from how he revealed himself to me that doesn’t lack a thing. I’ve come to this conclusion because it is said in the scripture that all things belong to him. But that’s because I believe in the authority of scriptures. But for non-believers, Thomas Aquinas uses radical reason to demonstrate God’s existence. One of the example used was the argument of contingency.

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The trinity is connected and deeply intertwined. One cannot have any of the three without also having the other two. The three are connected their great love. God revealed God’s self in Jesus Christ and sent the Holy Spirit of the same loving God to be with God’s people. The purpose of the “technical descriptions in classical trinitarian doctrine” is to expand understanding of the nature of God.

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One of the most common modern criticism of historic Christian Trinitarian theology

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Calvin claims that one does not need arguments to know God’s existence, since one can accept God as basic, whether believe on the basis of other propositions or not. Plantinga concluded that “one who takes belief in God as basic can also know that God exists” (58). Thus, believing

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Ontologically speaking, these supposedly distinct separable operations of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit may, to some, infer that there are essentially three gods in one Godhead committee. The fact of the matter is, our human languages are fundamentally constructed to convey information and concepts that are exhaustively anthropomorphic by default. More often than not, when speaking of the temporal mission of the triune God, the Father is known as the Creator, the Son the Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit the Sanctifier as if each by part makes the triune Godhead mission

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CHAPTER III Comparison and Analysis of the Other Competitive Conceptions of a Triune God This chapter has two major concerns. The first concern is to present the arguments in favour of Swinburne’s concept of a triune God as well as to make a reasonable response to the challenges posited to Swinburne by two all time great Philosophers of the Christian world, namely Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. The second concern is to compare and analyze Swinburne’s concept of a triune God with other competing conceptions of the selected Christian philosophers of the present era. This second part examines only the three-self theories which advocate that three centres of self consciousness in the Trinity.

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