In the god we worship nicholas wolterstorff takes a groundup approach to liturgical theology, examining the oft hidden implications of traditional elements of liturgy. This volume collects wolterstorff s essays on the philosophy of religion written over the last thirtyfive years. One of the first propositions considers how the biblical writers portray god, which wolterstorff states that it is not as a passive factor, but instead a component within human history. Divine discourse comprises nicholas wolterstorff s philosophical reflections on the claim that god speaks. Inquiring about god is the first of two volumes of nicholas wolterstorff s collected papers. All christian theologians agree that god is without beginning and without end. Jan 01, 1987 wolterstorff comes back, again and again, to the concept that god suffers, and he is not content to leave this as true through the communicatio idiomatum of christs human nature and divine person, but rather pushes further, locating the image of god itself in suffering.
Philosophical reflections on the claim that god speaks 1995. Wolterstorff takes the findings in current speechact theory and applies them to the claim that god speaks. Calling christians to be true to gods shalom in all dimensions of life, philosopher nicholas wolterstorff brings the religious vision of the reformation to bear on such urgent matters as world poverty, nationalism, urban ugliness, and the tragedy of liturgy in protestantism. A prolific writer with wideranging philosophical and theological interests, he has written books on metaphysics, aesthetics, political philosophy, epistemology and theology and philosophy of religion. When wolterstorff s son eric died at the age of 25, grief and faith spurred him to pen the many musings that are found in this short book. Wykstra thinks that evil is an intuitive challege because it makes us say.
Wolterstorff on divine commands part 1 right reason. He is currently noah porter professor emeritus philosophical theology at yale university. Wykstras is based on the condition of cornea, the condition of reasonable epistemic access based on a cognized situation s, agent s is entitled to the claim it appears that p only if its reasonable for a to think that if p had been false, s would be different in some way discernable by a. Terence cuneo inquiring about god is the first of two volumes of nicholas wolterstorffs collected papers. Wolterstorffs language of gods simple act overlapping te mporal eve nts suggests he is co nceiving of eternal existe nce in a simi lar manner to geachs imaginary opponent wh o. Wolterstorff on the god we worship metatheology quarterly. Nicholas wolterstorff god everlasting, in god and the good, ed. A discussion on the nature of christian scholarship with nicholas wolterstorff and alvin plantinga moderated by thomas crisp. Gods power and human flourishing nicholas wolterstorff a paper presented at the yale center for faith and culture consultation on gods power and human flourishing, sponsored by the mcdonald agape foundation i the inclination of the philosopher, when confronted with. Wolterstorff on divine commands part 1 glenn peoples introduction nicholas wolterstorff, in his masterful work justice.
Divine discourse comprises nicholas wolterstorffs philosophical reflections on the claim that god speaks. Religious experience religious experiences, saint teresa of jesus religious experience as the root. What is the meaning and significance of death in light of the christian narrative. Wolterstorffs reflections in lament for a son essay example. In what follows i shall take up the cudgels for that minority, arguing that god as conceived and presented by the biblical writers is a being whose own life and existence is temporal. He develops an innovative theory of doublehermeneutics along the way opposing the current near. The vast majority have held, in addition, that god is eternal, existing outside of time. Kantzer lectures in revealed theology klrt makes explicit the understanding of god implicit in christian worship in the god we worship nicholas wolterstorff takes a groundup approach to liturgical theology, examining the oft hidden implications of traditional elements of liturgy. The nature of religion religion as a social phenomenon, emile durkheim a defense of religious realism, roger trigg the meaning of religious beliefs is in their use, d. In particular, we will look at what jesus meant by agape when he. The mission of the elearning of the redeemed christian bible college is to advance knowledge and educate students of theology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the body of christ and the world in the 21st century.
Like most of professor wolterstorffs books, it is a first word rather than a final word on a thought provoking topic. This book would be an interesting read for those who might doubt whether god does indeed actively interact with humans today. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus. Freedom and foreknowledge skeptical theism wykstras is. This book is not a book about grief, it is a book of grief. In the god we worship nicholas wolterstorff takes a groundup approach to liturgical theology, examining the ofthidden implications of traditional elements of liturgy. Nicholas wolterstorff and the practice of christian scholarship but very little by him. Given that no liturgy has ever been composed from scratch, wolterstorff argues that the assumptions. Given that no liturgy has ever been composed from scratch, wolterstorff argues that the assumptions taken into worship are key to perceiving the real depths of historical christianitys understanding of.
In addressing and discarding alternative accounts of justice, wolterstorff criticises a divine command theory of ethics dce. Nicholas wolterstorff retired in june 2002 was noah porter professor of philosophical theology, and has taught at yale since 1989. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Wolterstorff points to the classical greek origin of this idea and makes us aware of the fact that the medieval philosophers kept faithful to this tradition. Coppenger is the professor of christian philosophy and ethics at. Lament for a son is a simple, honest, and poignant expression of one mans grief, but it is more. Still, wolterstorff contends, rejecting the classical conception of god does not imply that theists should accept the kantian view according to which god cannot be known. Nicholas wolterstorff, god is everlasting, not eternal.
Prominent in the canonical texts and traditions of judaism, christianity, and islam is the claim that god speaks. Wolterstorff first maintains that there is no biblical warrant. This claim figures large in the canonical texts and traditions of judaism, christianity, and islam, but there has been remarkably little philosophical reflection on it, in good measure so professor wolterstorff argues because philosophers have mistakenly assimilated divine speech to. Wolterstorff s god everlasting in which he argues that god is necessarily in time and not the creator of time find, read and cite all the research you. Many theologians and philosophers of religion now claim that the classical christian view that god exists in timeless eternity is incoherent. As a summary, it becomes clear that the bulk of wolterstorffs contention.
The god we worship ebook by nicholas wolterstorff rakuten kobo. A dilemma for wolterstorffs theistic grounding of human. The way wolterstorff deals with this question reminds me of a discussion between him and henk hart years ago in philosophia reformata 1979, 1981. He further contends that the explanation of this dignity cannot be found in the intrinsic features of humans. Only a small minority have contended that god is everlasting, existing within time. Lament for a son by nicholas wolterstorff goodreads. God loves justice by nicholas wolterstorff what the hebrew and christian scriptures have to say about justice. By sharing the depths of his grief, not in trite phrases but honestly, nicholas wolterstorff helps open the floodgates for those who cannot articulate their pain. Wolterstorff comes back, again and again, to the concept that god suffers, and he is not content to leave this as true through the communicatio idiomatum of christs human nature and divine person, but rather pushes further, locating the image of god itself in suffering. In divine discourse, wolterstorff takes up three important philosophical topics, viz. Cahn and david shatz the problem of evil richard swinburne cacodaemony steven m. Wolterstorff on divine command ethics part one right reason. Reason within the bounds of religion eerdmans, 1988. Jul 26, 2011 ive been reading through nicholas wolterstorff s lament for a son.
Gods power and human flourishing nicholas wolterstorff a paper presented at the yale center for faith and culture consultation on gods power and human flourishing, sponsored by the mcdonald agape foundation i the inclination of the philosopher, when confronted with a topic such as gods power. Wolterstorff argues that contemporary speechaction theory offers a fascinating approach to the claim. Nicholas wolterstorff explains how the relation between love and justice is to be understood in scripture. Biola universitys center for christian thought presents. Finally, in part 3 i will point to a deeper issue which, though crucial to this debate, is not considered in god everlasting.
But there was a second response a divine command theorist could make, namely by noting that according to a divine command theory, human commands only generate moral. Rights and wrongs, presents an account of justice in terms of inherent human rights. Wolterstorffs reflections in lament for a son essay sample. Eternity in christian thought stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. God would not be able to scan the bank of screens to get a summary of the. Nicholas paul wolterstorff born 1932 is an american philosopher and a liturgical theologian.
Willy wolterstorff 1864 1943, german paleontologist and herpetologist. When wolterstorffs son eric died at the age of 25, grief and faith spurred him to pen the many musings that are found in this short book. Jul 09, 2012 biola universitys center for christian thought presents. That, however, is just what we find in the article god everlasting by nicholas wolterstorff. Philosophical reflections on the claim that god speaks. Our understanding of gods nature shapes how we worship, and what we say and do on sunday morning profoundly affects our theology. Though god is sovereign, he will not change the order that he has. Nov 17, 2011 wolterstorff points to the classical greek origin of this idea and makes us aware of the fact that the medieval philosophers kept faithful to this tradition. Rights and wrongs princeton university press, 2007 nicholas wolterstorff. Reflections on christian teaching and learning baker academic, 2002 nicholas wolterstorff. It begins a conversation and encourages further discussion. Philosophical reflections on the claim that god speaks nicholas wolterstorff.
Given that no liturgy has ever been composed from scratch, wolterstorff argues that the assumptions taken into worship are key to perceiving the real depths of historical. Wolterstorff in his article god everlasting2 he argues that if god were eternal. Reason within the bounds of religion eerdmans, 1976. Include one source including the textbooks, bible, and other reliableacademic sources. Nicholas wolterstorff argues that contemporary speechaction theory, when appropriately expanded, offers us a fascinating way of interpreting this claim and showing its intelligibility.
Taking vigorous issue with the pervasive western notion that the arts exist essentially for the purpose of aesthetic contemplation, nicholas wolterstorff proposes instead what he sees as an authentically christian perspective. In a number of recent works, nicholas wolterstorff defends the claim that human rights inhere in the dignity of every human. God as being itself, utterly simple, devoid of composition and eternal was a. How does the hope of the resurrection play a role in comforting wolterstorff. Minas omnipotence peter geach divine omniscience and voluntary action nelson pike god everlasting nicholas wolterstorff god and. Boethius presents the idea of timeless eternity as straightforward and relatively problem free. A discussion on the nature of christian scholarship with nicholas wolterstorff and alvin plantinga moderated by. Ive been reading through nicholas wolterstorffs lament for a son. They thought of god as eternal, in the sense that he is timeless or atemporal. A prolific writer with wideranging philosophical and theological interests, he has written books on aesthetics, epistemology, political philosophy, philosophy of religion, metaphysics, and philosophy of education. Philosophical reflections on the claim that god speaks, cambridge university press, cambridge 1995. Any independent argument against divine simplicity such as in wolterstorff. Pdf on jan 1, 2014, john boyer and others published eternal god.
God, faith and reason in the philosophy of nicholas wolterstorff. Challenging that claim, helm argues that divine timelessness is grounded in the idea of god as creator, and that this alone makes possible a proper account of divine omniscience. Of interest to both philosophers and theologians, inquiring about god should give the reader a lively sense of the creative and powerful work done in contemporary. God s power and human flourishing nicholas wolterstorff a paper presented at the yale center for faith and culture consultation on god s power and human flourishing, sponsored by the mcdonald agape foundation i the inclination of the philosopher, when confronted with a topic such as god s power. It is a tenet of theism that gods existence is timeless god neither comes into. Challenging that claim, helm argues that divine timelessness is grounded in the idea of god as creator, and that this alone makes possible a. Wolterstorff sweepingly examines the myriad forms of interaction between liturgy and spirituality within orthodox, catholic, episcopal, lutheran, and reformed circles. This volume collects wolterstorffs essays on the philosophy of religion written over the last.
So in fact wolterstorff has not shown that a divine command theorist cannot use any obligations generated by human commands to illuminate the way god generates obligations. During the following paper, i will be analyzing in the book lament of a son by nicholas wolterstorff, where the author interprets his traumatic recollection of the death of his 25yearold son on a climbing accident, and how he was able to appease his grief based on his faith in god. Religious experience religious experiences, saint teresa of jesus religious experience as. We are like god in that god is already like man, or so the argument goes. In part 2, i will show that each of wolterstorff s arguments against god s eternality are enthymemes the missing premises of which beg the question. Nicholas wolterstorff the canonical texts and traditions of judaism, christianity, and islam claim that god speaks, but philosophers usually mistakenly treat such speech as revelation. While granting that galleries, theaters and concert halls serve a valid purpose, wolterstorff argues. Given that no liturgy has ever been composed from scratch, wolterstorff argues that the assumptions taken into worship are key to perceiving the real depths of historical christianitys understanding of god. Wolterstorff a toponymic surname, derived from german waltersdorf walters village is the family name of.
Wolterstorffs god everlasting in which he argues that god is necessarily in time and not the creator of time find, read and cite all the research you. Eternity, knowledge, and freedom religious studies. However, the seeker might be frustrated by the fact that the argument is based upon the assumption that god does indeed exist. Previously, he taught at calvin college, the free university of amsterdam, and the university of notre dame and has been visiting professor at several institutions. Wolterstorff delivers a carefully argued defense of the claim that god speaks today. All living things were given the ability to reproduce, but only after their kind. Pine trees will always produce pine trees and dogs will only produce dogs. Philosophical reflections on the claim that god speaks cambridge university press, 1995 nicholas. There a book about him on being a christian in the academy. Nicholas wolterstorff born 1932 is an american philosopher and theologian who is professor emeritus of philosophical theology at yale university. Wolterstorff is the noah porter professor emeritus of philosophical theology, and fellow of berkeley college at yale university. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. Last week i enjoyed nicholas wolterstorffs new book, the god we worship.