The Cambridge Companion to Christian Philosophical Theology

280 Pages·2010·1.89 MB·English

by  Charles Taliaferro

thecambridgecompanion to
CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHICAL THEOLOGY
ThisCompanionoffersanup-to-dateoverviewofthebeliefs,doctrines,
and practices of the key philosophical concepts at the heart of Chris-
tian theology. The sixteen chapters, commissioned specially for this
volume, are written by an internationally recognized team of schol-
arsandexaminetopicssuchastheTrinity,God’snecessaryexistence,
simplicity, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, goodness, eter-
nityandprovidence,theincarnation,resurrection,atonement,sinand
salvation, the problem of evil, church rites, revelation and miracles,
prayer,andtheafterlife.Writteninnontechnical,accessiblelanguage,
theynotonlyofferasynthesisofscholarshiponthesetopicsbutalso
suggestquestionsandtopicsforfurtherinvestigation.
CharlesTaliaferroisprofessorofphilosophyatSt.OlafCollegeinMin-
nesota.Heistheauthorandeditorofseveralbooks,includingEvidence
andFaith:PhilosophyandReligionsincetheSeventeenthCenturyand
ConsciousnessandtheMindofGod.
Chad Meister is professor of philosophy at Bethel College in Indiana.
Heistheauthor,mostrecently,ofIntroducingPhilosophyofReligion
andEvil:AGuideforthePerplexed,amongmanyothertitlesthathe
hasauthored,coauthored,andedited.

cambridgecompanions toreligion
Thisisaseriesofcompanionstomajortopicsandkeyfiguresintheologyand
religiousstudies.Eachvolumecontainsspeciallycommissionedchaptersby
internationalscholarswhichprovideanaccessibleandstimulatingintroduction
tothesubjectfornewreadersandnonspecialists.
Othertitlesintheseries
americanjudaism
EditedbyDanaEvanKaplan
karlbarth
EditedbyJohnWebster
thebible,2ndedition
EditedbyBruceChilton
biblicalinterpretation
EditedbyJohnBarton
dietrichbonhoeffer
EditedbyJohndeGruchy
johncalvin
EditedbyDonalK.McKim
christian doctrine
EditedbyColinGunton
christian ethics
EditedbyRobinGill
jonathan edwards
EditedbyStephenJ.Stein
feministtheology
EditedbySusanFrankParsons
thejesuits
EditedbyThomasWorcester
jesus
EditedbyMarkusBockmuehl
liberationtheology
EditedbyChrisRowland
martinluther
EditedbyDonaldK.McKim
medievaljewishphilosophy
EditedbyDanielH.FrankandOliverLeaman
modernjewishphilosophy
EditedbyMichaelL.MorganandPeterEliGordon
postmoderntheology
EditedbyKevinJ.Vanhoozer
thequr’an
EditedbyJaneDammenMcAuliffe
ContinuedaftertheIndex

the cambridge companion to
CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHICAL
THEOLOGY
Edited by
Charles Taliaferro
St.OlafCollege
Chad Meister
BethelCollege
cambridgeuniversitypress
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Firstpublished2010
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
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TheCambridgecompaniontoChristianphilosophicaltheology/editedby
CharlesTaliaferro,ChadMeister.
p. cm.–(Cambridgecompanionstoreligion)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-0-521-51433-0(hardback)–isbn978-0-521-73037-2(pbk.)
1.Philosophicaltheology. I.Taliaferro,Charles. II.Meister,Chad,1965–
III.Title:Christianphilosophicaltheology. IV.Series.
bt40.c28 2010
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Contents
Contributors pageix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
PartI God
1 Trinity 3
ronaldj.feenstra
2 Necessity 15
brianleftow
3 Simplicity 31
briandavies
4 Omnipotence,omniscience,andomnipresence 46
williamj.wainwright
5 Goodness 66
johne.hare
6 Eternityandprovidence 81
williamhasker
PartII Godinrelationtocreation
7 Incarnation 95
katherina.rogers
8 Resurrection 108
stephent.davis
9 Atonement 124
gordongraham
10 Sinandsalvation 136
paulk.moser
11 Theproblemofevil 152
chadmeister
vii
viii Contents
12 Church 170
williamj.abraham
13 Religiousrites 183
charlestaliaferro
14 Revelationandmiracles 201
thomasd.sullivanandsandramenssen
15 Prayer 216
harrietharris
16 Heavenandhell 238
jerryl.walls
SelectBibliography 253
Index 259
Contributors
WilliamJ.AbrahamisAlbertCookOutlerProfessorofWesleyStudiesandAlt-
shulerDistinguishedTeachingProfessoratPerkinsSchoolofTheology,Southern
MethodistUniversity.
BrianDaviesisProfessorofPhilosophy,FordhamUniversity.
Stephen T. Davis is Russell K. Pitzer Professor of Philosophy, Claremont
McKennaCollege.
RonaldJ.FeenstraisHeritageProfessorofSystematicandPhilosophicalTheol-
ogy,CalvinTheologicalSeminary.
GordonGrahamisHenryLuceIIIProfessorofPhilosophyandtheArts,Princeton
TheologicalSeminary.
JohnE.Hare isNoahPorterProfessorofPhilosophicalTheology,YaleDivinity
School.
HarrietHarrisisMemberoftheFacultyofTheology,UniversityofOxford,and
ChaplainofWadhamCollege,Oxford.
WilliamHaskerisProfessorEmeritusofPhilosophy,HuntingtonUniversity.
Brian Leftow is Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion,
OxfordUniversity.
ChadMeisterisProfessorofPhilosophy,BethelCollege.
SandraMenssenisProfessorofPhilosophy,UniversityofSt.Thomas.
PaulK.MoserisProfessorandChairofPhilosophy,LoyolaUniversityChicago.
KatherinA.RogersisProfessor,UniversityofDelaware.
ThomasD.SullivanisAquinasChairinPhilosophyandTheology,Universityof
St.Thomas.
CharlesTaliaferroisProfessorofPhilosophy,St.OlafCollege.
WilliamJ.WainwrightisDistinguishedProfessorofPhilosophyEmeritus,Uni-
versityofWisconsin-Milwaukee.
JerryL.WallsisSeniorResearchFellowintheCenterforPhilosophyofReligion,
UniversityofNotreDame.
ix