Excellent4.8 out of 5On Trustpilot
  1. Christian Academic Books/
  2. Philosophy

Divine Impassibility

by Richard E Creel

  • Paperback
  • Publisher: Wipf & Stock Publishers
  • 15.3 x 22.9 x 1.4 cm

£20.72

Free UK Delivery

Available - Usually dispatched within 4 days

Buying for a school or church? Upgrade to a FREE Eden Advance Account

Free delivery on orders over £10

In this volume, Richard Creel sets forth a thesis that offers a third way to approach divine impassibility. Defining impassibility as imperviousness to causal influence from external factors, Creel sketches a path between Aquinas and Hartshorne, by asserting that once this definition is accepted, one must still distinguish the various respects in which God is or is not impassible. Virtually no one would dispute that the divine nature is impassible. God will never cease to be God, no matter what happens in creation. With respect to the divine knowledge and will, however, there are conflicting views. Creel claims that God's will is impassible because God knows everything that can be accomplished by divine power. Yet, unlike Aquinas, Creel believes that God has this knowledge in virtue of a 'plenum' of possibilities eternally coexistent with the divine being. The absolute is not simply God, but rather God plus the 'plenum'. Creel suggests that God's knowledge is passible with respect to the contingent future actions of creatures. God knows these actions, therefore, not in their presentiality from all eternity, as Aquinas would hold, but only as they happen and become actual. God's will, however, remains immediately impassible because the divine will is ordered to possibilities, not actualities. God never has to wait until after we do something in order to decide his response to it. He has eternally decided his response to all that we might do. Ultimately God's feelings remain impassible, no matter what concrete decisions human beings make, because the basic intent of the divine plan for us is always achieved: we exercise our freedom to choose for or against God. God is impassible with respect to the divine nature, divine will, and divine feelings; but God is passible with respect to the divine knowledge of future contingent events. Richard Creel taught philosophy and religion at Ithaca College in upstate New York for thirty-three years (1969-2002) and served as President of the New York State Philosophical Association (1972-74). His other publications include 'Thinking Philosophically: An Introduction to Critical Reflection and Rational Dialogue' and 'Religion and Doubt: Toward a Faith of Your Own'.
Divine Impassibility and Sacred And The Profane
Sacred And The ProfaneDivine Impassibility

  • Author

    Richard E Creel

  • Book Format

    Paperback / softback

  • Publisher

    Wipf & Stock Publishers

  • Published

    June 2005

  • Weight

    346g

  • Dimensions

    15.3 x 22.9 x 1.4 cm

  • ISBN

    9781597522731

  • ISBN-10

    1597522732

  • Eden Code

    4850843

Over 14,000 churches and schools have upgraded to an Advance Account and we‘d love to welcome you into this free program. We know that church volunteers and school teachers often use their own money, then have claim it back on on an expense form. We can take all of that hassle away by invoicing your church or school directly and delivering your order straight away.

Opening an account is quick and easy, with most accounts being approved and setup within a few hours of filling in the form below (on weekdays, not weekends). As soon as we‘ve approved the application we‘ll send you an email to let you know that its done.

Upgrade to a FREE Eden Advance Account
Write a review
      Ask a question