Product Description
Description:
The doctrine of divine simplicity has long played a crucial role in Western Christianity's understanding of God. If God were composed of parts then something other than the Godhead itself would be required to explain or account for God and he could not rightly be called absolute. James Dolezal develops these arguments by examining he implications of divine simplicity for God's existence, attributes, knowledge, and will. Dolezal interacts extensively with older writers, such as Thomas Aquinas and the Reformed scholastics, as well as more recent philosophers and theologians.
Publication Date: November 2011
Topic: Simplicity, Theology
Pages: 239
Table of Contents:
Foreword by Paul Helm
Preface
Chapter 1 Friends and Foes of the Classical Doctrine of Divine Simplicity
Chapter 2 Simplicity and the Models of Composition
Chapter 3 Simplicity and the Theological Rationale for Divine Absoluteness
Chapter 4 Simplicity and God’s Absolute Existence
Chapter 5 Simplicity and God’s Absolute Attributes
Chapter 6 Simplicity and God’s Absolute Knowledge and Will
Chapter 7 Simplicity and the Difficulty of Divine Freedom
Conclusion
Endorsements:
“Dr. James Dolezal's treatment of divine simplicity, which provides a defense of this doctrine in perhaps its strongest form, is a first-rate piece of work . . . [It] is the best full-length philosophical treatment of divine simplicity that I know."
-Paul Helm
"At a time when the simplicity of God has fallen on hard times, James Dolezal does a fine job of navigating current objections to this central aspect of theology proper. In particular, Dolezal shows the intimate relationship between those who would affirm God's absolute character, and an affirmation of divine simplicity. He brings Aquinas' affirmation of simplicity into the contemporary debate in a way that Thomas himself might have done."
-K. Scott Oliphint, Westminster Theological Seminary
Biography
James Dolezal is a professor of theology, church history, and philosophy at Cairn University. He is a California native and is a graduate of The Master’s College, The Master’s Seminary, and Westminster Theological Seminary. Prior to undertaking PhD studies at Westminster, James pastored a Reformed Baptist church in Alberta, Canada. He and his wife Courtney live with their two children, Judah and Havah, in Warminster, PA.
