Christian Philosophy

It is hard to think of an area of Christian theology that provides more scope for interdisciplinary conversation than the doctrine of creation. This doctrine not only invites reflection on an intellectual concept: it calls for contemplation of the endlessly complex, dynamic, and fascinating world that human being inhabit. But the possibilities for wide-ranging discussion are such that scholars sometimes end up talking past one another. Productive conversation requires mutual understanding of insights across disciplinary boundaries. Knowing Creation offers an essential resource for helping scholars from a range of fields to appreciate one another's concerns and perspectives. In so doing, it offers an important step forward in establishing a mutually-enriching dialogue that addresses, amongst others, the following key questions:

- Who is the God who creates?
- Why does God create?
- What is "creation"?
- What does it mean to recognize that a theology of creation speaks of a natural world that is subject to the observation of the natural sciences? What does it mean to talk about both a "natural" order and a "created" order?
- What are the major tensions that have arisen between the natural sciences and Christian thinking historically, and why? How can we move beyond such tensions to a positive and constructive conversation, while also avoiding facile notions such as a "god of the gaps"?
- Is it feasible for a natural scientist to maintain a belief in God's continuing creative activity?
- In what ways might a naturalistic understanding of the natural world be said to be limited?
- How can biblical studies, theology, philosophy, history, and science talk better together about these questions?

At a time when the doctrine of creation - and even a mention of "creation" - has been disparaged due to its supposed associations with anti-scientific dogma, and theological offerings sometimes risk appearing a little more than reactionary exercises in naive apologetics, ill-informed by science or distinctly wary of engagement with it, it is more important than ever to offer a cross-disciplinary resource that can voice a positive account of a Christian theology of creation, and do so as a genuinely broad-ranging conversation about science and faith.

C. S. Lewis, renowned Christian apologist and beloved author of children’s novels, is rarely thought of as a “philosopher” per se despite having both studied and taught philosophy for several years at Oxford. Moreover, Lewis’s long journey to Christianity was essentially philosophical — passing through seven different stages. This journey, as well as every philosophical topic Lewis discussed, including metaphysics, natural theology, epistemology, logic, psychology, ethics, socio-political philosophy, and aesthetics are explained here in detail. Barkman incorporates previously unexplored treasures from Lewis’s unpublished philosophy lecture notes, lost philosophical essays, and hand-written annotations from copies of his philosophical books, such as Aristotle’s Ethics and Augustine’s City of God

The firstmost book of Mary Baker Eddy after Science & Health,
explaining the history of Christian Science.

Here she mentions her view of the afterlife to be purely spiritual, obviously not considering reincarnation, leading to a number of confusing terms about how life is not in matter, and that spirit is the only thing that truly exists.

She details her life story, and the unfolding of her Massachusetts  Metaphysical College, and the coursework for the large sum of $300 over a mere 2 months.

The inferiour mortal life is rebuked, with scant reference to the divine immortal superiority.

Poetry is recited.

Also some anxiety is expressed about the prospect of secret lovers being used to heal people, in the name of Christianity. Clearly she is in pretty deep with a combination of spiritual  Christian dogmas and both physical and mental health practices based on secret lovers.

Again her doctrines appear to somewhat resemble advanced Pythagorean teachings that summarize things in a few words.

In this paper I take a closer look at Fr. Georges Florovsky’s original view on the relation between philosophy and theology. I argue that he tried to formulate an approach based on patristic experience and opposed to the dominating secular paradigm of philosophy. In some sense he wanted
to reverse the traditional account. As Teresa Obolevitch aptly suggested, he wanted to replace the  principle fides quaerens intellectum by the rule intellectus quaerens fidem. In that first default case the faith needs to be justified or proved by the reason, in the second, unobvious one, the faith has an absolute priority and illuminates itself the natural thought. According to Florovsky, philosophy should not attempt to ground the theology, formulating arguments for the existence of God or proving
the coherence of theism, but rather should accept theology as a fundamental premise and then develop a new, non-secular account for the old philosophical topics.

This essay details the nature of Simone Weil's metaphysical writings as properly 'religious'. This essay attends to this by considering Weil as responding to the human condition, and advocating a practical approach to her own thought. In the second section, the essay turns to ways in which Weil is a lived example of her own metaphysics, before moving to the final section in evaluating the paradoxical interrelationship of her musings-the paradoxical relationship between her life and her thought. Whilst only teetering on the edge between Christianity and atheism, Weil's spiritual path is evidently Christian for three major reasons: her solidarity with the affliction of others attends to love of neighbour; her lived hunger for God reflects her paradoxical thoughts on the Eucharist, in which she struggles to portray the 'right way' to salvation; and that her active receptivity is harmonious with a Christian conception of love. In the end, Weil was only human, and despite the saintliness attributed to her life and works, she struggled on her own path as how best to 'wait' for God.

The earlier product of the research to follow the numerology patterns in the scripture based on a paragraph sized verses. 

Some books appear to follow the 'second' numerology' pattern, others not so much.  The book is a step towards proving the pattersn and garnering their numerology teachings.

In this inspiring yet eruditely crafted vision of a Pentecostal public theology, Daniela Augustine delineates a theological ethic and practice of imaging God’s face for the “common good,” in manners robustly counter to contemporary de-humanizing violence against “ethnic, religious, political, cultural” human alterity (4, 11, 15). Coupled with her “Prologue” that biographically grounds the book’s major themes within her 2011-2012 field research in Eastern Slavonia (where much of the violent ethnic-religious rooted 1990s Balkan conflicts transpired, leading to the break-up of the former Yugoslavia), Augustine beautifully explicates this vision through four chapters and a concluding “Epilogue.”

A popular argument for the divinity of Jesus goes like this. Jesus claimed to be divine, but if his claim was false, then either he was insane (mad) or lying (bad), both of which are very unlikely; so, he was divine. I present two objections to this argument. The first, the dwindling probabilities objection, contends that even if we make generous probability assignments to the
relevant pieces of evidence for Jesus’ divinity, the probability calculus tell us to suspend judgement on the matter. The second, and more telling objection in my opinion, the merely
mistaken objection, contends that it is no less plausible to suppose that Jesus was neither mad nor bad but merely mistaken than that he was divine.

El Dr. Herman Dooyeweerd (1894-1977) fue fundador de la escuela filosófica de la Idea Cosmonómica y autor de múltiples trabajos en los campos de la filosofía y la jurisprudencia. Ocupó varios puestos públicos en los Países Bajos y por varios años fue el secretario ejecutivo de la Fundación Dr. Abraham Kuyper en La Haya, donde inició el periódico trimestral Antirevolutionaire Staatkunde (Política antirrevolucionaria). Fue socio de la Real Academia de Ciencias Holandesa y fungió como profesor de leyes en la Universidad Libre de Ámsterdam desde 1926 hasta su retiro en 1965.

La obra magna del gran pensador cristiano holandés fue publicada originalmente en los años 1935-1936, bajo el título de Wijsbegeerte der Wetsidee [lit. Filosofía de la idea de la ley] (H.J. Paris: Ámsterdam, 3 vols.). Casi luego de veinte años, una edición revisada y ampliada, A New Critique of Theoretical Thought (The Presbyterian & Reformed Pub.: 1953-1958, 4 vols.), salió a la luz. Y ahora, finalmente, después de poco más de ochenta años, providencialmente, ha llegado hasta nosotros en español el primer volumen de este monumental trabajo de uno de los filósofos cristianos más geniales del siglo XX, con el nombre de Una nueva crítica del pensamiento teórico, gracias al excelente trabajo de traducción del distinguido filósofo mexicano Adolfo García de la Sienra Guajardo.

The word arché, by which Jesus is in Col 1:18 described, is most often interpreted and translated as “beginning”. There are however hints that arché also bears connotations to arché defined as philosophical principle. It is supported by: 1) depiction of Jesus in Col 1:15-20 in categories appropriate for philosophical arché; 2) invocation in Col 2:8 of „philosophy according to the elements of the world” as a negative alternative for Christ; 3) the fact that, Paul possessed at minimum
elementary knowledge of Greek philosophy.

Fine-tuning arguments are a type of design argument that try to persuade non-theists that there is a supernatural designer of the Universe. After mentioning a problem with the derivation of the tiny probabilities sometimes invoked in such arguments, I consider the meaning of the term “Anthropic Principle”. This prepares the ground for a more radical critique concerning thought experiments, possible worlds and multiverses. I conclude by suggesting that fine-tuning arguments carry too much naturalistic baggage to be effective tools in an apologetic for monotheistic faith.

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical Theology is a collection of twenty-six essays or articles edited by Thomas Flint, professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, and Michael Rea, also a professor of philosophy at the same university.
In the Introduction to this work, the editors give a definition of what they consider philosophical theology to be: “philosophical theology (as we understand it) is aimed primarily at theoretical understanding of the nature and attributes of God, and God’s relationship to the world and things in the world” (p. 1).
With the publication of Alasdair Maclntyre and Anthony Flew’s New Essays in Philosophical Theology in 1955, there was a great revival of interest in the philosophy of religion in general and, in its wake, in philosophical theology in particular, especially in the latter half of the twentieth century. The topics presented in the book were like the agenda for subsequent work in philosophy of religion for the next two or three decades, such as the meaningfulness of religious discourse and questions about the rationality of religious belief.
This present work, however, covers a new focus of attention apart from those concerning the nature, rationality, and meaningfulness of theistic belief. In the last twenty years, as the editors remark, “a great deal of attention has been devoted recently to philosophical problems arising out of the Christian doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Atonement; there has been an explosion of work on questions about the nature of divine providence and its implications for human freedom; and a fair bit of recent work has also been done on questions about the metaphysical possibility of the resurrection of the dead” (p. 4). At the same time, the authors note that there is a very small literature on the topic of divine revelation and the inspiration of Scripture, only a handful of works on the topics of prayer, original sin, and the nature of heaven and hell, and virtually nothing on the Christian doctrine of the Eucharist from a philosophical standpoint.
The book is divided into five parts covering five general topics:

I. Theological Prolegomena
II. Divine Attributes
III. God and Creation
IV. Topics in Christian Philosophical Theology
V. Non-Christian Philosophical Theology

The book presents the quintessence of Christianity. Throughout the lines of this book, the theme Christian morality is widely discussed. The author also defends the existence of God in a very apologetic way – as well as the Christian faith. Mere Christianity is a set of four books: “Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe”, “What Christians Believe”, “Christian Behaviour”, and “Beyond Personality: or First Steps in the Doctrine of the Trinity”.

Here is the second letter sent by Bishop Leo of Ochrid to the bishops of southern Italy. This and the third letter were lost until the 19th century. In this letter, Leo further expounds his typological and symbolic argument against the fittingness of unleavened bread in the eucharistic liturgy.

Background: The mathematical idea of Jesus Christ is ­ ~ ≤ X ≤ ~ and X = Y. Other mathematical ideas are the Cartesian coordinate system, n⁰ = 1 and ~, and n⁰ = 1 (X for the Lord ‘s day) and n ^n + 2 (Y for human’s day). Mathematically, it is scholarly that Christ came from heaven to earth and the dead people, and then came back to heaven through the earth. The gospel does not introduce a new Lord. There is no other Lord in Christianity, except Christ. The mathematical idea of - ~ ≤ X1 < ~ and X1 = Y1 is for Satan and the false prophet.
Objectives: To show mathematically that Jesus Christ is Lord and journey of Jesus Christ from heaven to earth and the world of the dead, then returned to heaven through this world. This journey is scholarly.
Methods: The n⁰ (X) and 10 ^2+n is mathematical ideas of days in God and human. The n⁰ = 1 and ~ in which -~≤ n ≤ ~ is for mathematical idea for one God. The ­ ~ ≤ X ≤ ~ and X = Y is mathematical idea for the spiritual journey of Jesus Christ. For the false prophet and Satan are - ~ ≤ X1 < ~ and X1 = Y1, and Cartesian coordinate systems were described.  Searched verses in the Bible manually and via the internet. Keywords included such as Christ, and the false prophet. 
Results: God in the Old Testament is the same as God in the New Testament. In mathematics, God is the same as one and ~. Mathematics can show who is God. Christ is the same as God. There is no other Christ. God became man in Jesus Christ to preach the gospel to humans. He went to the earth of the dead to preach the gospel 3 days, returned to the earth, and then to the heaven. This is the spiritual journey. Emmanuel is God with us.  A Christian could catch up into paradise as Paul’s vision. It was from the earth. It was not from heaven. It is different with Jesus Christ’s journey. Paul’s vision shows that the man catch up from the world to heaven, returned to the earth and died. He needed to wait the advent of Christ to rise up him from the death. Christ is eternal forever. The man in Paul’s vision still needs to be rise by Christ on the day of the Lord. The - ~ ≤ X ≤ ~ and X = Y fills Quadrant 1, Quadrant 2, Quadrant 3, and Quadrant 4 in the Cartesian coordinate system. Mathematical idea of -~ ≤ X=Y ≤ ~ is first the evidence as spiritual journey of Jesus Christ as the Father, Son, and the Spirit. The Cartesian coordinate system is the second evidence of the journey. Another evidence in mathematical idea, the third evidence, of the Father, Son and the Spirit is n⁰ = 1, ~. For example, if n is 1, 2, 3, the result is 1⁰ = 2⁰ = 3⁰ = 1. It shows that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit is one. The forth evidence is day in the Lord and day in human. Its mathematical idea is n⁰ = 1 (the Lord’s day) and n^n+2 (human’s day). Satan was from heaven and was thrown into the earth. It was not a spiritual journey. Satan, his angels and the false prophet have been thrown into the hell.  The mathematical model of the false prophet is - ~ ≤ X1 < ~ and X1 = Y1.
Conclusions: Jesus Christ is the Lord and scholarly. There is only one Lord Jesus Christ. The ­ ~ ≤ X ≤ ~ and X = Y shows that Jesus Christ is the Lord. Ten mathematical ideas or evidences can demonstrate the relationship between God, Jesus Christ, and the Spirit. This relationship also shows the Spiritual Journey of Jesus Christ. These include n⁰ = 1and~ , n0⁰ (X) and n^2+n, -~ ≤ X=Y ≤ ~, and the Cartesian coordinate systems. The false prophet has mathematic idea as - ~ ≤ X1 < ~ and X1 = Y1.

The scholarly world contends the Mystical Theology was written to affirm that when Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from YHWH (Exodus 19) he also made a mystical union known as the ecstatis.
We are going to examine the meaning of the ecstatis.

In 2002, just a few months after receiving my PhD, the San Paolo editions published my thesis with the title Teologia della modernità. Percorsi e Figure (San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo 2002). The volume was out of print in a couple of years and was never reprinted. I thought I would make it available in chapters, beginning with the third part, the theological one, which I have less revised or used in other papers. The chapter in question deals with the interpretation of modernity offered by von Balthasar with particular reference to volume 5 of Glory. Since this is a text that is almost twenty years old, the bibliography is a bit out of date (although I have not seen any significant new titles on the subject) and some statements I would probably reformulate today. Since this is a draft file of the volume, there may be misprints or mistakes that were corrected in the printed version.

Nel 2002, pochi mesi dopo aver conseguito il dottorato, le edizioni San Paolo pubblicarono la mia tesi con il titolo Teologia della modernità. Percorsi e Figure (San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo 2002). Il volume andò esaurito nel giro di un paio di anni e non è stato più ristampato. Ho pensato allora di metterlo a disposizione per capitoli iniziando dalla terza parte, quella teologica, che meno di tutte è stata da me rielaborata o ripresa in altre pubblicazioni. Il capitolo in questione tratta dell’interpretazione della modernità che offre von Balthasar con particolare riferimento al volume 5 di Gloria. Trattandosi di un testo che ha ormai quasi venti anni, la bibliografia è un po’ datata (anche se non ho visto grandi nuovi titoli sul tema) e alcune affermazioni probabilmente oggi le riformulerei. Trattandosi del file della bozza del volume possono esserci refusi o errori poi corretti sulla versione stampata

Er zijn veel redenen waarom geloven in God niet overtuigend is. Hoe kan God nou goed zijn terwijl er zoveel kwaad is? En wat te denken van de Bijbel; er zijn toch zoveel heilige boeken? En een intuïtie dat God bestaat, dat is biologisch goed te verklaren.

In dit boek bespreekt theoloog Marinus de Jong 21 van deze redenen. Maar niet om te laten zien dat ze niet waar zijn. Ook niet om te concluderen dat geloven in God onzinnig is. Hij gaat op zoek naar hoe deze redenen ons helpen om onze gedachten over de ongrijpbare God te scherpen. Dat hij een God is die steeds weer aan onze beelden ontsnapt en zich niet laat vangen in onze overtuigingen.

Inclusief verwerkingsvragen en verdere lees- en kijksuggesties.

Una atractiva y clara síntesis de la renovación de la antropología cristiana a lo largo del siglo XX, desde las aportaciones filosóficas de Kierkegaard, Newman, Buber, Marcel, Maritain, Scheler, Von Hildebrand, E. Stein, etc., hasta el Concilio Vaticano II.

The Kierkegaardian account of becoming a Christian has come to be perceived in radically egocentric terms. This study serves to challenge this perception by demonstrating that Kierkegaard was devoted to expounding Christian conversion as a transformative process of becoming that is grounded in an active relationship initiated through the agency of the eternal God who has established kinship with us in time.
At the same time, this study will also explore the way that Kierkegaard confronts some of the key errors that arise in overly systematic accounts of Christian conversion: (1) the inherent weakness of approaches that seek to dichotomise, and then quantify separately, the contributions of God’s grace and human freedom; (2) the inclination to objectify God and human beings in ways that neglect their existence as living agents; (3) the overemphasis on conversion as a monadic event of individual transformation rather than an event of reconciliation; (4) the tendency to prioritise epistemology over ontology in discussions of becoming a Christian; and (5) the propensity to lose sight of God’s all-embracing purpose of reconciling persons into their one true form of existence ‘before God’.
Finally, this study will also consider how Kierkegaard was able to negotiate his emphasis on the God-relationship with his emphasis on the importance of individual reflection, decision and action in the Christian life. It will conclude that, for Kierkegaard, the freedom to become a Christian is not the freedom to awaken ourselves into the Christian life but a decision to embrace the Christian life into which God awakens us.

Contents

Introduction
I. Listening to Kierkegaard Alongside his Pseudonyms
a. Kierkegaard and Climacus
b. Anti-Climacus and Kierkegaard

Chapter One: The Communication of the Christian Truth
I. Can the Truth Be Learned?
II. The Relationship or Non-Relationship between Subjectivity and Objectivity
III. The Revelation of Sin
a. Despair
b. The infinite qualitative difference and sin-consciousness
IV. Being in the Truth
V. Passion in Kierkegaard’s Thought
a. The Passion of Thought
b. Passionate Responsibility
c. The Passion of Faith
VI. Conclusion

Chapter Two: The Possibility of Reconciliation
I. The Tale of the King and the Maiden
II. Drawing Another to Oneself
III. The Possibility of Reciprocity
IV. The Possibility of Offense
V. Encountering God in Time
VI. Conclusion

Chapter Three: The Orientation of a Life Lived in Relationship with God
I. The Religious Category of Existence
II. Søren Kierkegaard’s Christian Realism
III. Immanent Religiousness and Christianity
IV. Sin-consciousness and Guilt-consciousness
V. Repentance
VI. Conclusion

Chapter Four: The Orientation of a Life Lived in Relationship with God
I. Following Scripture Faithfully
a. Reading a Letter from a Beloved
b. The Perspicuity of Scripture
c. The Uncertainty of Scripture
II. The Single Individual
III. Christ is the Way
a. Following Christ
b. Following Christ Voluntarily
c. Christ as Prototype and Redeemer
IV. Becoming a Christian in the World
V. Conclusion

Chapter Five: The Freedom to Become a Christian in Relationship with God
I. Approaching Christianity
II. The Passionate Transition
a. Venturing the Leap
b. Preparing to become a Christian?
c. Relationship with “the paradox”
III. Faith in the Presence of God
IV. The Choice to Become a Christian
a. The Freedom of the Individual to Relate to God
b. Willing Beliefs
c. Human Responsibility for Sin
d. Transforming the Will
V. The Freedom to Love
VI. Conclusion

Closing Reflection
I. Kierkegaard’s Low Pneumatology
II. Communion with the One Who Establishes Kinship with Us in Time
III. Conclusion

The values that underpin the Anglo-Saxon concept of honour changed at the beginning of the sixth century. During this period, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms enshrined a new era of cultural and religious fervour, inculcating new practices of honour among the new Christianised Anglo-Saxon elite. This paper demonstrates the transition from pagan to Christian honour systems. Historians have often examined honour through concepts based on comparisons or 'terms of art', for example 'Bushido' in Japan, 'Futuwwa' in Islam, and 'chivalry' in Christianised later-medieval Europe. This paper emulates these examples by examining honour in Anglo-Saxon society through use of the Old English term weorð, an under-studied phenomenon. Unlike Bushido or chivalry, weorð does not imply a mandated way of living. Weoro is instead pervasive, encompassing many modes of Anglo-Saxon life: poetry, giving- and -receiving, burial, kin, and bestowing honours. This paper combines sociological analysis with historical evidence.

This essay reflects on the claim by which “Christianity stands or falls”: the Word became Flesh. It suggests that a long history of misreadings and misappropriations have caused us to think in terms of spiritualizing the flesh rather than incarnating the spirit. Hermeneutics has forgotten the command “take, eat, this is my body” in favor of a textual rumination that results in regurgitation rather than digestion and sustenance. This is reflected in the marginalization of the Eucharist. The essay offers a detailed and original reading of St. Augustine’s Confessions as an exemplary text of carnal hermeneutics in which he finds a “conversion of the flesh” alongside the more familiar episodes of the “conversion of the mind” and “conversion of the heart.” This third conversion is evident in Augustine’s reversal of the traditional hierarchy of the senses by giving primacy to touch, in his use of the parable of the prodigal son to emphasize the flesh, and in extended use of language associated with hunger, eating, and feasting.

Jean-Luc Marion proposes what he calls the “phenomenology of givenness” (phénoménologie de la donation) as the true “first philosophy.” In this paper I consider his critique of previous first philosophies and his argument for the phenomenology of givenness as their replacement. I note several problems with the phenomenology of givenness and conclude that it does not seem ready yet to assume the title of “first philosophy.”

Recorrido histórico-filosófico de la filosofía de inspiración católica. Un libro dónde uno puede hacerse cargo de las raíces y el desarrollo de esta tradición. Se dedica especial atención a: Agustín de Hipona, Anselmo de Canterbury y Tomás de Aquino. Y se tienen en cuenta las aportaciones del Magisterio de la Iglesia. ¿Qué queda hoy de esa tradición? ¿Cómo puede contribuir a la formación de la cultura contemporánea?

The paper covers reaction to American Zen Buddhism from Jewish, Christian, and Zen Buddhist perspectives. The positive reactions were Jews using Buddhism to come to grips with the Holocaust, Christians using satori via Zen to gain a closer connection to God or Jesus, and Zen Buddhists for Zen's commitment to lay persons. The negative reactions of both Jews and Christians were Buddhism being a foreign religion. Christians suspected Zen of expanding into the territory of their converts. Christians, depending on the perspective, also had issues with Buddhism having a god which could be viewed as a different god and not having a god which could be viewed as atheistic. Zen Buddhists criticized American Zen for its lack of monastic institutions and degradation of the dharma. All of the religions seemed to agree that drug-use was not the real Zen and argued Beats did not know Zen or their native religions.

A lexicographical analysis of the term 'ordo' and its correlates in Descartes' youthful yet posthumously published 'Rules for the Direction of the Mind' reveals metaphysical, anthropological and theological themes otherwise hidden within the form of what is often (and mistakenly) considered merely a failed scientific methodology. Descartes' links to Augustinian, Neoplatonic, Aristotelian, and Renaissance hermetic thought are suggested in this analysis. The entirety of the study suggests an overarching metaphysical and soteriological concern informing the development of his Rules. Included is a detailed appendix of the history of the use of the term 'ordo' or 'order' in the linguistic and intellectual history of the west that shows the continuity and originality present in Descartes' use of the term.

Revisiting my earlier work: https://www.academia.edu/10923319/%D0%9A%D1%82%D0%BE_%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B9_%D0%9B%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%82_%D0%AF%D0%B3%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B8_%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D0%A0%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2_%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B8_.

Maximus follows Dionysius the Areopagite in holding that God ‘precontains’ the knowledge of all things as their cause. He develops this idea by interpreting divine foreknowledge as a consequence of God’s knowledge of the divine logoi, the acts of will by which God predefines and creates all things. Since among the items God foreknows are creatures’ free acts, it would seem to follow that such acts are determined by the logoi. Elsewhere, however, Maximus emphasizes that the full realization of a rational creature’s logos depends upon that creature’s free choice. There thus seems to be a conflict between Maximus’s Neoplatonic account of divine knowledge and his commitment to human free will. I argue that to reconcile this conflict we must distinguish two stages in the existence of the logoi: an initial stage in which they embody simply the divine intent, and a later stage in which (as Maximus puts it in Ambiguum 10) they ‘re-enter’ into eternity to the extent that they have been embodied in the lives of the faithful. The logoi at the latter stage are the joint product of the divine will and creatures’ free choice. However, the distinction between the two stages is conceptual rather than temporal; from a point of view within time, the logoi are always already at the latter stage. This explains how in knowing them from all eternity God can foreknow, without determining, creatures’ free choices.

The wisdom of the Essenes and the 19 chapters of the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon,  appear to be a work in progress on a third Book of Proverbs.

The decyphered numbering codes of the ancient Levitical scribes helps put the pieces of the puzzle pyramid together, and the author makes some educated guesses at missing lines and incorrect words.  All italicized bracketed text is new research, fit for critiquqe or sincere suggestion.


(The Book of Sirach is 2nd Proverbs, of course, said to be written by Solomon's court, not Sirach.)