God in a Single Vision

In the ancient conversation between Western philosophy and Christian theology, powerful contemporary voices are arguing for monologue rather than dialogue. Instead of these two disciplines learning from and mutually informing each other, both philosophers and theologians are increasingly disconnected from, and thus unable to hear, what the other is saying, especially in Anglo-American scholarship. Some Christian philosophers are now found claiming methodological authority over doctrine, while some Christian theologians even deny that philosophy has its own integrity as a separate discipline. Against these trends, David Brown has argued over the past thirty years that philosophy and theology are both necessary in order to grapple with the reality of divine mystery and Christian faith. Neither discipline can be reduced to the other, and each has its own contribution to make for a full understanding of what Brown describes as 'a single vision' of God. In this volume, Brown addresses some key topics in philosophical theology, including the created order, experience and revelation, incarnation and redemption, and heaven and our communal destiny. Combining analytic clarity, doctrinal substance, and historical depth, this volume exemplifies Brown's project of truly integrating philosophy and theology. It thus provides an ideal introduction to this vital conversation for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as a connected argument of interest to specialists in both disciplines.

Editor's Introduction Robert MacSwain Part I: The Created Order 1. Why a world at all? 2. Creation and its Alternatives 3. The Problem of Pain: Why Philosophers and Theologians Need Each Other Part II: Experience and Revelation 4. Realism and Religious Experience 5. Present Revelation and Past 'Problematic' Texts 6. From Past Meaning to Present Revelation: Evaluating Three Approaches Part III: Incarnation and Redemption 7. Incarnational Models Revisited 8. Trinitarian Personhood and Individuality 9. Anselm on Atonement 10. Images of Atonement: Metaphor and the Dangers of Doctrine Part IV: Heaven and our Communal Destiny 11. Why 'Saints' Matter 12. No Heaven Without Purgatory 13. Heaven and the Communion of Living and Departed