Contemplating God with the Great Tradition: Recovering Trinitarian Classical Theism

by Craig A. Carter

Publisher:

Baker Academic

, 2021

Overview

Following his well-received Interpreting Scripture with the Great Tradition, Craig Carter presents the biblical and theological foundations of trinitarian classical theism. Carter, a leading Christian theologian known for his provocative defenses of classical approaches to doctrine, critiques the recent trend toward modifying or rejecting classical theism in favor of modern “relational” understandings of God. The book includes a short history of trinitarian theology from its patristic origins to the modern period, and a concluding appendix provides a brief summary of classical trinitarian theology.

Key Features

• Includes a short history of trinitarian theology from its patristic origins to the modern period
• Critiques the recent trend toward modifying or rejecting classical theism
• Presents the biblical and theological foundations of trinitarian classical theism

Contents

Top Highlights

“Classical theism is the historic orthodox doctrine of God, and it says that God is the simple, immutable, eternal, self-existent First Cause of the cosmos. God creates the world and acts on it, but the world cannot change God in any way. Relational theism is a term that we can apply to a number of different doctrines of God, all of which affirm that God changes the world and the world changes God.” (Page 16)

“The mystery of God means that the immanent (or eternal) Trinity is incomprehensible to human reason and that what is revealed in the economy (that is, in history) is all true so far as it goes but does not reveal all of God’s eternal being.” (Page 6)

“But part of the problem we face is that, in order to affirm transcendence, one has to accept the existence of irreducible mystery in our doctrine of God, which seems hard for many modern theologians, including many evangelicals, to do.” (Page 6)

“Second, modern theology often is far too impatient with mystery and much too quick to declare a contradiction when, in fact, it is only confronting a paradox.” (Page 22)

“Historic orthodoxy, including both Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Christianity in both its Roman Catholic and Protestant forms, has viewed divine simplicity as a way of stating the radical otherness of God rather than as a univocal statement about the nature of divine being. It is a signifier of mystery, not a rational definition. The famous denial of ‘real relations’ between God and creation by Thomas Aquinas means not that God cannot act on the world but only that the world cannot act on God. God brings about change in the world, but the world does not bring about change in God.” (Page 16)

Product Details

• Title: Contemplating God with the Great Tradition: Recovering Trinitarian Classical Theism
• Author: Craig A. Carter
• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Print Publication Date: 2021
• Logos Release Date: 2021
• Pages: 334
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Trinity › Biblical teaching; Trinity › History of doctrines; Theism
• ISBNs: 9781493429714, 9781540963307, 9781540964410, 9781493429691, 149342971X, 1540963306, 1540964418, 1493429698
• Resource ID: LLS:CNTMPLTNGGTRDTN
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T22:53:21Z

About Craig A. Carter

Craig A. Carter (PhD, University of St. Michael’s College) is professor of theology at Tyndale University College and Seminary in Toronto, Ontario. He previously served as vice president and academic dean at Crandall University and at Tyndale University College. He has written numerous articles and is the author of Rethinking “Christ and Culture”: A Post-Christendom Perspective.