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4 - God and the world

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 October 2009

Charles Taliaferro
Affiliation:
St Olaf College, Minnesota
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Summary

Some claim that God is incorporeal, others that He is corporeal.

Tertullian

In the first three chapters I argued against a materialist theory of persons. If successful, this removes an important obstacle to theistic belief. Jonathan Barnes points out that adopting a materialist account of persons and retaining a conventional understanding of the Divine, compels one to conclude that neither monotheism nor polytheism is true. “If Gods are persons, then Gods are corporeal. Allow this, and it is reasonable to assert as an empirical truth that no Gods exist.” In arguing against materialism, I advanced reasons for not dismissing theism on these grounds. If integrative dualism is plausible, there is reason to resist the skepticism of Nielsen, Edwards, Daher, Flew, MacPherson, Rorty, Miles, Kenny, and others who, like Barnes, link their reservations about the existence of God with their reservations about dualism. More needs to be said, however, about theological and ethical reasons for rejecting dualism and overturning an incorporeal view of God as a person or person-like reality. It may well be that while integrative dualism is philosophically defensible, it is religiously indefensible. Some theologians, convinced of the inadequacy of dualism, have articulated physicalist notions of both God and human persons.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1994

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  • God and the world
  • Charles Taliaferro, St Olaf College, Minnesota
  • Book: Consciousness and the Mind of God
  • Online publication: 20 October 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511520693.005
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  • God and the world
  • Charles Taliaferro, St Olaf College, Minnesota
  • Book: Consciousness and the Mind of God
  • Online publication: 20 October 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511520693.005
Available formats
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • God and the world
  • Charles Taliaferro, St Olaf College, Minnesota
  • Book: Consciousness and the Mind of God
  • Online publication: 20 October 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511520693.005
Available formats
×