Classical theism

Classical theism refers to the a form of theism in which God is caracterized as the absolutely metaphysically ultimate being (the first, timeless, absolutely simple and sovereign being, who is also devoid of any anthropomorphic qualities), in distinction to another conceptions such as Theistic Personalism, Open Theism and Process Theism. Another fundamental characteristic of classical theism is the idea of God as the cause of the world.

Classical theism is, historically, the mainstream view between philosophers and is associate with the tradition of writers like Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Augustine, St. Anselm, Maimonedes, Averroes and Thomas Aquinas. In opposition to this tradition, there are, today, philosophers like Alvin Plantinga (who rejects divine simplicity), Richard Swinburne (who rejects divine timelessness) and William Lane Craig (who reject both divine simplicity and timesslessness), who can be view as theistic personalists.

Major Concepts

Classical Theism holds first of all that in order to establish the nature of God we have to prove His existence. This is done by a posteriori methodology which proceeds from the effect to the existence and nature of its cause. In his Summa Theologiae, Thomas Aquinas used the famous Five Ways (all of them metaphysical proofs) to prove God's existence. Other philosophical arguments adherents use to support Classical Theism include the argument from morality, and the teleological argument. Major arguments against Classical Theism include the problem of evil and the hiddenness of God.^{[citation needed]}

The doctrine of Classical Theism is primarily and historically based on doctrines of several classical philosophers, but primarily on Aristotelian metaphysics. Sacred texts such as the Tanakh, the Bible, or the Qur'an played a part in the later medieval development of theism. Depending on their understanding of scripture as revelation, they may disagree with contemporary scientific theories such as the steady-state and evolution. However, Christian apologists such as Norman Geisler, William Lane Craig, and Hugh Ross, an astrophysicist, argue that the Big Bang model, which is premised on a beginning of the universe (time, space, matter, and energy), supports the first words in Genesis, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth."^{[citation needed]}

Classical Theists hold this uncaused cause to be God. Supporters use scientific and philosophical evidence to support both premises. There are critics who similarly dispute both the scientific and philosophical grounds used to support the premises.^{[citation needed]}

References

• Paul Tillich, A History of Christian Thought, Simon and Schuster, 1972, ISBN 0-671-21426-8, online edition
• Jonathan Hill, The History of Christian Thought, Lion Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0-7459-5093-0