hosted by John DeRosa
What has led Dr. Matthew Barrett to write two books on the doctrine of God? How did we “drift away” from the classical doctrine of the Trinity? What does it mean that the Son is “eternally begotten” of the Father and why should Christians believe this? Why should we think the Trinitarian persons act inseparably? Dr. Matthew Barrett joins us to discuss topics in his recent book Simply Trinity: The Unmanipulated Father, Son, and Spirit.
What is classical theism? Can the simple, immutable God of classical theism do any actions? And even if so, can He act intentionally? How can we account for such intentional action without contradicting divine simplicity or immutability? What did Anscombe and Davidson argue regarding intentional action? How are these accounts relevant to the questions about God? Dr. Gaven Kerr joins us to share some of his recent research on intentional action.
In this episode, Pat Flynn sits down with John to respond to Ben Watkins’ opening statement in his debate with Trent Horn. In particular, they examine definitions of theism and naturalism, an argument from simplicity, an argument from imperfection, and an argument from modal collapse. See the timestamps below for more details.
What is classical theism? How does it comport with the Biblical text? Don’t the Scripture writers say God has emotions and passions like human beings do? What should we think when Scripture describes God changing his mind? How can we read 1 Samuel 15 in light of a classical doctrine of God? John joins Gary Michuta’s show Hands on Apologetics to tackle these topics.
h movements of doubt? How did Pope Benedict XVI conceive of faith? Is his view consistent with that of Aquinas? Dr. Matthew Ramage joins us to discuss these issues.
What is an embryo and what happens when identical twins are formed? Does the metaphysics of twinning call into question the view that embryos are human beings? How should we understand the mathematics and metaphysics of twinning? Dr. Richard Playford joins us to tackle these questions and more.
Does the God of classical theism have properties? Does he have attributes? Can we make conceptual distinctions about the simple God? How should we understand the notion of ‘rigid designation’ and its relevance to the modal collapse debate? What is Dr. Ryan Mullins’ latest proposed modal collapse objection? How does Christopher Tomaszewski respond to it? In this Commentary bonus episode, I’m joined by Professor Christopher Tomaszewski to discuss these questions.
What are the differences between philosophical physics and modern physics? What’s the difference between metaphysics and physics? How should we understand St. Thomas’ First Way? Is it a physical or metaphysical demonstration? What are the key premises and how are they defended? How can Aquinas leap to God as the conclusion of his First Way? Dr. Michael Sirilla joins us to discuss these issues and more.
What were the problems with the doctrine of analogy that others raised after Aquinas? How did different Thomistics respond to these problems? How might Thomists respond to professor Thomas Williams’ challenge that analogy reduces to univocity or unintelligibility? Dr. Domenic D’Ettore joins me to discuss these topics and more as we look at his book Analogy After Aquinas.
What is the doctrine of analogy? What are the different kinds of analogy? Why is analogy especially important for theologians? Does analogy reduce to univocity or intelligibility? Dr. Joseph Trabbic joins us to discuss these topics.
