Classical theism

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Classical theism refers to traditional ideas of the monotheistic religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Classical theism holds that God is an absolute, eternal, all-knowing (omniscient), all-powerful (omnipotent), and perfect being.[citation needed] God is related to the world as its cause, but is unaffected by the world (immutable).[citation needed] He is transcendent over the world which exists relative to him as a temporal effect.[citation needed]

The doctrine of classical theism is based on the writings of Holy Scripture such as the Tanakh, the Bible, or the Qu'ran. Some theologians would also acknowledge a debt to Platonic and neo-Platonic philosophy. Depending on their understanding of scripture as revelation, they may disagree with modern scientific theories such as the big bang and evolution. However, Christian apologists such as Dr. Norman Geisler, Dr. William Lane Craig, and Dr. 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." This argument aligns itself closely with the cosmological argument, which claims:

  1. Everything that exists has a cause;
  2. Nothing can cause itself;
  3. The universe exists;
  4. Therefore, the universe has a cause.

Thus, classical theists hold this uncaused cause to be God.

[edit] Christian perspective

Classical theism in a Christian theology perspective synthesizes Christian thought and Greek philosophy. It was developed during the third century by Augustine (heavily influenced by Plotinus) who drew on Platonic idealism to interpret Christianity. It was extended by Thomas Aquinas in the thirteenth century after the rediscovery of the works of Aristotle.

The doctrine of immutability means that God is changeless. This belief holds that any change in a being will result in a change either for the better or for the worse. Since God is the most perfect being, any change in him could only be for the worse, hence God cannot change.

Impassibility has two sides to it. One has to do with humanity's effect on God. According to this view, God is not affected at all by humans. God is completely independent from creation and for creation to affect him would make creation causally superior to God. The other side of immutability is that God does not have emotions. Emotions attributed to God in the Scriptures are not to be taken literally but are anthropomorphisms to help us understand God. Of course immutability implies impassibility since a changeless God cannot be affected by temporal beings who once did not exist with out causing a change in God.

According to this view, God's eternal nature is outside of time and his actions cannot be placed within temporal sequences. Although God's action in the Bible is historical, God actually acts from eternity and it is merely the effects of those actions that are found in time. An illustration of this principle is a doctor who writes directions for her patient to take his pills at one moment and to go through therapy at another. Though the doctor's orders are given simultaneously, the effects of these orders occur at different times. Likewise, the Bible may portray God as dividing the Red Sea at one moment and delivering the Ten Commandments at a later date, both actions according to timelessness originate from all eternity.

Simplicity arises from considerations regarding the necessity of God's existence and his permanence. Simplicity is the view that God does not have parts since an entity that consists of parts may cease to exist. This affects the doctrine of eternity. If God was in time then he would have temporal parts, hence simplicity implies timelessness.

[edit] References