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Christian Physicalism?

Philosophical Theological Criticisms

Edited by R. Keith Loftin and Joshua R. Farris - Foreword by Thomas McCall - Contributions by Thomas Atkinson; John W. Cooper; Marc Cortez; C. Stephen Evans; Joshua R. Farris; Paul L. Gavrilyuk; Bruce L. Gordon; Matthew J. Hart; R. Keith Loftin; Jonathan J. Loose; Jason McMartin; Angus Menuge; J.P. Moreland; R.T. Mullins; Gerald O’Collins; Brandon Rickabaugh; Howard Robinson; R. Scott Smith; Charles Taliaferro and James T. Turner, Jr

On the heels of the advance since the twentieth-century of wholly physicalist accounts of human persons, the influence of materialist ontology is increasingly evident in Christian theologizing. To date, the contemporary literature has tended to focus on anthropological issues (e.g., whether the traditional soul / body distinction is viable), with occasional articles treating physicalist accounts of such doctrines as the Incarnation and Resurrection of Jesus cropping up, as well. Interestingly, the literature to date, both for and against this influence, is dominated by philosophers. The present volume is a collection of philosophers and theologians who advance several novel criticisms of this growing trend toward physicalism in Christian theology. The present collection definitively shows that Christian physicalism has some significant philosophical and theological problems. No doubt all philosophical anthropologies have their challenges, but the present volume shows that Christian physicalism is most likely not an adequate accounting for essential theological topics within Christian theism. Christians, then, should consider alternative anthropologies.

Lexington Books

Pages: 494 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4985-4923-3 • Hardback • December 2017 • $160.00 • (£123.00)

978-1-4985-4924-0 • eBook • December 2017 • $152.00 • (£117.00)

Subjects: Religion / Philosophy, Philosophy / Mind & Body, Philosophy / Religious, Religion / Christian Theology / Christology, Religion / Christian Theology / Systematic

Christian Physicalism?

Philosophical Theological Criticisms

Hardback

eBook

Summary

On the heels of the advance since the twentieth-century of wholly physicalist accounts of human persons, the influence of materialist ontology is increasingly evident in Christian theologizing. To date, the contemporary literature has tended to focus on anthropological issues (e.g., whether the traditional soul / body distinction is viable), with occasional articles treating physicalist accounts of such doctrines as the Incarnation and Resurrection of Jesus cropping up, as well. Interestingly, the literature to date, both for and against this influence, is dominated by philosophers. The present volume is a collection of philosophers and theologians who advance several novel criticisms of this growing trend toward physicalism in Christian theology. The present collection definitively shows that Christian physicalism has some significant philosophical and theological problems. No doubt all philosophical anthropologies have their challenges, but the present volume shows that Christian physicalism is most likely not an adequate accounting for essential theological topics within Christian theism. Christians, then, should consider alternative anthropologies.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 494 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4985-4923-3 • Hardback • December 2017 • $160.00 • (£123.00)

978-1-4985-4924-0 • eBook • December 2017 • $152.00 • (£117.00)

Subjects: Religion / Philosophy, Philosophy / Mind & Body, Philosophy / Religious, Religion / Christian Theology / Christology, Religion / Christian Theology / Systematic

Author

R. Keith Loftin is assistant professor of philosophy and humanities at Scarborough College and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Joshua R. Farris is assistant professor of theology at Houston Baptist University.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Thomas McCall
Christian Physicalism? An Introduction
Joshua R. Farris & R. Keith Loftin
1. The Incorporeality of the Soul in Patristic Thought
Paul L. Gavrilyuk
2. Christian Physicalism: Against the Medieval Divines
Thomas Atkinson
3. Substance Dualism and the Diachronic/Synchronic Unity of Consciousness
J.P. Moreland
4. Christian Physicalism and Our Knowledge of God
Angus Menuge
5. Physicalism, Divine Eternality, and Life Everlasting
R. Keith Loftin and R.T. Mullins
6. Holy Saturday and Christian Theological Anthropology
Jason McMartin
7. Physicalism, the Incarnation, and Holy Saturday: A Conversation with Karl Barth
Marc Cortez
8. Physicalist Christology and the Two Sons Worry
R.T. Mullins
9. Physicalism and the Death of Christ
Charles Taliaferro
10. Christian Materialism Entails Pelagianism
Matthew J. Hart
11. Sanctification and Physicalism
R. Scott Smith
12. Neuroscience, Spiritual Formation, and Bodily Souls: A Critique of Christian Physicalism
Brandon Rickabaugh & C. Stephen Evans
13. Hope for Christian Materialism? Problems of Too Many Thinkers
Jonathan J. Loose
14. How to Lose the Intermediate State without Losing Your Soul
James T. Turner, Jr.
15. Dismantling Bodily Resurrection Objections to Mind-Body Dualism
Brandon Rickabaugh
16. “Absent from the Body . . . Present with the Lord”: Is the Intermediate State Fatal to Physicalism?
John W. Cooper
17. Physicalism and Sin
Charles Taliaferro
18. Christian Materialism and Christian Ethics: Moral Debt and an Ethic of Life
Jonathan J. Loose
19. The Incompatibility of Physicalism with Physics
Bruce L. Gordon
20. Reflections on Christian Physicalism by a Veteran Anti-Physicalist
Howard Robinson
Afterword
Gerald O’Collins

Reviews

The authors of this book contend that Christian intellectuals have made an egregiously bad deal in selling their souls in order to make peace with physicalist philosophy and naturalist science. They provide a powerful challenge to the physicalist conglomerate in contemporary thought, and give us a wide range of reasons why we need to recover the full riches of the robust view of human nature assumed in Nicene catholic Christian faith.
— Jerry L. Walls, Houston Baptist University

Throughout church history some of the most innovative Christian philosophy has been occasioned by the need to refute wayward doctrine. Christian Physicalism?: Philosophical Theological Criticisms constitutes another excellent case in point. This book is a tour de force critique of Christian physicalism, featuring an array of interesting and powerful arguments—historical, philosophical, biblical, theological, and even scientific—against the materialist view of human nature. These essays will not be the final round in the debate over Christian physicalism, but they ought to be.
— James S. Spiegel, Taylor University

Christian Physicalism?

Philosophical Theological Criticisms

Christian Physicalism?

Philosophical Theological Criticisms

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