1. Alister McGrath, Christian Theology: An Introduction
Chapter 9
The Doctrine of God
Wiley-Blackwell 2010

2. Is God Male? A Personal God Difficulties of calling God a “person”
Biblical language
Gregory of Nazianzus
Theological language as analogy
Sallie McFague, Models of God
Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love
A Personal God
Difficulties of calling God a “person”
Defining “person”
An impersonal God
Aristotle
Baruch Spinoza ( )
Dialogical personalism: Martin Buber
I-it and I-You relations
God cannot be reduced to a concept
God’s self-revelation
God as active subject rather than passive object
Wiley-Blackwell 2010

3. Can God Suffer? The classic view: the impassibility of God
Philo of Alexandria (c.30 BC-c.AD 45), That God is Unchangeable
Anselm and Aquinas
A suffering God: Jürgen Moltmann
The rise of protest atheism
The rediscovery of Martin Luther’s theology of the cross
The growing impact of the “history of dogma” movement
The rise of process thought
Fresh studies of the Old Testament
Notions of “love”
Moltmann’s The Crucified God (1972)
Kazoh Kitamori, A Theology of the Pain of God (1946)
Patripassianism (3rd century)
Theopaschitism (6th century)
Wiley-Blackwell 2010

4. The death of God? Charles Wesley, “And Can It Be?” 1966, “God is dead”
Amazing love! how can it be
That thou, my God, shouldst die for me? …
‘Tis mystery all! th’immortal dies!
Who can explore his strange design?
1966, “God is dead”
Friedrich Nietzsche ( )
1960s “Death of God” movement
God “dies” in Christ
Eberhard Jüngel
Jürgen Moltmann, “death in God”
Wiley-Blackwell 2010

5. God’s Action in the World
The Omnipotence of God
Defining omnipotence
Anselm of Canterbury
Thomas Aquinas
The two powers of God (William Ockham)
The absolute power of God
The ordained power of God
The notion of divine self-limitation
Kenoticism (Philippians 2:6-7)
God’s Action in the World
Deism: God acts through the laws of nature
Thomism: God acts through secondary causes (Aquinas)
Process theology: God acts through persuasion
Wiley-Blackwell 2010

6. God as Creator Development of the doctrine of creation
Historical, prophetic, and wisdom writings
Creation as ordering
Nature is not divine
Creation and the rejection of dualism
Gnosticism
Augustine
Augustine of Hippo’s doctrine of creation
On the Literal Meaning of Genesis
Two “moments” in creation
Image of the seed
The doctrine of creation ex nihilo
Conflict with Gnosticism
Tertullian
Wiley-Blackwell 2010

7. Implications of the doctrine of creation
Distinction between God and creation
Implies God’s authority over the world
Human stewardship
Implies the original goodness of creation
Human beings are created in the image of God
Models of God as creator
Emanation
Construction
Artistic expression
Creation and Christian approaches to ecology
Lynn White Jr
Douglas John Hall, Imaging God: Dominion as Stewardship
Calvin B. DeWitt
The earthkeeping principle
The sabbath principle
The fruitfulness principle
The fulfillment and limits principle
Jürgen Moltmann, God in Creation
Wiley-Blackwell 2010

8. Theodicies: The Problem of Evil
God is good
A good God would not permit suffering or evil
Yet suffering and evil are observed in the world
Therefore a good God does not exist
Irenaeus of Lyons (c.130-c.200)
Maturity and growth requires encounter with evil
John Hick (b.1922), Evil and the God of Love
Augustine of Hippo ( )
Rejection of Gnosticism
Evil as a consequence of the misuse of human freedom
Karl Barth ( )
Confidence in the ultimate triumph of the grace of God
Evil as das Nichtige, nothingness
Wiley-Blackwell 2010

9. Alvin Plantinga (b.1932) Liberation theology Process theology
Free will is morally important
Genuine free will requires evil as a real option
God must bring into being the best possible world that God is able to do
God must create a world with free will
God will not compel human beings to do good nor restrain them from doing evil
Liberation theology
Participation in God’s struggle against and confrontation of suffering
James Cone
Process theology
God persuades rather than coerces
“Protest theodicy”
Old Testament themes
Elie Wiesel (b.1928)
Wiley-Blackwell 2010

10. The Holy Spirit Models of the Holy Spirit
Spirit as wind
Spirit as breath
Spirit as charism
The debate over the divinity of the Holy Spirit
The early church: Montanus
Patristic era: pneumatomachoi v. Athanasius and Basil of Caesarea
Council of Constantinople, 381
Divinity established later 4th century
Scripture applied all the titles of God to the Spirit
The Spirit has divine functions
Baptism in the name of the “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”
Sequential development
Recognition of Jesus’ full divinity
Recognition of Spirit’s full divinity
Formulation of doctrine of the Trinity
Wiley-Blackwell 2010

11. Augustine of Hippo: the Spirit as bond of love
The Spirit as the bond of the Father and the Son
The Spirit as the bond of unity between God and believers
The Spirit as forging bonds of unity between believers
The functions of the Spirit
The illumination of revelation
Inspiration of Scripture
The origin of faith
The appropriation of salvation
Sanctification and divinization
The energization of the Christian life
Unity within the church
Prayer, spiritualiy, and worship
Shaping and sustaining the church
Mission
Wiley-Blackwell 2010