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(2013) Models of God and alternative ultimate realities, Dordrecht, Springer.
Deistic distance
the shift in early modern theology from divine immanence to divine design
Kurt Anders Richardson
pp. 511-524
This paper is about the early modern appearance of a model of the God/world relation characterized by "divine distance". Remarkably, the appearance of this science-based model characterized not only what is historically known as deism, but also many expressions of theism. Here I focus on two early examples, theist and deist, of design models of God's relation to the world. By the time of the high medieval theologies, God's radical transcendence in perfection was thought to be matched by God's simultaneous immanence, minimizing the role of divine causation within the world. After its beginnings in Bonaventure and Scotus, early modern theology offers a model of such divine distance in both "orthodox" theist and deist forms. Ultimately, the distinction between deism and theism will be revelation, and with it the disclosure not merely of divine intention and action but also of personality and relationship.
Publication details
DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-5219-1_42
Full citation:
Richardson, K. (2013)., Deistic distance: the shift in early modern theology from divine immanence to divine design, in J. Diller & A. Kasher (eds.), Models of God and alternative ultimate realities, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 511-524.
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