The Metaphysics of Divine Participation

Description

Participation has been central to the story of Western philosophy and theology for at least two millennia. It has been employed to conceptualise the relationship between God and creation, between universals and particulars, and between the One and the many. This Element approaches the concept systematically to acquire an appreciation of its breadth and depth under four fundamental themes: creation and the divine ideas, incarnation and salvation, being and multiplicity, and the human activities of naming, knowing and making. In doing so it examines some of the key thinkers in the participatory tradition, including Augustine, Irenaeus, Aquinas, and Nicholas of Cusa. Readers will be introduced to the key contours and manifestations of participatory metaphysics, and its role in Christianity’s self-articulation. Together, these considerations will demonstrate how the metaphysics of participation has shaped the Christian tradition. Cover Title page Copyright page The Metaphysics of Divine Participation Contents 1 The Metaphysics of Divine Participation Participation in Context Defining Participation Participation’s History 2 Creation, the Divine Ideas, and the Origins of Participation The Divine Ideas The Hebrew Bible Plato & Philo Augustine Creation as Revelation 3 Being and Becoming in God through Incarnation and Salvation Irenaeus of Lyons Being and Becoming Divine Economy Humans in the Participatory Economy: Image and Likeness Incarnation and Recapitulation Balthasar and Participatory Drama 4 Participatory Being in Existence, Multiplicity and Analogy Aquinas on Participation The Elements of Participation Existence and Participation Continuous Creation Multiplicity Analogy Przywara and the Analogy of Being 5 Participatory Knowing, Naming and Creating Nicholas of Cusa Naming Knowing Making Artistic Making Romanticism and Participatory Making Bibliography Acknowledgements