Loving God With Your Mind

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RamistThomist

Puritanboard Clerk
Gould, Paul., Davis, Richard Brian, eds. Loving God With Your Mind: Essays in Honor of JP Moreland.

Ironically, or perhaps appropriately, this book is strong and weak in ways that Platonic ontology is strong and weak: the chapters on universals and the soul are outstanding. Getting to particular applications proved troubling for some authors.

Metaphysics

The authors demonstrate J.P. Moreland’s impassioned commitment to something akin to Platonic metaphysics. There is a ready-made world consisting of natural classes of objects. To use J.P.’s euphonic phrase, “Reality is cut at the joints.” Outlining JP’s metaphysics would take to long. I refer the reader to the fine diagram on p. 24.

Thus Paul Gould argues that such a belief in abstract objects is endorsing Platonism (of some variety or another, p. 21). Several essays make similar claims--correctly, I think--but they never seem to get at the heart of reality: Platonic forms have causal power. To be sure, Gould and Wallace assert that Platonic properties “structure reality,” but don’t develop that thought.

Stewart Goetz summarizes JP’s view of the soul: it is an immaterial substance that maintains identity through change, isn’t reducible to the body and can exist independently, and the like.

Truth

The next few essays summarize JP’s epistemology, which is a mild foundationalism.

Apologetics

A range of essays on natural theology, rational apologetics, and technology. Of mixed value.

and the Church

Several fascinating essays on the Virtuous Life and empowering the church. Much of it is a summary of Issler and Moreland, The Lost Virtue of Happiness. Mike Erre’s essay is of particular importance: he touches on the third leg of the Kingdom Triangle: Spiritual Power. While it isn’t a full defense of continuationism, he does have some good arguments

Conclusion

Most of the essays in this book are erudite and a few are technical. Still, an important volume honoring a mighty thinker
 
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