Re: [asa] McGrath, Torrance, and Monistic View

That was my first thought too, and when he used the term, I said something
like, "you mean monistic in terms of human nature?" and he said, "no, just
generally" and mentioned something about a "certain view of physics." But
it was sort of a dinner conversation and I didn't have a chance to follow up
on that. I'm thinking it's something along the lines of process theology /
panentheism -- no strong separation between God and a contingent creation.

On 10/15/06, George Murphy <gmurphy@raex.com> wrote:
>
> Yes, I'd forgotten this. It's the chapter by Warren Brown, "Evolution,
> Cognitive Neuroscience, and the Soul." He does use the term "monism" to
> include his position of "nonreductive physicalism."
>
> IMO there's the good deal to be said for that view - when talking about
> human beings. But the claim that mind can be understood entirely (though
> nonreductively" in physical terms seems to founder when it comes to God. &
> it's really only a view in which God (if God exists) can be understood as
> physical that could be called "monism" in the strict sense.
>
> Shalom
> George
> http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Merv <mrb22667@kansas.net>
> *To:* David Opderbeck <dopderbeck@gmail.com> ; asa@calvin.edu
> *Sent:* Sunday, October 15, 2006 6:53 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [asa] McGrath, Torrance, and Monistic View
>
>
> I think "monism" can also refer to a perspective of a unified body and
> soul. One of the authors in Keith Miller's "Perspectives ..." I think
> advocated a position referred to that way -- i.e. "soul" being seen as a
> physical manifestation just as the body is. It's been too long since I
> read it or listened to him when he came to K-State, so I can't be more
> specific, but it was written within the context of being evangelical, so I
> would guess that not everyone shares in the "dualism = orthodox and monism =
> heterodox" formula. Perhaps Keith Miller can elaborate if he's still
> following these threads. I may be putting words in somebody else's mouth.
>
> --merv
>
> David Opderbeck wrote:
>
> Thanks Phil. The person I was speaking with isn't evangelical or
> Christian at all in any traditional sense. He was criticizing McGrath's
> evangelical-ness when he used the term "monist." Maybe he used the wrong
> term?
>
> On 10/15/06, philtill@aol.com <philtill@aol.com> wrote:
> >
> > David,
> > I spent a week sitting in a TV studio as part of McGrath's audience
> > while he taped a seminar on science and Christianity. During the entire
> > seminar I never picked up that McGrath was anything other than an orthodox
> > Anglican evangelical. I never picked up that he held to any monist ideas of
> > God. Perhaps this is someone's interpretation of McGrath's beliefs, rather
> > than McGrath's own interpretation of them.
> >
> > "Monism" usually means that belief that only One entity fundamentally
> > exists, and that all the varied things we experience are really just
> > manifestations of that One. Monistic faiths include Pantheism (incl.
> > Hinduism), which asserts that everything is really God in the final
> > analysis, and atheism, which asserts that everything is really non-God in
> > the final analysis. Non-monistic faiths include Christianity, Judaism, and
> > Islam, because they assert that God both exists and **created** things, and
> > that this creating brought into existence things that stand as **other**
> > than Himself. That is, there is a Creator/creation distinction in
> > non-monist faiths, and so God is not the only thing that exists. It has
> > been claimed that the good vs. evil distinction cannot exist in monism,
> > since good is defined by the creator and non-good can only be a property of
> > beings that are not the creator. Hence, good and evil ultimately
> > just illusions in monist belief systems like Hinduism or atheism. I have a
> > hard time believing McGrath is really monist.
> >
> > He seemed like a very nice person, and you might get to speak with him
> > if you give him a call. He is not teaching right now because he won a
> > Templeton fellowship to focus on research regarding the interface between
> > science and Christianity, and he was very excited about that. He might be
> > willing to talk with you if you introduce yourself stating your credentials
> > and your interests.
> >
> > best,
> > Phil
> >
> >
> >
>
>

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Received on Sun Oct 15 20:08:46 2006