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like Karl Rahner and Bernard Lonergan, who developed
a transcendental Thomism that sought greater dialogue
with both the Enlightenment and the work of philoso-
phers like Heidegger. The Second Vatican Council ended
the monopoly of Thomism so that Roman-Catholic the-
ologians and philosophers are now free to explore various
schools of thought including process theology.
See Aquinas, Thomas; Lonergan, Bernard; Rahner,
Karl
Further reading: Brezik 1981; Grenet 1967; McInerny
1966
Tillich, Paul (1886 1965): A German philosophical theolo-
gian, Tillich, under Nazi pressure for his socialistic views,
emigrated to the USA in 1934, and then taught at Union
Theological Seminary, Harvard, and the University of
Chicago, eventually achieving wide public recognition,
even appearing on the cover of Time magazine. His pop-
ular works include collected sermons in The Courage
to Be (1952) and The Eternal Now (1963). Tillich de-
fended a  method of correlation , in which theologi-
cal formulation is determined by the present existential
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questions/concerns of society. In this way theology is en-
sured apologetic relevance. Among these points of corre-
lation is Tillich s identification of an existential fear of not
being and the universality of an  ultimate concern , which
Tillich interprets as God. Since everyone has an ultimate
concern, atheism is, strictly speaking, impossible. Tillich
was critical of ontotheology, as he stressed that God is not
a being, but the ground of being. Since God transcends
existence it is wrong to say that God exists. The answer to
our existential struggle is in the  New Being (Christ), who
offers us the means to the  essentialisation that makes us
whole. Tillich s Systematic Theology (1951, 1957, 1963)
is the fullest presentation of his work. Critics contend
that the method of correlation produces a theology only
as good as the questions being asked, and it is often at this
point that a prophetic voice is necessary. Moreover, his
theology is overly abstract, and shows little interaction
with Scripture.
See God, existence of; Heidegger, Martin; Neoplaton-
ism; ontotheology
Further reading: Tillich 1951 63 and 1952
time: Augustine famously remarked in his Confessions:
 What, then, is time? If no one asks me about it, I know; if
someone asks me to explain it, I don t know (Augustine
1991: XI.xiv). Many Christian philosophers since have
followed his example. Aristotle defined time in his Physics
as the measure of change, but some philosophers have ac-
cused him of getting things the wrong way round, claim-
ing that change is the way by which we keep track of time.
Christian philosophers have debated whether God is in
time or not: in classical theism, God is viewed as being
outside time, but contemporary Christian philosophers
are divided on this question. Those that have said that
God is in time have often had a motivation for rejecting
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Aristotle s definition, claiming that in the past there was a
time when only an unchanging God existed. But perhaps
if God is in time he must change, if only to have new
memories. Many Christians think that on the  last day
God will bring time to a halt, but the biblical writings
seem to envisage a continuation of actions in the next
life (for example, praise of God), and how can one con-
tinue to perform actions without time in which to perform
them?
See eternity
Further reading: Augustine 1991; Ganssle 2001; Le
Poidevin 1998; Le Poidevin and McBeath 1993; Prior
2003; Swinburne 1968; Tooley 1997; Zwart 1976
timelessness see eternity
transcendence: Transcendence is the relational property of
possessing a higher level of existence. For instance, human
beings transcend the natural world owing to our capaci-
ties in the realm of self-consciousness, reason and moral
action. The preeminent transcendent being is, of course,
God, who, in Christian theology, utterly transcends all
else that exists as the creator of it. Kierkegaard referred
to the gulf between God and creation as an  infinite qual-
itative difference . For that reason, Karl Barth stressed
that God must initiate contact in revelation. At the same
time, Christian theology also asserts that God is fully im-
manent within creation, most concretely in the incarna-
tion. The relationship between divine transcendence and
immanence constitutes one of the most fundamental the-
ological tensions.
See creation; God, existence of; language, religious; via
negativa
Further reading: Archer, Collier and Porpora 2004;
Farley 1962; Westphal, Merold 2004
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Trinity, doctrine of the: The doctrine of the Trinity can be
stated in two simple propositions:
1. There exists exactly one divine substance: God.
2. There exist exactly three divine persons: Father, Son
and Holy Spirit.
The problems arise in reconciling these two propositions:
what is the relation between the persons and the sub-
stance? Some Christian philosophers believe that in the
Trinity there is one thinker (that is, God)  the challenge
for them is to understand how there can be three di-
vine persons. Other Christian philosophers believe that
in the Trinity there are three thinkers (that is, the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit)  the challenge for them is
to understand how there can be one God. One sugges-
tion, put forward by Peter Geach and Peter van Inwa-
gen, is that of relative identity: this allows that the Father
can be the same God as, but a different person from, the
Son. Another suggestion is that  the Father is God is not
an identity statement at all, but a mere predication of di-
vinity of the Father. This is often coupled with the claim
that the divine substance is merely the divine nature  an
abstract set of properties instantiated in the divine per-
sons. The charge of tritheism is deflected by the claim
that there are not three independent gods or Gods, but
three divine persons that always cooperate. These theories [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]