Timpe, Professor Kevin (Northwest Nazarene University, USA)

Free Will in Philosophical Theology Timpe, Professor Kevin (Northwest Nazarene University, USA)

Marc Notes: 'Free Will in Philosophical Theology' takes the most recent philosophical work on free will and uses it to elucidate and explore theological doctrines involving free will. Rather than being a work of natural theology, it is a work in what has been called clarification - using philosophy to understand, develop, systematize, and explain theological claims without first raising the justification for holding the theological claims that one is working with. Timpe's aim is to show how a particular philosophical account of the nature of free will - an account known as source incompatibilism - can help us understand a range of theological doctrines. Review Quotes: Kevin Timpe applies the insights of his previous excellent work on the nature of free will to a number of central topics in the Biblical drama, from the fall to heaven and hell. The result is a first rate contribution to philosophical theology that is as theologically rich and illuminating as it is philosophically rigorous. Review Quotes: Philosophy of religion and questions concerning free will constitute two of the most vibrant areas in philosophy today. In" Free Will and Philosophical Theology" Kevin Timpe combines the two. He proposes a version of source incompatibilism - free will means that you, the agent, are the ultimate cause of your choices - and then, with this brand of libertarianism in place, attempts to analyze issues, problems, and puzzles involving free will and traditional Christian doctrine. His topics include the primal sin, grace, the freedom of the damned and the beatified, and divine freedom. These issues are perennial for the Christian thinker, but, to my knowledge, Timpe's is the first contemporary work to bring them all together in a single analytic volume. The volume makes a real contribution to contemporary analytic philosophy of religion. Review Quotes: This is a splendid contribution to the literature on free will. Set in the borderlands between philosophy and theology, Timpe's work shows how a substantial vision of free will can be integrated into a robust account of sin and grace. The concepts deployed are clear, the arguments articulated are felicitous, and the overall result is a book worthy of our closest attention. Review Quotes: In this volume Kevin Timpe sets out to "tell a theological story philosophically." This story concerns the place occupied by discussion of free will in Christian theology. It is a story told from a certain perspective, what he calls "philosophical Arminianism," a version of libertarianism. By attending to some of the most fundamental difficulties in the Christian tradition -- problems such as the origin of sin, human freedom in relation to salvation by divine grace, the freedom of those in heaven and and those in hell, and God's freedom -- Timpe offers his readers a rich and powerful case for thinking about contemporary theological concerns in a philosophical key. Clearly written and carefully argued, this is analytic theology at its best. Table of Contents: DedicationAcknowledgements Chapter 1: The Importance and Nature of Free Will1.1 Introduction1.2 Philosophical Theology1.3 The Nature of Free Will: Source Incompatibilism1.4 The IssuesChapter 2: Free Will and the Good2.1 Choice, the Good, and Teleology2.2 Reasons and Choice2.3 Moral Character and Agency2.4 Moral Character and HabitChapter 3: The Primal Sin3.1 Introduction3.2 Katherin Rogers on Anselm3.3 Scott MacDonald on Augustine3.4 Taking StockChapter 4: Realigning a Fallen Will4.1 Introduction4.2 Grace and Theological Determinism4.3 Non-deterministic Grace4.4 Stump on Grace and Faith4.5 Refraining, Quasi-causing, and Control4.6 ConclusionChapter 5: Damned Freedom5.1 Introduction5.2 The Traditional Doctrine of Hell5.3 The Choice Model of Hell5.4 Death and Psychological Impossibility5.5 Overcoming Two Objections5.6 ConclusionChapter 6: Perfected Freedom6.1 Introduction6.2 Virtue Libertarianism in Heaven6.3 Warding Off Objections6.4 Moral Perfection and Purgatory6.5 ConclusionChapter 7: Divine Freedom7.1 Virtue Libertarianism and History7.2 Morriston on Moral Freedom and History7.3 Divine Freedom and Moral Freedom7.4 God's Freedom as the Truest Freedom7.5 Divine Freedom God's Choice to CreateBibliographyIndexBiographical Note: Kevin Timpe is Professor of Philosophy at Northwest Nazarene University, USA, and former Templeton Research Fellow at St. Peter's College, University of Oxford, UK. He is the author of "Free Will: Sourcehood and Its Alternatives" (Continuum, 2008) and "Free Will in Philosophical Theology" (Continuum, forthcoming). He is also editor of "Metaphysics and God" (Routledge, 2009), "Arguing about""Religion" (Routledge, 2009) and (with Craig Boyd) "Virtues and Their Vices" (Oxford University Press, forthcoming). His recent publications have appeared in "Philosophical Studies, American""Philosophical Quarterly, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Faith and Philosophy, Religious Studies," and "Philosophia." Contributor Bio:  Timpe, Kevin Kevin Timpe is Professor of Philosophy at NorthwestNazarene University, USA, and former Templeton Research Fellow at St. Peter'sCollege, University of Oxford, UK. He is the author of "Free Will: Sourcehoodand Its Alternatives" (Continuum, 2008) and "Free Will in Philosophical Theology" (Continuum, forthcoming). He isalso editor of "Metaphysics and God" (Routledge, 2009), "Arguing aboutReligion" (Routledge, 2009) and (with Craig Boyd) "Virtues and Their Vices" (Oxford University Press, forthcoming). Hisrecent publications have appeared in "Philosophical Studies, AmericanPhilosophical Quarterly, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Faith and Philosophy, Religious Studies", and "Philosophia".