Table Of Content

COGNITIVEIDOLATRYANDTHETRINITY INPAULK.MOSER’SPHILOSOPHY BenjaminB.Nasmith Athesispresentedinpartialfulfillment oftherequirementforthe DegreeofMasterofArts BriercrestSeminary February2017 SIGNATURESHEETFORTHETHESIS IcertifythatIhavereadandamwillingtosponsorthisthesissubmittedbyBenjaminB. Nasmith. Inmyopinion,itconformstoacceptablestandardsandisfullyadequateinscope andqualityasathesisforthedegreeofMasterofArtsatBriercrestSeminary. (date) DavidGuretzki,PhD FirstReader IcertifythatIhavereadthisthesisandinmyopinionitconformstoacceptablestandards forathesisforthedegreeofMasterofArtsatBriercrestSeminary. (date) GrantPoettcker,PhD SecondReader AbstractofathesispresentedtoBriercrestSeminary inpartialfulfillmentoftherequirementsforthe degreeofMasterofArts COGNITIVEIDOLATRYANDTHETRINITY INPAULK.MOSER’SPHILOSOPHY by BenjaminB.Nasmith February2017 ChristianphilosopherPaulK.Moserdevelopsanaccountofhumaninquiryon whichtruth-seekerscandonobetterthantoseekoutthebestavailableexplanationoftheir perspective-boundnonconceptualexperiences,usingcategoriesandinterpretive commitmentsthatvaryaccordingtotheirpurposesasinquirers. Wheninquiryconcernsa Godwhoisworthyofworship,MoserarguesthatinquirymustconformtoGod’spurposes inbeingknown. Thesepurposesincludeestablishingfellowshipwithhumansandbetween humansaccordingtoGod’scharacterofperfectlove. Theperspectivalevidenceneeding theologicalexplanation,forsuchaGod,willconsistofGod’sself-manifestationthrough I-Thouencounter. Toreceivesuchevidence,inquirersmustconformtoanethicsfor inquirythatenablesGodtoself-manifestandinquirerstoreceivethatself-manifestation. RefusaltoinquireaboutGodonGod’stermsamountstocognitiveidolatry. Assuch, theologicalbeliefisjustifiedforapersoninasmuchasitbestexplainstheirexperienceof iv God’sself-manifestationusingcategoriesandinterpretivecommitmentsthatcomportwith God’spurposesinbeingknown. IfweapplyMoser’stheologicalepistemologytoinquiryabouttheTrinity,wemust requirethatourconstrualoftheTrinityaccountforGod’sself-manifestationinexperience. ItmustthereforeincorporatesomenotionofselfhoodintheTrinity,whereselfhoodmeans beingcapableofI-Thouencounter. Theevidenceneedingexplanationconsistsofthe ChristianexperienceoftheSpiritofGodastheSpiritofJesus. Thatis,ajustifiable accountoftheTrinitymustbestexplainwhyitisthatChristiansreceivetheHolySpiritas conveyingthepersonalpresenceoftheexaltedJesusyetalsoperceivethatthehuman Jesusisaco-recipientoftheHolySpiritastheSpiritofhisFather. Evenso,noaccountof theTrinityservesGod’spurposesinbeingknownifdivorcedfromtheinquirer’sown experienceofGod. ThispneumaticapproachtotheTrinityattendstoGod’spurposesin beingknownbyGod’sSonandSpirit. Itrepresentsanexperientialapproachtothe doctrineoftheTrinityandtheologydistinctfromvariousbiblicalortraditionalapproaches. v ToAmber,Miles,Lucy,andJane vi “IownItaxyou,andIamsorry,butithastaxedmemore.” PeterTaylorForsyth,TheCrucialityoftheCross. vii CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 God’sPurposesinBeingKnownandCognitiveIdolatry . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 PaulMoserandtheNaturalTheologians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 PaulMoserandFideism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 PaulMoserandtheDoctrineoftheTrinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 TrinitarianTheologyinLightofGethsemaneEpistemology . . . . . . . . . . 18 2. PHILOSOPHICALPRELIMINARIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 ThePerspectivalFeatureofPaulMoser’sPhilosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 ObjectivityasConceiving-Independence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 TheChallengeofGlobalSkepticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 ConditionalOntologicalAgnosticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 TheIntentionalMeaningFeatureofPaulMoser’sPhilosophy . . . . . . . . . 28 TheUbiquityofConceptsandMinimalConceptual-Taking . . . . . . . . 29 MeaningviaInterpretationRatherThanLanguageUse . . . . . . . . . . 30 MeaningandConceptsasPurpose-Relative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 AnalyticityinPerspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 TheEvidentialFeatureofPaulMoser’sPhilosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 viii TheJustificationNeededforKnowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 FoundationalEvidenceandItsAlternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 ImmediateJustification,Experience,andExplanation . . . . . . . . . . . 45 3. COGNITIVEIDOLATRYANDETHICSFORTHEOLOGICALINQUIRY . . 50 GodasWorthyofWorship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 WorthinessofWorshipandRelationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 PersonalKnowledgeandEvidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 DivineSelf-ManifestationinExperienceasConviction . . . . . . . . . . 58 EthicsforInquiryaboutGod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 SuitablySeekingGod’sSelf-Manifestation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 CognitiveIdolatryinTheologicalInquiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 TowardaTheologyofDivineSelf-Manifestation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 TheFundamentalDisputeaboutI-ThouEncounterandSelfhood . . . . . . . 70 4. APNEUMATICAPPROACHTOTHETRINITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 MysteryandConceptualCommitments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 ATaxonomyofAccountsoftheTrinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 MysteryandCognitiveIdolatry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 JesusandtheSpiritofGod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 TheExaltedJesusandtheSpiritofGod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 TheHistoricalJesusandtheSpiritofGod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 ConceptualCategoriesandtheSpiritofJesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 AppropriatingtheChristianProclamation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 TranslatingtheChristianProclamation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 ix 5. SUMMARYANDEVALUATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 FromGeneralInquirytoInquiryabouttheTrinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 TheTrinityandChristianExperienceinOutline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 TheBenefitsandChallengesofaPneumaticApproach . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 FutureDirectionsforPaulMoser’sPneumaticTheology . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 x