Referring to God: Jewish and Christian Philosophical and Theological Perspectives

181 Pages·2000·2.422 MB·English

by  Paul Helm

Referring to God
CURZON JEWISH PHILOSOPHY SERIES
Series Editor: Oliver Leaman
This series publishes books in the general area of Jewish
philosophy. A broad interpretation is taken of what Jewish
philosophy comprises, and the series is interested in receiving
proposals which involve a philosophical treatment of a Jewish
thinker or topic, or which look at some aspect of Jewish cultural
life from a philosophical perspective.
MEDIEVAL JEWISH PHILOSOPHY
An Introduction
Dan Cohn-Sherbok
FACING THE OTHER
The Ethics of Emmanuel Levinas
Edited by Sean Hand
MOSES MAIMONIDES
Oliver Leaman
A USER'S GUIDE TO FRANZ ROSENZWEIG'S
STAR OF REDEMPTION
Norbert M. Samuelson
ON LIBERTY
Jewish Philosophical Perspectives
Edited by Daniel H. Frank
REFERRING TO GOD
Jewish and Christian Philosophical and Theological Perspectives
Edited by Paul Helm
Referring to God
Jewish and Christian
Philosophical and
Theological Perspectives
Edited by
Paul Helm
gl
Routledge
i
~
Taylor & Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First Published in 2000
by Routledge
Richmond, Surrey
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Transferred to Digital Printing 2011
Editorial Matter © 2000 Paul Helm
Typeset in New Century Schoolbook by
LaserScript Ltd, Mitcham, Surrey
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or
other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photo
copying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN1O: 0-7007-1079-5 (hbk)
ISBN1O: 0-415-59257-7 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-7007-1079-9 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-59257-4 (pbk)
Publisher's Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint
but points out that some imperfections in the original may be apparent.
Contents
Preface Vll
Notes on Contributors IX
1 Introduction 1
Oliver Leaman
2 The Source and Destination of Thought 15
John Haldane
Response 34
Mark Wynn
3 William Alston on Referring to God 41
Joe Houston
Response 63
Peter Byrne
4 Identifying God in Experience: On Strawso n,
Sounds and God's Space 71
Jerome Gellman
Response 90
Paul Helm
5 The God of Abraham, Saadia and Aquinas 95
Eleonore Stump
Response 120
Martin Stone
v
CONTENTS
6 Judaic Perspectives on Petitionary Prayer 129
Jerome Gellman
7 Maimonides and Calvin on Divine
Accommodation 149
Paul Helm
Bibliography 171
Index 173
vi
Preface
In the mediaeval period there was intense discussion among
Jews, Christians and Muslims over matters of common philoso
phical concern, but there has been little since. As a step in the
direction of renewing such dialogue a Conference was organised
in King's College London in April 1997 to bring together Jewish
and Christian philosophers to discuss problems and possibilities
in talking about God. Four of the papers from that Conference,
together with the Responses ofthe Commentators, are published
here. A version of Eleonore Stump's paper has already appeared
in Faith and Philosophy, Vo1.14. No.4, October 1997 with the
title 'Saadia Gaon on the Problem of Evil', an issue of that
Journal devoted to Jewish Religious Thought. Jerry Gellman's
paper 'Judaic Perspectives on Petitionary Prayer' and Paul
Helm's 'Calvin and Maimonides on Divine Accommodation' were
each delivered at a Session at the American Philosophical
Association meetings in Philadelphia, December 1997, a session
co-sponsored by the Academy for Jewish Philosophy and the
Society of Christian Philosophers.
It is a pleasure to acknowledge the generous assistance of the
Anglo-Israeli Association, the British Academy and the Spalding
Trust. Without this help, the Conference would not have been
possible. Thanks also to Oliver Leaman for kindly agreeing to
include this book in his Series and for being willing to write the
Introduction, and to Jonathan Price of the Curzon Press for his
encouragement and help in bringing this book to the birth.
Paul Helm
vii
Notes on Contributors
Peter Byrne is Professor of Ethics and the Philosophy of
Religion, King's College London.
Jerome Gellman is Professor of Philosophy, Ben Gurion
University.
John Haldane is Professor of Philosophy, University of St.
Andrews.
Paul Helm IS Professor of the History and Philosophy of
Religion, King's College London.
Joe Houston is Senior Lecturer III Theology, University of
Glasgow.
Oliver Leaman is Professor of Philosophy at Liverpool John
Moores University.
Martin Stone is Lecturer in the Philosophy of Religion in the
Department of Theology and Religious Studies, King's College
London.
Eleonore Stump is Professor of Philosophy, St Louis University.
Mark Wynn is Lecturer in the Philosophy of Religion in the
School of Religion and Philosophy at the Brisbane Campus of the
Australian Catholic University.
ix
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
Oliver Leaman
T
here is a close historical connection between the three
religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It is more
than historical, though, and the religions themselves accept the
existence of some sort of link, albeit the nature of that link is
often highly disputed. Judaism is the earliest and provided the
context out of which Christianity, and in particular Jesus the
Jew, emerged. When we come to slightly later Christian figures
such as St Paul who try to set themselves determinedly against
both Judaism and their own Judaism, we still have to acknowl
edge the role of Judaism in the characterisation of the new
religion. Even Christians who were hostile to Judaism included
the Old Testament in the canon, as a series of texts which point
to Jesus and the New Testament. This logic of emergence finds
its fullest description in Islam, of course, which accepts the
validity of both the Jewish and Christian revelations, arguing
that these were superseded by the final prophecy of Muhammad.
Although Christianity and Islam are very obviously, and self
consciously, different religions, the close links which exist
between them lead to the interesting question as to whether
the Jew, Christian and Muslim actually pray to the same God.
Or, to ask a slightly different question, do they mean by 'God' the
same person? Could a God who is a trinity of persons be the same
God as one who is not? It would be interesting if this is the same
God, since we are well aware of millennia of conflicts between
these religions, conflicts which continue today despite the
politeness of their theologians when they meet together.
We need to distinguish here between a number of different
ways of talking about the same thing. But before we look at