Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Editor's introduction
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Analytic philosophy of religion: retrospect and prospect
- 2 Is it possible and desirable for theologians to recover from Kant?
- 3 Conundrums in Kant's rational religion
- 4 In defense of Gaunilo's defense of the fool
- 5 Divine simplicity
- 6 Alston on Aquinas on theological predication
- 7 God everlasting
- 8 Unqualified divine temporality
- 9 Suffering love
- 10 Is God disturbed by what transpires in human affairs?
- 11 The silence of the God who speaks
- 12 Barth on evil
- 13 Tertullian's enduring question
- Bibliography
- Index
8 - Unqualified divine temporality
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 May 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Editor's introduction
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Analytic philosophy of religion: retrospect and prospect
- 2 Is it possible and desirable for theologians to recover from Kant?
- 3 Conundrums in Kant's rational religion
- 4 In defense of Gaunilo's defense of the fool
- 5 Divine simplicity
- 6 Alston on Aquinas on theological predication
- 7 God everlasting
- 8 Unqualified divine temporality
- 9 Suffering love
- 10 Is God disturbed by what transpires in human affairs?
- 11 The silence of the God who speaks
- 12 Barth on evil
- 13 Tertullian's enduring question
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
God is presented in Scripture as One who has a history of acting and responding. Recall Exodus 3–4. When Moses was tending the flocks of his father-in-law in the wilderness, his curiosity was piqued one day by a bush engulfed in flames but not consumed. He walked over; and as he approached, God addressed him out of the bush: “Moses, Moses!” It's the narrator who tells us that it was God addressing him; Moses didn't yet know what to make of what was happening. Moses responded, “Here I am,” whereupon God said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” Then the speaker in the bush identified himself. “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses was gripped by fear and, no longer daring to look, covered his face.
God then told Moses that he, God, had seen the affliction of his people, had heard their cry of suffering, and had “come down” to bring them out of servitude into a land where they could flourish. “So come,” said God, “I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”
What then follows is a series of protests by Moses. Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and lead my people out? I'll be with you, says God.
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- Information
- Inquiring about God , pp. 157 - 181Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010