Omnisubjectivity and Classical Theism Are Not Compatible

R. T. Mullins

doi:10.18290/rf25731.5

Published : 2025-03-31

Vol. 73 No. 1 (2025)

Omnisubjectivity and Classical Theism Are Not Compatible

R. T. Mullins

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rf25731.5

Abstract

Linda Zagzebski argues that omnisubjectivity is compatible with a classical theistic model of God. In this paper I argue that omnisubjectivity is not possibly compatible with classical theism. In particular, omnisubjectivity is in conflict with timelessness, immutability, simplicity, and impassibility.

Keywords:

omnisubjectivity, timelessness, immutability, simplicity, impassibility

Details

References

Statistics

Authors

Download files

pdf

Altmetric indicators

Cited by / Share

Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

References

Anselm. 2008. Proslogion. In Anselm of Canterbury: The Major Works, edited by Brian Davies and G. R. Evans. New York: Oxford University Press.

Charleton, Walter. 1654. Physiologia Epicuro-Gassendo-Charltoniana, or, A Fabrick of Science Natural, Upon the Hypothesis of Atoms Founded by Epicurus, Repaired by Petrus Gassendus, Augmented by Walter Charleton. London.

Davies, Brian. 2006. The Reality of God and the Problem of Evil. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.

Deng, Natalja. 2018. God and Time. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Harvey, Ramon. 2021. Transcendent God, Rational World: A Māturīdī Theology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

McCann, Hugh J. 2012. Creation and the Sovereignty of God. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

McGinnis, Jon. 2022. “Simple Is as Simple Does: Plantinga and Ghazali on Divine Simplicity.” Religious Studies 58:97–109.

Molina, Luis De. 1988. On Divine Foreknowledge: Part IV of the Concordia. Translated by Alfred J. Freddoso. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University.

Muis, Jan. 2011. “Can Christian Talk about God Be Literal?” Modern Theology 27:582–607.

Mullins, R. T. 2016. The End of the Timeless God. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Mullins, R. T. 2018. “Why Can’t the Impassible God Suffer?” TheoLogica 2 (2018): 3–22.

Mullins, R. T. 2020. God and Emotion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Mullins, R. T. 2021. “Impassibility, Omnisubjectivity and Eternality.” In The Divine Nature: Personal and A-Personal Perspectives, edited by Simon Kittle and Georg Gasser. New York: Routledge, 2021.

Mullins, R. T. 2023. “The Axiology of Panentheism.” In Value Beyond Monotheism: The Axiology of the Divine, edited by Kirk Lougheed. London: Routledge.

Mullins, R. T., and Shannon Byrd. 2022. “Divine Simplicity and Modal Collapse: A Persistent Problem.” European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 14:21–51.

Pearson, Olley. 2018. Rationality, Time, and Self. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.

Peckham, John C. 2021. Divine Attributes: Knowing the Covenantal God of Scripture. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2021.

Randles, Marshall. 1900. The Blessed God: Impassibility. London: Charles H. Kelly.

Rice, Rebekah L. H. 2022. “Divine Simplicity.” In The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook of Philosophy and Religion, edited by Mark A. Lamport. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.

Silverman, Eric. 2013. “Impassibility and Divine Love.” In Models of God and Alternative Ultimate Realities, edited by Jeanine Diller and Asa Kasher. New York: Springer.

Swinburne, Richard. 2016. The Coherence of Theism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Wittmann, Tyler. 2016. “The Logic of Divine Blessedness and the Salvific Teleology of Christ.” International Journal of Systematic Theology 18:132–53.

Zagzebski, Linda. 2008, “Omnisubjectivity.” In Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Religion, edited by Jonathan L. Kvanvig. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Zagzebski, Linda. 2013. Omnisubjectivity: A Defense of a Divine Attribute. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press.

Zagzebski, Linda T. 2023. Omnisubjectivity: An Essay on God and Subjectivity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Zanchius, Girolamo. 1601. Life Everlasting: Or, The True Knowledge of One Jehovah, Three Elohim, and Jesus Immanuel. Cambridge: John Legat.