The Christian God [Paperback]

What is it for there to be a God, and what reason is there for supposing him to conform to the claims of Christian doctrine? In this pivotal volume of his tetralogy, Richard Swinburne builds a rigorous metaphysical system for describing the world, and applies this to assessing the worth of the Christian tenets of the Trinity and the Incarnation. Part I is dedicated to analyzing the categories needed to address accounts of the divine nature--substance, cause, time, and necessity. Part II begins by setting out, in terms of these categories, the fundamental doctrine of Western religions--that there is a God. After pointing out some of the different ways in which this doctrine can be developed, Swinburne spells out the simplest possible account of divine nature. He then goes on to clarify the implications of this account for the specifically Christian doctrines of the Trinity (that God is three persons in one substance ) and of the Incarnation (that God became incarnate in Jesus Christ). Swinburne finds that there are good reasons to believe the Christian additions to the core Western idea of God.The Christian Godbuilds upon Swinburne's acclaimed previous work to form a self-contained text which will no doubt become a classic in the philosophy of religion.

Like his previous works [this book] is marked by the application of philosophically rigorous argumentation to the defense of a broadly orthodox position. This book constitutes a major contribution to philosophical thinking on the divine nature which academic theology will engage with for many years to come. --Theology

Swinburne has become one of the most eminent and celebrated practitioners of the philosophy of religion. Here, as in his other books, one finds an exceptionally careful, fresh, well-reasoned, and balanced exploration of fundamental human and religious issues. --Theological Studies

An essential purchase for seminaries and graduate schoollC!