Two questions regarding contemporary theological and philosophical studies are often overlooked: "Is God infinite or finite?" and, "What does it mean to say that God is infinite?" In The Infinity of God, Benedikt Paul Goecke and Christian Tapp bring together prominent scholars to discuss God's infinitude from philosophical and theological perspectives. Each contributor deals with a particular aspect of the infinity of God, employing the methods of analytic theology and analytic philosophy. The essays in the first section examine historical issues from a systematic point of view. The contributors focus on the Cappadocian Fathers, Thomas Aquinas, Leibniz, Kant, Hegel, Bolzano, and Cantor. The second section deals with particular issues concerning the relation between God's infinity and both the finitude of the world and the classical attributes of God: eternity, simplicity, omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience, and moral perfection. There are some books that deal with the notion of infinity in mathematics and in general philosophy, but no single text brings together the best analytic philosophers and theologians tackling the various aspects of the infinity of God and the correlated problems. This book will interest students and scholars in philosophy of religion, theology, and metaphysics.

Contributors: Benedikt Paul Goecke, Christian Tapp, Franz Krainer, Adam Drosdek, William E. Carroll, Christina Schneider, Ruben Schneider, Robert M. Wallace, Bruce A. Hedman, Bernhard Lang, Richard Swinburne, Kenneth L. Pearce, William Hasker, Paul Helm, Brian Leftow, Ken Perszyk, Thomas Schartl, and Philip Clayton.

About the Author

Benedikt Paul Goecke is professor of philosophy of science and philosophy of religion at Ruhr-Universitat Bochum and a member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion at Oxford University. He is the author of A Theory of the Absolute and editor of After Physicalism (University of Notre Dame Press, 2012).

Reviews

"This is a highly stimulating volume. Benedikt Paul Goecke and Christian Tapp are to be congratulated on providing such a diversity of perspectives on the infinity of God." -Stephen Priest, University of Oxford

"There has been increasing philosophical interest in divine infinity in the past decade, and there is no extant collection of philosophical essays on this subject. Benedikt Paul Goecke and Christian Tapp succeed in bringing together a wide range of high quality scholarly treatments of questions about divine infinity, making the work accessible to a broad audience." -Graham Oppy, author of Philosophical Perspectives on Infinity

Book Information
ISBN 9780268104139
Author Benedikt Paul Goecke
Format Hardback
Page Count 444
Imprint University of Notre Dame Press
Publisher University of Notre Dame Press
Weight(grams) 765g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 25mm