Description
Book SynopsisT. Ryan Byerly is Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Regent University, USA.
Trade ReviewT. Ryan Byerly offers a refreshingly original account of how divine foreknowledge and providence might be achieved. This is an important contribution to philosophical theology and metaphysics which should be studied and discussed widely in coming years. * Yujin Nagasawa, Professor of Philosophy, University of Birmingham, UK *
Byerly provides an insightful overview of the argument for theological fatalism, argues (rightly, I believe) that it cannot succeed unless divine foreknowledge entails causal determinism, and proposes that God's ordering of times can account for his infallible foreknowledge while leaving human freedom intact. This is a novel approach to a well-nigh intractable problem and should command the attention of anyone with a serious interest in the dilemma of divine foreknowledge and human freedom. * David P. Hunt, Professor of Philosophy and Department Chair, Whittier College, USA *
Several things impress here: First, the ingenuity and clarity of the argument; second, the fact that Byerly and other analytic philosophers are engaging religious topics seriously. Even those (like me) who prefer to work in a different idiom, and those are not entirely persuaded, can be grateful for the rigor of their contributions. -- Peter Leithart * First Things *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction PART ONE: From the Existence of Infallible Divine Foreknowledge to Its Mechanics Chapter One: The Foreknowledge Argument Chapter Two: Foreknowledge and Explaining the Absence of Freedom Chapter Three: Foreknowledge and Causal Determinism PART TWO: A Time-Ordering Account of Foreknowledge and Providence Chapter Four: Time-Ordering and Foreknowledge Chapter Five: Time-Ordering and Providence Chapter Six: The Value and Future of the Time-Ordering Story Bibliography
