The Oxford Forum (Monday - Week 8, HT19)

Aquinas

The event is related to Tim Mawson’s recent book, The Divine Attributes, which is about what the God worshipped by the monotheistic religions is like (or, if you wish, would have been like, had He existed). The book suggests that God is (or, if you wish, would be) the most perfect being possible and discusses the main divine attributes which flow from this understanding – personhood, transcendence, immanence, omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, perfect goodness, unity, simplicity and necessity. In the course of discussing these properties and some others, Tim Mawson makes the case that the atemporalist’s conception of God (the most perfect being would be outside time) is to be preferred over the temporalist’s (He's inside time but everlasting in the forwards and backwards directions) on the grounds of Perfect Being Theology, but that, if it were to be the case that the temporal God existed, rather than the atemporal God, He would still be ‘perfect enough’ to count as the God of Theism. There are thus at least two distinct ways in which it is logically possible that Theism could be true. On the occasion of this event, Dr Mawson will sketch very briefly some of the ideas in the book and then engage with questions that will arise in the discussion. 

The event is organised by the Oxford Forum in association with the Stanford University Centre in Oxford. This event is free to attend and open to all; there is no need to register. Location: Stanford University Centre, Stanford House, 65 High Street, Oxford.