The Soul of Theological Anthropology: A Cartesian Exploration (Routledge New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies)

Recent research in the philosophy of religion, anthropology, and philosophy of mind has prompted the need for a more integrated, comprehensive, and systematic theology of human nature. This project constructively develops a theological accounting of human persons by drawing from a Cartesian (as a term of art) model of anthropology, which is motivated by a long tradition. As was common among patristics, medievals, and Reformed Scholastics, Farris draws from philosophical resources to articulate Christian doctrine as he approaches theological anthropology. Exploring a substance dualism model, the author highlights relevant theological texts and passages of Scripture, arguing that this model accounts for doctrinal essentials concerning theological anthropology. While Farris is not explicitly interested in thorough critique of materialist ontology, he notes some of the significant problems associated with it. Rather, the present project is an attempt to revitalize the resources found in Cartesianism by responding to some common worries associated with it. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgements Foreword Introduction: A Cartesian exploration in tradition The Cartesian tradition Situation of the present study Literature survey Theological anthropology and method Notes PART I: Cartesian souls and theological prolegomena 1. A Cartesian exploration in natural theology and prolegomena Natural theology Theistic dualism Why natural theology, theistic dualism, and the soul A distinctly substance dualist approach to theological anthropology Alterity theism or personal theism A philosophical defence of Cartesian souls Notes 2. A Cartesian exploration of Scripture and personal ontology Scriptural narrative and human beings Persons as stable and dynamic images Ecclesiastical thought on the ‘image’ as stable-dynamic The end and purpose of humanity (transformation) Humanity, change, and the Fall Creation, endurance, and change Human change as both restoration and transformation Cartesian/person-body substance dualism variants Pure, compound, or composite substance dualism: disambiguating terminology Compound/composite dualists and confusion Swinburne and modified compound/composite substance dualism Why should one expect that pure minds/souls would normally be united to a body without a necessary and essential connection? Notes PART II: Creation and Cartesian souls 3. A Cartesian exploration of the soul’s origin, I: Substance dualism, origins, and theological anthropology Defining terms The origin of the soul and options William Hasker and Emergent Substance Dualism (ESDMO): materialist generation of souls Conclusion Notes 4. A Cartesian exploration of the soul’s origin, II: An emergent creationist soul Emergent-creationist soul (a hybrid view) Thomist metaphysics of creation Various substance dualist iterations of EC Summarizing the highlights of EC Summing up the factors of an EC Conclusion Notes 5. A Cartesian exploration of soul embodiment: Can souls satisfy evolution, Cartesian intuitions, and the Christian emphasis on the body? Initial theological reasons for affirming the value of the body to the person Empirical data on the soul and body The criterion for satisfying empirical and evolutionary considerations EC, ESDMO, and empirical concerns Notes PART III: Cartesian souls, hamartiology, and soteriology 6. A Cartesian exploration of the soul’s origin, original sin, and Christology Origins, evil, and the problem of transmitting original sin Traditional-traducianism Traditional-creationism (SC) ESDMO Emergent creationism Cartesian Christology and the divine-human union Notes 7. A Cartesian exploration of the interim state and the visio dei (A two-stage eschatological redemption and a two-part human) Re-casting the debate of salvation and glory as both this-worldly and other-worldly Corinthians 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 Biblical-theological reading of 2 Corinthians and 1 Corinthians 15 Conclusion Appendix Notes PART IV: Cartesian souls and personal eschatology 8. Picturing the interim state as a Cartesian Conceivability/imagineability and persisting souls Imagining the persistent soul Is hylomorphism an alternative ontology, picture, and way to read scripture? The disembodied challenge Christological souls and the interim period Notes 9. A Cartesian exploration of personal eschatology Traditional-creationist views of origins and the problem of kind-souls Rejecting traducianism and material generation of souls SC or EC Highlights of PBSD and EC Notes Conclusion Note References Index A Cartesian exploration in tradition -- Cartesian souls and theological Prolegomena -- A Cartesian exploration in natural theology and Prolegomena -- A Cartesian exploration in the story of scripture and personal ontology -- Creation and the origin of souls -- A Cartesian exploration of the soul's origin, part 1 -- A Cartesian exploration of the soul's origin, part 2 -- A Cartesian exploration of the embodied soul -- Hamartiology, soteriology and Cartesian souls -- A Cartesian exploration of the soul's origin, original sin, and Christology -- A Cartesian exploration of the interim state and the Visio Dei -- Cartesian souls and personal eschatology -- Picturing the interim state as a Cartesian -- A Cartesian exploration of personal This book constructively develops a theological accounting of human persons by drawing from a Cartesian model of anthropology. Exploring a substance dualism model, the author highlights relevant theological texts and passages of Scripture, arguing that this model accounts for doctrinal essentials concerning theological anthropology.