God and Abstract Objects: The Coherence of Theism: Aseity

by William Lane Craig

This book is an exploration and defense of the coherence of classical theism’s doctrine of divine aseity in the face of the challenge posed by Platonism with respect to abstract objects. A synoptic work in analytic philosophy of religion, the book engages discussions in philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of language, metaphysics, and metaontology. It addresses absolute creationism, non-Platonic realism, fictionalism, neutralism, and alternative logics and semantics, among other topics. The book offers a helpful taxonomy of the wide range of options available to the classical theist for dealing with the challenge of Platonism. It probes in detail the diverse views on the reality of abstract objects and their compatibility with classical theism. It contains a most thorough discussion, rooted in careful exegesis, of the biblical and patristic basis of the doctrine of divine aseity. Finally, it challenges the influential Quinean metaontological theses concerning the way in which we make ontological commitments.

555 pages, Paperback

Published August 10, 2018

About the author

William Lane Craig is Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California. He and his wife Jan have two grown children.

At the age of sixteen as a junior in high school, he first heard the message of the Christian gospel and yielded his life to Christ. Dr. Craig pursued his undergraduate studies at Wheaton College (B.A. 1971) and graduate studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (M.A. 1974; M.A. 1975), the University of Birmingham (England) (Ph.D. 1977), and the University of Munich (Germany) (D.Theol. 1984). From 1980-86 he taught Philosophy of Religion at Trinity, during which time he and Jan started their family. In 1987 they moved to Brussels, Belgium, where Dr. Craig pursued research at the University of Louvain until assuming his position at Talbot in 1994.

He has authored or edited over thirty books, including The Kalam Cosmological Argument; Assessing the New Testament Evidence for the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus; Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom; Theism, Atheism and Big Bang Cosmology; and God, Time and Eternity, as well as over a hundred articles in professional journals of philosophy and theology, including The Journal of Philosophy, New Testament Studies, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, American Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Studies, Philosophy, and British Journal for Philosophy of Science.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, a word on my perspective: I’m a Christian and a mathematician. I read this book in the hope of learning more about how to bring together these two significant aspects of my life. Having just finished the book, I would say that Craig’s study has given me an incredibly helpful perspective on the landscape of philosophical perspectives available to the Christian mathematician. I would recommend this book to anyone who is eager to become more familiar with this landscape. Since I’m not a trained logician, the reading was at times incredibly difficult and even opaque due to the frequent use of technical terminology. I don’t fault Craig for this - I simply mention it as a caveat to the reader who expects a casual read. This is a demanding read for the non-expert, but worth the effort in my opinion. Also, I believe this book should be helpful even to those whose focus is not in the realm of mathematical discourse as it addresses concepts of general relevance such as various perspectives on ontological commitments implied by the use of language.

[Derrick Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent work as it walks you through different views in great detail. Craig also defends many of the views which he ultimately does not hold yet explains why his belief does not lead him to maintain that view. Very insightful.