Peter Forrest – författare

This is a work of speculative theology based on three themes: that a version of materialism is a help not a hindrance in philosophical theology; that God develops; and that this development is on the whole kenotic, in other words an abandonment of power. Peter Forrest argues that the resulting kenotic theism might well be correct. He claims that his hypothesis concerning God is better than known rival hypotheses, including atheism, and that if there is no unknown better hypothesis it is good enough to be believed. In the Introduction he offers a defense of the type of metaphysical speculation on which his thesis rests. Elsewhere in the book he defends his 'moderate materialism', expounds the notion of the 'Primordial God', and discusses how God changes. In the resulting account, Forrest reconciles the unloving and unlovable God of the philosophers with the God of the Abrahamic tradition. In a quasi-Gnostic fashion he puts the blame for evils on the Primordial God and argues that after God has become loving, the divine powers of intervention are limited by the natural order. In the final two chapters he applies this kenotic theism to specifically Christian teachings, notably the Trinity and the Incarnation.

This book offers a rigorous analysis of why commitment matters and the challenges it presents to a range of believers.Peter Forrest treats commitment as a response to lost innocence. He considers the intellectual consequences of this by demonstrating why, for example, we should not believe in angels. He then explores why humans are attached to reason and to humanism, recognising the different commitments made by theist and non-theist humanists. Finally, he analyses religious faith, specifically fideism, defining it by way of contrast to Descartes, Pascal and William James, as well as contemporary philosophers including John Schellenberg and Lara Buchak.Of particular interest to scholars working on the philosophy of religion, the book makes the case both for and against committing to God, recognising that God’s divine character sets up an emotional rather than an intellectual barrier to commitment to worship.

This book offers a rigorous analysis of why commitment matters and the challenges it presents to a range of believers.Peter Forrest treats commitment as a response to lost innocence. He considers the intellectual consequences of this by demonstrating why, for example, we should not believe in angels. He then explores why humans are attached to reason and to humanism, recognising the different commitments made by theist and non-theist humanists. Finally, he analyses religious faith, specifically fideism, defining it by way of contrast to Descartes, Pascal and William James, as well as contemporary philosophers including John Schellenberg and Lara Buchak.Of particular interest to scholars working on the philosophy of religion, the book makes the case both for and against committing to God, recognising that God’s divine character sets up an emotional rather than an intellectual barrier to commitment to worship.

Peter Forrest argues that Essential Catholicism is the one and only religion to which reasonable humanists could commit. Drawing on Immanuel Kant’s Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason and Ludwig Feuerbach’s The Essence of Christianity, he provides an in-depth philosophical investigation into the synthesis of Catholicism and the Enlightenment. In this nuanced study humanity and divinity are two species of the same genus. Chapters defend the apologetic project from common objections and cover the argument from evil to Catholicism, the case for the Catholic synthesis, the argument from tradition, and finally the negative case for Essential Catholicism. Forrest elucidates how the various Catholic churches have Essential Catholicism in common, discussing the Roman Catholic, the Eastern Orthodox, the Oriental Orthodox, and the Old Catholics, as well as High Church Anglicanism with Methodism as a borderline case. He argues that we can learn from other Christian denominations and from other religions, but Catholicism is the overarching and one true religion. An engaging and original account, The Essence of Catholicism departs from Vatican theory and provides a sharp philosophical reflection on a distinctive religious position within the Catholic tradition of thought.

Peter Forrest argues that Essential Catholicism is the one and only religion to which reasonable humanists could commit. Drawing on Immanuel Kant’s Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason and Ludwig Feuerbach’s The Essence of Christianity, he provides an in-depth philosophical investigation into the synthesis of Catholicism and the Enlightenment. In this nuanced study humanity and divinity are two species of the same genus. Chapters defend the apologetic project from common objections and cover the argument from evil to Catholicism, the case for the Catholic synthesis, the argument from tradition, and finally the negative case for Essential Catholicism. Forrest elucidates how the various Catholic churches have Essential Catholicism in common, discussing the Roman Catholic, the Eastern Orthodox, the Oriental Orthodox, and the Old Catholics, as well as High Church Anglicanism with Methodism as a borderline case. He argues that we can learn from other Christian denominations and from other religions, but Catholicism is the overarching and one true religion. An engaging and original account, The Essence of Catholicism departs from Vatican theory and provides a sharp philosophical reflection on a distinctive religious position within the Catholic tradition of thought.