On the heels of the advance since the twentieth-century of wholly physicalist accounts of human persons, the influence of materialist ontology is increasingly evident in Christian theologizing. To date, the contemporary literature has tended to focus on anthropological issues (e.g., whether the traditional soul / body distinction is viable), with occasional articles treating physicalist accounts of such doctrines as the Incarnation and Resurrection of Jesus cropping up, as well. Interestingly, the literature to date, both for and against this influence, is dominated by philosophers. The present volume is a collection of philosophers and theologians who advance several novel criticisms of this growing trend toward physicalism in Christian theology. The present collection definitively shows that Christian physicalism has some significant philosophical and theological problems. No doubt all philosophical anthropologies have their challenges, but the present volume shows that Christian physicalism is most likely not an adequate accounting for essential theological topics within Christian theism. Christians, then, should consider alternative anthropologies.
Foreword Thomas McCall Christian Physicalism? An Introduction Joshua R. Farris & R. Keith Loftin 1. The Incorporeality of the Soul in Patristic Thought Paul L. Gavrilyuk 2. Christian Physicalism: Against the Medieval Divines Thomas Atkinson 3. Substance Dualism and the Diachronic/Synchronic Unity of Consciousness J.P. Moreland 4. Christian Physicalism and Our Knowledge of God Angus Menuge 5. Physicalism, Divine Eternality, and Life Everlasting R. Keith Loftin and R.T. Mullins 6. Holy Saturday and Christian Theological Anthropology Jason McMartin 7. Physicalism, the Incarnation, and Holy Saturday: A Conversation with Karl Barth Marc Cortez 8. Physicalist Christology and the Two Sons Worry R.T. Mullins 9. Physicalism and the Death of Christ Charles Taliaferro 10. Christian Materialism Entails Pelagianism Matthew J. Hart 11. Sanctification and Physicalism R. Scott Smith 12. Neuroscience, Spiritual Formation, and Bodily Souls: A Critique of Christian Physicalism Brandon Rickabaugh & C. Stephen Evans 13. Hope for Christian Materialism? Problems of Too Many Thinkers Jonathan J. Loose 14. How to Lose the Intermediate State without Losing Your Soul James T. Turner, Jr. 15. Dismantling Bodily Resurrection Objections to Mind-Body Dualism Brandon Rickabaugh 16. "Absent from the Body . . . Present with the Lord": Is the Intermediate State Fatal to Physicalism? John W. Cooper 17. Physicalism and Sin Charles Taliaferro 18. Christian Materialism and Christian Ethics: Moral Debt and an Ethic of Life Jonathan J. Loose 19. The Incompatibility of Physicalism with Physics Bruce L. Gordon 20. Reflections on Christian Physicalism by a Veteran Anti-Physicalist Howard Robinson Afterword Gerald O'Collins
