Vincent Brümmer
Biographic Data
| ID | 2107399 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Vincent Brümmer |
| GIVEN NAMES | Vincent |
| FAMILY NAME | Brümmer |
| SIGNATURE | BRÜMMER V |
| AFFILIATIONS | Utrecht University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8606-1055 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 2 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1979 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Divinity and Maximal Greatness
How rational is rational theology? A reply to Mikael Stenmark
In this response to Stenmark's critique of my views on rational theology, I concentrate on his distinction between the epistemic and the practical goals of religion and between descriptive and normative rational theology. With regard to the first distinction, I grant that truth claims play an essential role in religious belief and that it is indeed the task of philosophy of religion to decide on the meaning and rationality of such claims. I argue…
On Not Confusing Necessity with Compulsion: A Reply to Paul Helm
This paper responds to Helm's rebuttal of Brummer's account of Bernard and Calvin in Religious Studies 30, 4. It contends that Helm confuses in determinism with non determinism and that a clear distinction between freedom from necessity and freedom from compulsion must be drawn. Contra Helm, there is still a contradiction between Calvin's defence of freedom from compulsion and his account of the perseverance of God's grace
Calvin, Bernard and the Freedom of the Will
In his Institutes 2.2.5 Calvin declares that he ‘willingly accepts’ the distinction between freedom from necessity, from sin and from misery originally developed by St Bernard. It is remarkable that a determinist like Calvin seems here to accept a libertarian view of human freedom. In this paper I set out Bernard's doctrine of the three kinds of freedom and show that all its basic elements can in fact be found in Calvin's argument in chapters 2 a…
Speaking of a Personal God: An Essay in Philosophical Theology
This short work shows how systematic theology is itself a philosophical enterprise. After analysing the nature of philosophical enquiry and its relation to systematic theology, and after explaining how theology requires that we talk about God, Vincent Brümmer illustrates how philosophical analysis can help in dealing with various conceptual problems involved in the fundamental Christian claim that God is a personal being with whom we may live in …
Atonement and Reconciliation
Religious believers understand the meaning of their lives in the light of the way in which they are related to God. Life is significant because it is lived in the presence of God, and ultimate bliss consists in being in the right relation with God. Through sin, however, our relationship with God has been drastically disrupted. The fundamental religious issue which we all have to face, therefore, is how this relationship can be restored. How can w…
Farrer, Wiles and the Causal Joint
Speaking of a personal God: An Essay in Philosophical Theology
Agreements
Philosophy, Theology And The Reading Of Texts
The French composer, Hector Berlioz, reacted as follows to the critics of his opera La Damnation de Faust : ‘I have already recounted how I ... wrote the march on the Hungarian theme of Rákóczy in the course of one night. The passionate reception that this march received in Pest made me decide to include it in my Faust , and in doing so I took the liberty to use Hungary as the setting for the opening of the action, and had my hero, deep in reflec…
Divine Impeccability
In the Christian tradition it has generally been claimed that God, being perfectly good, has the attribute not only of impeccantia (freedom from sin) but also of impeccabilitas (inability to sin). Thus, for example, Aquinas held that ‘God is unable to will anything evil. Hence it is evident that God cannot sin’; and according to the Westminster Confession, ‘God,...being holy and righteous, neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin’
Paul Helm on God and the Approval of Sin
I'm very grateful for the opportunity to reply to Paul Helm's perceptive remarks on my paper about divine impeccability, for, in dealing with his criticism, I can further clarify some points in my paper, and in discussing his alternative solution to the problems I raised, I can as yet deal with some important aspects I had ignored. Helm's paper is divided into three sections. The first two contain his criticism of my position, and the third his a…
Lyttkens on Religious Experience and Transcendence
In his paper Hampus Lyttkens tries to explore the relation between religious experience and the concept of transcendence. Lyttkens limits his enquiry to religious experience in the sense of ‘specific and extraordinary psychic experiences’ (such as visions, numinous experiences, etc.) which are interpreted as experiences of a transcendent God. By ‘transcendence’ Lyttkens means more than ‘objective reference’. The object of religious experiences in…
Lyttkens on Religious Experience and Transcendence
In his paper Hampus Lyttkens tries to explore the relation between religious experience and the concept of transcendence. Lyttkens limits his enquiry to religious experience in the sense of ‘specific and extraordinary psychic experiences’ (such as visions, numinous experiences, etc.) which are interpreted as experiences of a transcendent God. By ‘transcendence’ Lyttkens means more than ‘objective reference’. The object of religious experiences in…
Divine Impeccability
In the Christian tradition it has generally been claimed that God, being perfectly good, has the attribute not only of impeccantia (freedom from sin) but also of impeccabilitas (inability to sin). Thus, for example, Aquinas held that ‘God is unable to will anything evil. Hence it is evident that God cannot sin’; and according to the Westminster Confession, ‘God,...being holy and righteous, neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin’
Paul Helm on God and the Approval of Sin
I'm very grateful for the opportunity to reply to Paul Helm's perceptive remarks on my paper about divine impeccability, for, in dealing with his criticism, I can further clarify some points in my paper, and in discussing his alternative solution to the problems I raised, I can as yet deal with some important aspects I had ignored. Helm's paper is divided into three sections. The first two contain his criticism of my position, and the third his a…
Philosophy, Theology And The Reading Of Texts
The French composer, Hector Berlioz, reacted as follows to the critics of his opera La Damnation de Faust : ‘I have already recounted how I ... wrote the march on the Hungarian theme of Rákóczy in the course of one night. The passionate reception that this march received in Pest made me decide to include it in my Faust , and in doing so I took the liberty to use Hungary as the setting for the opening of the action, and had my hero, deep in reflec…
Speaking of a Personal God: An Essay in Philosophical Theology
This short work shows how systematic theology is itself a philosophical enterprise. After analysing the nature of philosophical enquiry and its relation to systematic theology, and after explaining how theology requires that we talk about God, Vincent Brümmer illustrates how philosophical analysis can help in dealing with various conceptual problems involved in the fundamental Christian claim that God is a personal being with whom we may live in …
Atonement and Reconciliation
Religious believers understand the meaning of their lives in the light of the way in which they are related to God. Life is significant because it is lived in the presence of God, and ultimate bliss consists in being in the right relation with God. Through sin, however, our relationship with God has been drastically disrupted. The fundamental religious issue which we all have to face, therefore, is how this relationship can be restored. How can w…
Farrer, Wiles and the Causal Joint
Speaking of a personal God: An Essay in Philosophical Theology
Agreements
Calvin, Bernard and the Freedom of the Will
In his Institutes 2.2.5 Calvin declares that he ‘willingly accepts’ the distinction between freedom from necessity, from sin and from misery originally developed by St Bernard. It is remarkable that a determinist like Calvin seems here to accept a libertarian view of human freedom. In this paper I set out Bernard's doctrine of the three kinds of freedom and show that all its basic elements can in fact be found in Calvin's argument in chapters 2 a…
On Not Confusing Necessity with Compulsion: A Reply to Paul Helm
This paper responds to Helm's rebuttal of Brummer's account of Bernard and Calvin in Religious Studies 30, 4. It contends that Helm confuses in determinism with non determinism and that a clear distinction between freedom from necessity and freedom from compulsion must be drawn. Contra Helm, there is still a contradiction between Calvin's defence of freedom from compulsion and his account of the perseverance of God's grace
How rational is rational theology? A reply to Mikael Stenmark
In this response to Stenmark's critique of my views on rational theology, I concentrate on his distinction between the epistemic and the practical goals of religion and between descriptive and normative rational theology. With regard to the first distinction, I grant that truth claims play an essential role in religious belief and that it is indeed the task of philosophy of religion to decide on the meaning and rationality of such claims. I argue…
Divinity and Maximal Greatness
Philosophy (11 works) · Theology (10 works) · Epistemology (7 works) · Theology and Philosophy of Evil (6 works) · Computer Science (3 works) · Karl Barth and Christian Theology (3 works) · Law (3 works) · Political science (3 works) · Relation (database) (3 works) · Art (2 works)