Exploring Mormon Thought

This is the last episode covering Vol 1: The Attributes of God. Last week we laid out the unique Mormon commitments of a Christology and this week we see if it can hold up to scrutiny. We discuss how the Mormon view dissolves many of the issues in conventional Christology, but has its own set of challenges. Enjoy! Topics Discussed: • God's Necessary Existence • The Necessity of Condescension and Kenosis • Are Divinity and Humanity Compossible in Christ? • Time Indexed Properties of Divinity • Was Jesus Truly Human • The Problems of Identity • Was It Possible for Jesus to Sin? • Could Yahweh Be God If He Could Learn from Suffering? Purchase the book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0077YUTJE/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

This weeks episode goes over the unique Mormon aspects of Christology. We lay the ground work for solving the conventional problems of Christology by examining the nature of the relationship between God the Father and Christ. Topics Discussed: • Distinctive Doctrines of Mormon Scripture • A Modified Kenotic Theory of Christology

This weeks episode explores what it means that Christ is both man and God. We talk about the different views on this and some of the problems that arise with conflicts with actual New Testament writing and logical issues. We talk about various traditional attempts to solve these problems and discuss their strengths and shortcomings. Topics Discussed: • The Historical Problem • The Logical Problem • The Christological Controversy * Traditional Responses • The Kenotic Theory • The Grace Theory

The scriptures state that God does not change. We examine what some possible interpretations of this are. There is one extreme of Classical Theism where God cannot change at all and therefore can't really be affected by prayer or humanity. We discuss the option that perhaps this refers to God's Character and his resoluteness to fulfill his promises. We then turn to God and his ability to be affected emotionally. Can God suffer? Well Jesus did and we examine the implications of that and much more. Enjoy! Topics Discussed: • Defining Changelessness • Immutability in Nature • Immutability in Will • Immutability and Mutability in God’s Knowledge • Divine Passibility in Feeling 1. The Argument of Divine Love 2. The Argument from Immanent Omniscience 3. The Argument from Worshipworthiness

We discuss various ideas on what time is what it means, starting with Aristotle's thought. We then turn our attention to physics and how time is relative depending on one's inertial frame of reference. We summarize the implications of the concept of time from the general and special theories of relativity. We then turn to what it could mean for God to be timeless and problems with that. We then discuss possible issues of God having a body and if God can still be immediately immanent to all existence and implications from the Contingent Omniscience that we discussed last week. Topics Discussed: • Everlasting Time • Measured Time • The Theory of Relational Time • Temporality • The Theory of Absolute Time • Simultaneity • Relative Space-Time • Defining Timeless Eternity • Implications of Divine Timelessness • Problems with Divine Timelessness • Reasons to Adopt Divine Timelessness • God’s Omnitemporality

This is it folks! The moment you've been waiting for. For the last while we have been talking about how infallible foreknowledge and free will are not compatible. Well, you ask, then what does God know? We discuss how if the future doesn't yet exist then it cannot be known. We talk about the view that God knows all possibilities and the related probabilities of future events, but not which events will become actual. We discuss various objections to this view and if this is a God still worthy of worship. We then discuss the implication of this view as far as 'God's Plan' for individuals. Enjoy! Topics Discussed: • Is Contingent Omniscience Consistent with Scripture? • Is Contingent Omniscience Compatible with a Spatio-Temporally Limited God? • Does Contingent Knowledge Entail Imperfection? • Must God Know Future Contingent Propositions? http://www.exploringmormonthought.com/2017/07/ep16-attributes-of-god-ch-10-gods.html

We talk about arguments that try to attack God's past knowledge/beliefs as fixed. We talk about the idea that a timeless God is exempt from past necessity, and even go over universal possibilism and the multiverse theory. Topics Discussed: • Distinguishing Logical and Theological Fatalism • Argument D • Hard Facts As Intrinsic Properties of Past Events • Does The Doctrine of Timelessness Resolve the Incompatibility? • Multiple Past Compatibilists

We discuss different attempts by various philosophers/theologian who try to deny that God's knowing something about a future event in the past entails that God's knowledge can't be changed and therefore destroys Libertarian free will. Topics Discussed: •Molina's Response • Power Entailment • Criticisms of Power Entailment Principles • Power to Bring About the Past

Part two of our discussion of the Mormon concept of free agency and foreknowledge. We look at different views of free will and what it means to have the ability to 'choose otherwise.' We give several variations of a hypothetical situation and ask if one would still be truly free given the scenario. We then discuss how free agency is the crux of Mormonism and a truly beautiful opportunity to create ourselves with God. Topics Discussed: • Objections to Power to Do Otherwise • Semi-Compatibilism • Intervention after an Effective Interaction Is Formed • Intervention before an Effective Intention Is Formed • Is Intervention Possible before an Intention Is Effective? • Is Causal Determinism Essential to Free Acts? • A Mormon Concept of Free Agency

Topics Discussed: • Hypothetical Free Will • Libertarian Free Agency http://www.exploringmormonthought.com/

We discuss arguments for infallible foreknowledge being compatible or incompatible with libertarian free will. We come up with a logical argument for the incompatibility of free will and infallible foreknowledge and discuss the assumptions of each premise. Topics Discussed: • An unsound Argument for Incompatibility • Argument A • A Sound Argument for Incompatibilism from the Necessity of the Past • Argument B • Some Clearly Unsuccessful Attempts to Escape Incompatibility https://www.facebook.com/ExploringMormonThought http://www.exploringmormonthought.com/

In this episode we go over the second part of Ch 5: Models of Divine Knowledge. We talk about Middle Knowledge and Joseph Smith's evolving view of God's knowledge. We discuss James E. Talmage's view of God knowing our character so well that he can know the future and problems with that. Topics Discussed: • Middle Knowledge • Problems of Middle Knowledge • No Grounds Objection • Counterfactuals of Freedom Are Probable Only • The "Agents Are Not Free" Objection • Mormonism and Middle Knowledge

We start discussing different models for God's knowledge. We focus on the aspect of God's knowledge of the future or infallible foreknowledge and if it can coexist with free will. Topics Discussed: • Simple Foreknowledge • Timeless Knowledge Through Perception • The Einstein-Minkowski Spacetime • Timeless Knowledge Through Divine Causation

We go over various theories of God's power and then come to a definition that seems to fit. We then address problems with that view and see if they can be overcome while keeping the definition intact. Topics Discussed: • Logical Limitations on God's Power • Limitations on God's Power Arising from Divine Attributes • Limitations on God's Power Imposed by Significant Human Freedom • Past Necessity and God's Power • Problems for Omnipotence • Persuasive and Coercive Power • God's Power and Natural Laws • God's Power and Creation

Continuing our survey of Mormon systematic Theologies we discuss the thought of the Pratts, John A. Widtsoe, B.H. Roberts, and Modern Mormon leaders. We talk about why they portrayed things as they did and what some strengths and weaknesses of each view are. Pratt's 'The Seer': https://archive.org/details/seereditedbyorso01unse Widtsoe's 'A Rational Theology': https://archive.org/details/rationaltheologywidtsoe B.H. Roberts' 'The Seventy's Course in Theology': https://archive.org/details/seventyscoursein00robe

We discuss The Lectures on Faith and Joseph Smith's evolving revelations on the nature of God, man, the universe, and how they relate to each other. We get into discussing different interpretations of the King Follett Discourse and The Sermon in the Grove. The Lectures on Faith can be found here: http://lecturesonfaith.com/ King Follett Discourse: https://www.lds.org/ensign/1971/04/the-king-follett-sermon?lang=eng https://www.lds.org/ensign/1971/05/the-king-follett-sermon?lang=eng Sermon in the Grove: http://emp.byui.edu/jexj/courses/sermon_in_the_grove.htm Topics Discussed: The Lectures on Faith Joseph Smith and the Foundational Scriptures

We discuss Process Thought/Theology, developed by Alfred N. Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne, and juxtapose it with the previously discussed Thomist/Classical Theism view. We also examine the striking similarities between Process Thought and Joseph Smith's revelations. Topics Discussed: Relative Perfection Perfect Relatedness Potentiality Proportional Dependence Complexity Temporality Mutability and Immutability Passibility Creator By Organizing Maximal Persuasive Power Maximal Knowledge For show notes go to: http://www.exploringmormonthought.com/2017/05/in-this-episode-we-discuss-process.html

We discuss how concepts of perfection from Platonism/Neo-Platonism heavily influenced early Christian thought on God's attributes. We then discuss the Absolutist system developed largely by Augustine and articulated by Thomas Aquinas. We bring up issues with the 'God' that arises when you follow this system to its logical conclusions. Topics discussed: Confluence of Greek Philosophy and Christian Theology Emergence of the Absolutist Tradition in Christian Theology The Logic of Absolute Independence Pure Actuality Divine Simplicity Immutability Timeless Eternity Aseity Impassibility Omniscience Omnipotence

Part 2 of the First chapter in The Attributes of God. We go over the following topics: Subordinate "Gods" Apotheosis: Human Gods “God” as a Relationship of Unity Among a Plurality of Persons God and Perfection God and Possible Worlds

My father Blake Ostler is a well-known Mormon Theologian and Scholar (In a addition to being a full-time attorney ) Over the years he has written several articles for scholarly Mormon publications such as Dialogue, FARMS, Sunstone Mag, Element, and others. What I want to do is take the complex issues in these books and discuss them in a way that makes sense to the average listener. So this is sort of going to be like taking me to school on a lot of these issues and topics. For the most part we will go chapter by chapter of each book starting with the first one: The Attributes of God However I wanted to start off with an episode of getting to know Blake Ostler. His background, journey and motivations for writing these books and so forth.