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The 12th International
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ISSEI |
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International Society for the Study
of European Ideas |
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Section
V: Religion, Philosophy, Anthropology, Psychology, Language
Workshop: The Divine Omnipotence in Medieval European Thought
Chair: Filip Ivanovic
One
of the questions that presented itself with the rise and development of the
Christian faith was the problem of divine omnipotence. By resolving the problem
of divine power, it became possible to explain many focal problems of mankind
and the world, including, for example, the problem of the existence of evil, or
of suffering.
Usually,
the eleventh-century theologian Peter Damiani is
pointed to as a pioneer and originator of the discussion of divine powers. St. Isidor Pelusiot’s considerations
were developed five centuries before Damiani wrote
his famous treatise De divina omnipotentia. The
debate in Scholasticism emerged as a long and lively discussion of different
ways of defining the problem. The distinction of potentia absoluta and potentia ordinata contributed greatly to debating
the general question of divine omnipotence. However, although it was useful in the
theological-philosophical sense, this distinction later on provoked political
solutions which sometimes served the interest of only one man (for example, the
authority of the pope and the request of Henry VIII regarding the annulment of
his marriage).
The
aim of this workshop is to reconsider the attribute of the divine power as
elaborated during the Middle Ages, in both Western and Byzantine cultural
spheres, in theological, philosophical, literary works (papers that deal with
Byzantine tradition are particularly encouraged). Papers that point out the
contemporary significance of the problem are especially welcome.
The
themes suitable for the workshop could include, but are not limited to, the
following questions:
1) The divine
omnipotence in the West and in
2) The anthropological
issues – human will, divine will, the problem of will in Christ
3) The problem of evil
in relation to the divine power
4) Political issues –
popes, kings, emperors, State-Church
5) The creation –
relationships creator-creature, divine nature-divine will
6) Ockham on divine
omnipotence
7) Contingency of the
world
8) The relationship
between ancient religion/philosophy/literature and medieval
religion/philosophy/literature
9) Divine power in
medieval and contemporary perspectives (for example traditional theology vs. process theology)
Abstracts
of ca. 300 words should be sent by e-mail to:
Filip Ivanovic
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