Conditional Immortality and Current Christian Physicalism
Location
Seminary Chapel
Start Date
24-10-2014 7:00 PM
Description
While the natural immortality of the soul was debated (and largely rejected) in the mid-twentieth century among theologians and biblical scholars, these conclusions apparently never reached the pews. Consequently the nature of the person and prospects for afterlife are hot topics now. The concept of conditional immortality is an important contribution to these discussions because it does not force a choice between body-soul composition and currently popular physicalist views. Nonetheless, it puts the emphasis where it should be for Christians: on God’s ability to restore us to life in the resurrection.
Conditional Immortality and Current Christian Physicalism
Seminary Chapel
While the natural immortality of the soul was debated (and largely rejected) in the mid-twentieth century among theologians and biblical scholars, these conclusions apparently never reached the pews. Consequently the nature of the person and prospects for afterlife are hot topics now. The concept of conditional immortality is an important contribution to these discussions because it does not force a choice between body-soul composition and currently popular physicalist views. Nonetheless, it puts the emphasis where it should be for Christians: on God’s ability to restore us to life in the resurrection.
Comments
Nancey Murphy is professor of philosophy at Fuller Seminary, Pasadena. She received the Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley (philosophy of science) and the Th.D. from the Graduate Theological Union. Her first book, Theology in the Age of Scientific Reasoning, won the American Academy of Religion award for excellence. She is author of eight other books and co-editor of twelve. Her most recent is (with Warren Brown) Did My Neurons Make Me Do It?: Philosophical and Neurobiological Perspectives on Moral Responsibility and Free Will. Her research focuses on the role of modern and postmodern philosophy in shaping Christian theology; on relations between theology and science; and on neuroscience and philosophy of mind.