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Augustine on Creation, Providence and Motion

Oliver, Simon

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Abstract

Augustine's theology of creation has been criticized for its Platonic tendency to denigrate matter and for a supposedly extrinsic view of divine providence that is reminiscent of design and even deism. This article counters such criticism and argues that Augustine explicitly blends extrinsic and intrinsic notions of providential teleological order. For Augustine, God ‘administers externally the natures he has created internally’ by inscribing the rationes seminales within creatures and conferring motion through the mediation of measure, number and weight. By resisting a dualism of intrinsic and extrinsic teleological order, Augustine avoids many of the problems that characterize modern theologies of creation and provides a more coherent account of divine providence.

Citation

Oliver, S. (2016). Augustine on Creation, Providence and Motion. International Journal of Systematic Theology, 18(4), 379-398. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijst.12171

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 24, 2016
Online Publication Date Sep 29, 2016
Publication Date Oct 1, 2016
Deposit Date Jun 24, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal International Journal of Systematic Theology
Print ISSN 1463-1652
Electronic ISSN 1468-2400
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 18
Issue 4
Pages 379-398
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/ijst.12171

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Copyright Statement
This is the accepted version of the following article: Oliver, Simon (2016) 'Augustine on creation, providence and motion.', International journal of systematic theology, 18(4): 379-398, which is published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ijst.12171. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.




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