Thomas H. McCall

Was Arminius an (Unwitting) Determinist? Another Look at Arminius’s Modal Logic

Eef Dekker argues, on the basis of a letter from Jacob Arminius to Johannes Uytenbogaert in 1598, that Arminius’s modal logic commits him to determinism. In this essay, I revisit Arminius’s modal logic. I grant that Dekker may be correct in his analysis of this letter and its contents, but I argue that Arminius’s musings in this letter are not representative of his mature thought. I argue that Arminius significantly alters his views, and that with a bit of further correction Arminius’s position can avoid determinism.

Holy love and divine aseity in the theology of John Zizioulas

John Zizioulass doctrine of the Trinity emphasises both the holy love and the transcendent sovereignty of God. I believe that he offers a major contribution to contemporary theology. Although it is part of the tradition of Western theology, Zizioulass ‘Being as Communion’ thesis has too often been underappreciated and sometimes even marginalised. On the other hand, recent theology has made much of the love of God, but often this has come with a corresponding and unfortunate loss of recognition of divine holiness, transcendence and freedom. Zizioulas may help us keep both the love and the holiness of the triune God in perspective. Unfortunately, however, Zizioulass own way of doing this is fraught with problems. In this essay I try to shed light on two major themes in his trinitarian theology. One – what I call the Sovereignty-Aseity Conviction – appears at base to be an existentialist thesis: the existence of the Father precedes the divine essence. The other – what I refer to as the Being as Communion thesis – is an essentialist thesis: the holy love shared in the perichoretic life of the triune God is ‘constitutive of his substance’. I argue that Zizioulass ascription of the first to the Father alone is problematic, and I argue further that these two theses do not work well together. I conclude by suggesting that Zizioulass theology needs revision if it is to be truly helpful.