CAN SINNERS REALLY CHANGE? UNDERSTANDING PERSONAL SALVATION IN THE BLOCK UNIVERSE: with Finley Lawson, "Science, Religion, and Human Identity: Contributions from the Science and Religion Forum"; Susannah Cornwall, "Transformative Creatures: Theology, Gender Diversity, and Human Identity"; Joanna Collicutt, "Religion, Brains, and Persons: The Contribution of Neurology Patients and Clinicians to Understanding Human Faith"; Robert Lewis, "Humans as Interpretive Animals: A Phenomenological Understanding of Why Humans Bear God's Image"; Rebekah Wallace, "The Wholeness of Humanity: Coleridge, Cognition, and Holistic Perception"; James Thieke, "Energies and Personhood: A Christological Perspective on Human Identity"; and Emily Qureshi‐Hurst, "Can Sinners Really Change? Understanding Personal Salvation in the Block Universe."
This article brings time and theology together constructively in response to a pressing problem for the doctrine of personal salvation. The problem arises within the physics and metaphysics of time, as these support a so‐called temporal B‐theory in which time does not pass and reality is comprised o...
| Publicado en: | Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science Vol. 57; no. 3; pp. 691 - 710 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Open Library of Humanities
Sep2022
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| Sumario: | This article brings time and theology together constructively in response to a pressing problem for the doctrine of personal salvation. The problem arises within the physics and metaphysics of time, as these support a so‐called temporal B‐theory in which time does not pass and reality is comprised of a block universe. Within this static temporal metaphysic, objective change is highly problematized. Yet salvation requires an objective change from fallenness to redemption. So, how can we understand a salvation‐transformation in the block universe? In other words, can sinners really change? I argue that on a B‐theory of time, a salvation‐transformation is best understood as a form of qualitative, phenomenological, and subjective change, rather than a robust ontological change. I conclude that the individual's transformation from fallen to saved is one of mind‐dependent becoming. So, sinners can change. But, in this lifetime, that change can only be subjective. |
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