A defense of theistic activism

Abstract

There is a tension between traditional theism and contemporary Platonism. Traditional theism maintains that God is the creator of all things distinct from Him; whereas contemporary Platonism contends that there are innumerably many abstract objects that are uncreated as well as immutable and necessarily existent. These abstract objects include, but are not limited to, numbers, properties, propositions, and relations. In "Absolute Creation" Christopher Menzel and Thomas Morris seek to reconcile traditional theism and contemporary Platonism: they argue that abstract objects are immutable and necessarily existent, but that they are dependent on God for their existence. They have named the view "theistic activism." Brian Leftow argues against the viability of theistic activism. He offers the following three claims: (i) activism entails that God creates Himself; (ii) activism relies on a causal incoherence; and (iii) activism entails an explanatory circle. Hugh J. McCann has also offered an objection to activism. He argues that activism entails a reductio ad absurdum. In this thesis I give an exposition of theistic activism and the objections that Menzel and Morris anticipate in "Absolute Creation." Following that, I argue against Leftow's claims and the objection offered by McCann. In conclusion, I summarize the objections to theistic activism and speculate that activism is not immediately intuitively appealing due to the model of creation activism presupposes.