Book Reviews by Chase Montague
American Academy of Religion, 2021
In A Greek Thomist: Providence in Gennadios Scholarios, Matthew Briel seeks to demonstrate that G... more In A Greek Thomist: Providence in Gennadios Scholarios, Matthew Briel seeks to demonstrate that Gennadios Scholarios, more than anyone else, created a synthesis and thus a positive development of Eastern Orthodox doctrine by incorporating Scholarios’ understanding of Thomas Aquinas into a larger picture of providence that is both faithfully Orthodox and Western. But Briel’s thesis is successful only if one considers Scholarios a Latinized Orthodox theologian who understood Orthodoxy from a Thomist perspective. There are serious issues with Briel’s (and Scholarios’?) understanding of Orthodoxy that, if considered, may invalidate Scholarios’ work as properly Orthodox and require a reassessment of the success of Briel’s thesis.
American Academy of Religion, 2018
Bipolar Faith, a memoir by Monica Coleman (Claremont School of Theology), gives the reader a glim... more Bipolar Faith, a memoir by Monica Coleman (Claremont School of Theology), gives the reader a glimpse into very significant and painful events in the author's life which conclude with a diagnosis of bipolar II disorder. Most chapters are subtitled as a certain number of months/years after a personally traumatic life event, conveying to the reader the significance of the event for Coleman. Considering the book as a whole, the following events were of special significance to her: the death of her grandmother from cancer, her anointing for ministry, when she was raped (this takes up one-fourth of the book alone), her entrance into a doctoral program at Claremont, and a physical illness she suffered, which ultimately led to her mental health diagnosis.
European Journal of Philosophy of Religion , 2018
Guy Bennett-Hunter’s book is a revised and expanded version of his Ph.D. dissertation. Bennett-Hu... more Guy Bennett-Hunter’s book is a revised and expanded version of his Ph.D. dissertation. Bennett-Hunter calls for a “new style” of philosophy of religion, preferring a lived experience of faith informed by reason. Specifically, he believes that the meaning of anything must include its answerability to that which is external to and beyond it (i.e., the ineffable) and contends that the mundane properties of life are just as necessary to the spiritual ones when experiencing the ineffable through what he terms religious (or ritualistic) ciphers.
Papers by Chase Montague
Journal of Orthodox Christian Studies, 2023
This article compares modern free-will approaches to evil with the value Maximus the Confessor (5... more This article compares modern free-will approaches to evil with the value Maximus the Confessor (580–662 CE) places on desire and volition over mere choice. The modern free-will response is limited to morally significant choices between opposites without external influence, which fails to consider the intricacies of the will and desire and misses the value of a thorough Christian view of free will. Maximus offers a superior theological stance that is philosophically sensitive to freedom's primordial, present, and eschatological intent. Maximian terms, such as thelēma, gnōmē, logos, and tropos, suggest a different interpretation of free will and choice, one that considers God's will and humanity's desire for theosis. Through the Incarnation, free will can be virtuously and eschatologically transformed without being destroyed. Maximus argues for one proper object desire that excludes all others—Godself—and which manifests in the Incarnation, habitual virtue, and their capacity to remake the will.
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Book Reviews by Chase Montague
Papers by Chase Montague