Papers by Michael Palmer
The Holy Spirit and Christian Formation, 2016
This chapter explores what Thomas Aquinas called “participation of the Godhead,” by specifically ... more This chapter explores what Thomas Aquinas called “participation of the Godhead,” by specifically considering these questions: (1) are the so-called theological virtues (faith, hope, charity) acquired in fundamentally different ways than the moral virtues such as justice and prudence; (2) in what way does the acquisition of the theological virtues make the moral person’s character different than if that person had not acquired them; and (3) what is meant by the expression “by the power of God alone”? The third question is developed in light of Thomas’ account of the Holy Spirit, whose proper name, Thomas states, is Love (charity = caritas) and whose mission is to move the saints toward their God-given ends.
Humanitas, 2017
In this essay I review a collection of essays and other writings by the American philosopher, Hen... more In this essay I review a collection of essays and other writings by the American philosopher, Henry G. Bugbee, Jr.
Charles Ess, ed. Critical Thinking and the Bible in the Age of New Media. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 2004
Not long ago, a student of mine described a Bible study software package she had recently purchas... more Not long ago, a student of mine described a Bible study software package she had recently purchased for about one hundred dollars. This software package, which advertises itself as a PC-based "reference library," contains complete texts of four versions of the Bible, cross reference resources, a Bible dictionary, an encyclopedia, two commentaries, word study reference works, and biblical language reference helps. It also includes maps, study guides, a reading plan, and a photo collection of notable geographical sites from the ancient near east. It even provides a place for "personal notes." My student described this new acquisition not with the excitement of someone who has made a remarkable discovery but in a matter of fact way, almost as a parenthetical aside in an ongoing conversation. This incident is noteworthy not for being unusual but precisely because it typifies a generation of young adult students of the Bible who stand poised at the outset of a new millennium. She, like her contemporaries, is aptly described as a child of the digital age (Honen). Conversant and comfortable with personal computers and a host of software applications, she knows how to communicate electronically and has surfed the Internet for business, research, and recreation. Thanks to the technologies of digitization and computer-mediated communication (most strikingly evident in the Internet and the World
Diane Chandler (ed.). The Holy Spirit and Christian Formation
In the West, virtue emerges as a prominent theme in the Classical Greek World, fi rst with Plato ... more In the West, virtue emerges as a prominent theme in the Classical Greek World, fi rst with Plato (Republic) and later with Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics). Both philosophers refl ect on the connection between the moral virtues (e.g., justice and prudence), character formation (becoming a morally mature person), and the proper end (telos) of a human being, which Aristotle specifi cally calls happiness (eudaimonia = well-being). Later Christian theologians draw on the insights of the Classical philosophers but also fi nd fault with them. For example, when thirteenth-century theologian Thomas Aquinas states, "[Humankind] is perfected by virtue," he is repeating a point made fi rst by Aristotle. But he goes beyond Aristotle when he says, "Now [humankind's] beatitude or happiness is of two kinds … One is proportioned to human nature, which [human beings] can arrive at by the principles of [their] nature. The other kind is a happiness surpassing [human] nature, which [human beings] can arrive at only by the power of God, by a kind of participation in divinity." 1 This chapter explores the dynamics of what Thomas Aquinas calls "participation in divinity." Specifi cally, it considers three related questions:
Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, 2001
Book Reviews by Michael Palmer
Marcel Studies, Vol. 2, Issue No., 1, 2017
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Papers by Michael Palmer
Book Reviews by Michael Palmer