Zain's Guide to Overthinking Everything

Reviving Monotheism: Exploring Tensions within Monarchical Trinitarianism     According to Monarchical Trinitarianism, the Father’s existence is fundamental while the Son and the Spirit have a derivative status as the Father grounds their existence yet they share the same essence such that they exemplify what it takes to predicate divinity (excluding aseity it seems). Therefore, when they refer to there being only one God they are referring to the one fundamental divine person who is the Father while there are three divine persons and therefore “monotheistic” as they are defining monotheism as the existence or worship of one fundamental divine person. Therefore, in one sense there are three Gods as there are three divine persons but in another sense there is one God as there is one fundamental divine person. However, the Monarchical Trinitarian is equivocating on the term, “God”. To be God one must have all the qualities that are necessary and sufficient to be God. If there ar...

Is Allah Confined to a Place?              It is proven in the Quran and Sunnah and by the consensus of the Salaf that Allah is above His Heavens over His Throne as befits His Majesty. He is above all things, and there is nothing that is above Him. God says in the Quran:    “Allah, it is He Who has created the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them in six days. Then He rose over ( istawa ) the Throne (in a manner that suits His Majesty). You (mankind) have none, besides Him, as a Wali (protector or helper) or an intercessor. Will you not then remember (or receive admonition)?” (Q. 32:4)    “Surely, your Lord is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth in six days and then rose over ( istawa ) the Throne (in a manner that suits His Majesty), disposing the affair of all things.” (Q. 10:3)   “He is the First (nothing is before Him) and the Last (nothing is after Him), the Most High (nothing is ab...

  Is God Always the Creator?: Exploring Divine Attributes Has God always been The Creator? This question arose in my mind while reading Dr. William Lane Craig’s book, Time and Eternity: Exploring God’s Relationship to Time , as on page 88 he states,  “Thomas agrees with premise (3). On his view, relations between God and creatures, such as God’s being Lord over the world, first began to exist at the moment at which creatures come into being.” The context of this quote was whether God is temporal or timeless. Craig argues that since the beginning of creation, God is temporal as creating necessitates new relations that He previously did not have. An extrinsic change within God necessitates temporality. However, my inquiry is regarding whether God is “Lord over the world” regardless if creation exists. Surely, all rational souls agree that God is Lord when creation exists but how about before? Some argue that God became a creator as soon as He created and thus some attributes of ...

  Thomistic Divine Simplicity: A God in Time? Discussions about the nature of God and time have intrigued theologians and philosophers for centuries, with various viewpoints shaping our understanding of the divine. One such perspective, deeply rooted in the thought of Thomas Aquinas, is the doctrine of divine simplicity. According to the doctrine of divine simplicity, there is no composition or change in God’s essence. For example, we may understand God to have the attributes of being merciful or loving or omnipotent, however these attributes are identical to each other and identical to His essence, according to Thomas Aquinas. The distinction between these attributes arrive from our mental conception of them as it is only a virtual not a formal distinction. In other words, God is a pure and eternal act of existence. This is not the only view of divine simplicity, for example both the Sunni Athari and Catholic Franciscan traditions hold that God’s attributes are truly distinct wit...

Unveiling the Divine: Duns Scotus vs Aquinas on God’s Attributes Discussions about the nature of God have captivated the minds of scholars, theologians, and philosophers for centuries. One perspective is that of John Duns Scotus, a medieval thinker whose ideas on the attributes of God have set him apart from many of his contemporaries, including the renowned Thomas Aquinas. In this blog post, heavily inspired by Jake Brancatella ’ s dialogue on the subject, we will delve into Duns Scotus' intriguing beliefs about God's attributes, examining how they diverge from Aquinas' understanding. Duns Scotus believed that God has real attributes that are not identical to each other nor to His essence yet they are inseparable from each other and the essence. They are not free floating entities apart from God. God cannot exist without them nor can they exist without God. At least in the Sunni Athari position, when it is said that God cannot exist without His attribute and His attributes...

Descartes' Ontological Argument: From Radical Doubt to the Existence of a Supreme Being      Descartes’ argument is grounded in what is predicated of God. For example, the predicate of existence is derived from idea of a supremely perfect being and such a being must have the predicate of being a necessary existence. Descartes often compares his ontological argument to a geometric demonstration by arguing that necessary existence cannot be excluded from idea of God any more than having three sides can be excluded from the idea of a triangle. Therefore, the existence of God is ‘a priori’ for Descartes, or is axiomatic, or known without experience. It seems like it is a counterfactual dependence, or by definition. For example, if one has a pair of birds, it is by definition that if there is one bird, there must be another to complete the pair. In the same way, if there is a supremely perfect being, it must have the predicate of necessary existence otherwise there would be a ...

Overview of Athari Metaphysics Metaphysics, the study of the fundamental nature of reality and existence, presents significant challenges and complexities. Within the realm of metaphysics, the Athari, a school of thought in Sunni Islam, perspective offers a unique approach to understanding the attributes and actions ascribed to Allah, or God. This overview explores the fundamental principles of their (and also my) metaphysics, including the distinction between the different types of predications when describing God’s attributes. It also considers the role of rational arguments alongside textual proofs for the existence of God and questions the concept of Divine Simplicity. Additionally, the overview delves into the uncreated nature of the Quran and the understanding of God's actions within His essence. By examining Athari metaphysics, we gain insights into the nuanced interpretation of divine attributes and deepen our understanding of God’s unknowable essence. The Athari view d...

God and Aseity      Can God not be a se , or lack the property of aseity? Aseity is the attribute whereby a being is said to exist of or from itself. A necessary being exists in all possible worlds. Therefore, it is an analytic a priori that is impossible for the necessary being not to exist. I would argue that aseity is a necessary attribute of God and to lack aseity entails that that being cannot be God.      In the traditional conception of the Trinity, only the Father is a se since the other two persons, the Son and Holy Spirit are eternally begotten or proceed from the Father. If this were the case, then the divine nature does not entail aseity as each of the persons are fully God yet two of the three persons do not have the attribute in question. Rather it is a hypostatic property of the Father alone. However, this brings the question, would there be another essence, an a se essence, which is not the divine essence? For example, if there is nothing ...

 The Problem of Hell – An Islamic Response      In truth, the question you propound to us is no small one, nor such that but small harm will follow if it meets with insufficient treatment. For by the force of the question, we are at first sight compelled to accept one or other of two erroneous opinions, and either to say, “God is unjust”, which is impious and absurd, or not to acknowledge the existence of Hell, which is unlawful. The argument which you state is something like this: such suffering is unjust since no finite sin deserves infinite punishment, especially so severe a punishment, and thus an all-good, just God could not inflict hell on the damned; such a picture of Hell undercuts the Abrahamic view of a loving God; and any putative revelation that includes such a doctrine be self-defeating.       The Islamic view of Hell describes it as a punishment due for disbelievers (unwarranted rejection of Islam) and unforgiven sins. Punishment in ...

 Notes on Islam      The word Muslim is an active participle of Islam and Muslim means someone who submits to God’s will with the intention of creating peace, or salam .       Islam can be summarized in the Hadith or saying of the Prophet Muhammad relating to his conversation with the angel Gabriel,  “It is narrated on the authority of Yahya b. Ya'mur that the first man who discussed qadr (Divine Decree) in Basra was Ma'bad al-Juhani. I along with Humaid b. 'Abdur-Rahman Himyari set out for pilgrimage or for 'Umrah and said: Should it so happen that we come into contact with one of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) we shall ask him about what is talked about taqdir (Divine Decree). Accidentally we came across Abdullah ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab, while he was entering the mosque. My companion and I surrounded him. One of us (stood) on his right and the other stood on his left. I expected that my companion would authoriz...