Space God: Rejudging a Debate between More, Newton, and Einstein
Ebook
Henry More had an odd idea. Thinking about space, he realized it was invisible, for we see things in space but not space itself. It's also immaterial, for matter exists in space but space is not itself material--try to grab it and it slips through your fingers. Space was also infinite and transcendent yet nonetheless omnipresent, for we cannot go anywhere except in and through space. But this was exactly how More saw God; God is invisible, immaterial, infinite, and transcendent, yet also omnipresent above, beyond, and within us. If God was somehow linked to space, he could be truly present while remaining immaterial, upholding the creator-creature distinction. He'd be near to us but would not be identical with us, just as space is distinct from the objects occupying it while remaining intimately close to those objects. What if space was, in some sense, divine?
Odder still, Newton soon erected his new physics upon More's idea. Indeed, there's real evidence that the modern scientific world was unwittingly grounded upon this theistic metaphysic. Of course, modern physics shed these underpinnings in the nineteenth century, and was itself relativized by Einstein in the twentieth. Yet this book seeks to reappraise More's odd idea. Is divine space theologically orthodox? Can it provide a new argument for the existence of God? And does it have any philosophical merit for us post-Einstein--a Space God for a Space Age?
“JD Lyonhart has written a brilliant book on God and space, reconstructing the metaphysics of seventeenth-century Henry More and engaging contemporary philosophy of space and time and philosophy of religion. This is an important contribution to the history of ideas and philosophical theology.”
—Charles Taliaferro, professor emeritus of philosophy, St. Olaf College
“JD Lyonhart modernizes a seventeenth-century theological proposal of philosopher Henry More (1614–87) for twenty-first-century consideration. Lyonhart’s work is both stimulating and provocative. One’s perception of space will definitely be expanded.”
—Gerald Cleaver, professor of physics, Baylor University
“I have hugely enjoyed reading this wonderful book! It asks deep questions about God and space through the lenses of theology, philosophy, and science. The book takes us on a journey from the insights of the little-known More, then on to Newton, to Einstein, and finally to post-Einstein, with the author injecting his own perceptive comments and interpretations. This is a superb book in every way. Buy it for yourself or give it as a present!”
— Sir Colin Humphrey, professor of material science, Queen Mary University
“There has been a remarkable renaissance of interest in the Cambridge Platonists, and Henry More in particular, in recent years. JD Lyonhart’s splendid book on the metaphysics and theology of space in Henry More marks a significant contribution to the literature on the Cambridge Platonists, and at the same time constitutes a fine contribution to the enigmatic and pivotal question of divine omnipresence.”
—Douglas Hedley, director, Cambridge Centre for the Study of Platonism
“JD Lyonhart’s Space God is a must-read for anyone interested in cutting-edge research on the nature of God and God’s relation to the world. It brings Henry More and Cambridge Platonism back to the stage of contemporary philosophy.”
—Benedikt Paul Göcke, professor of philosophy of religion and philosophy of science, Ruhr University Bochum
“JD Lyonhart resurrects an early modern view of God’s relation to space and shows that it still applies in the age of relativity. An impressive, well-informed work at the intersection of theology, philosophy, and science.”
—Jeffrey Koperski, professor of philosophy, Saginaw Valley State University
“A fascinating and novel engagement with Henry More’s theory of divine space, this book demonstrates how theistic metaphysics helped shape the modern scientific worldview and, more importantly, considers how it still has intellectual currency in the present day.”
—Alexander J. B. Hampton, assistant professor of religion, University of Toronto
“JD Lyonhart takes Henry More’s big idea—divine space—and provides the fullest scholarly exposition of it to date, including its importance for Newton’s concept of absolute space and as an original argument for God’s existence. In addition, he takes inspiration from More’s big idea and explores what a contemporary defense of divine space could look like, arguing that it is not a mere historical curiosity which has had its day as a live philosophical option.”
—David Leech, senior lecturer in the philosophy of religion, University of Bristol
“JD Lyonhart has given us two of the rarest gems in contemporary philosophical theology. First, an admirably clear and thankfully concise review of the historical notion of divine space. Second, and perhaps shockingly, Lyonhart revives the questions that prompted More’s (in)famous equation of space and God. While the arguments offered may not overcome the entrenched theological biases of philosophers of religion today, Lyonhart’s resurrected Morean arguments demand attention and consideration. One may reject them, but one ought not to ignore them.”
—Derek A. Michaud, lecturer of philosophy, University of Maine
“This is an engaging and stimulating work that gives fresh and broader dimensions to our understanding of Henry More and the Neoplatonists of his time. It is of interest to philosophers of all backgrounds and will certainly deepen our understanding of More and the thinkers of his time.”
—Barrie Fleet, affiliated lecturer of classics, University of Cambridge
“The nature of space and time is of great current interest, but in spite of the revolution in thinking due to quantum mechanics and general relativity, it remains a mystery that is very much open to debate. This insightful discussion of an earlier, perhaps whacky, idea of space and its relation to God, due to the seventeenth-century Neoplatonist Henry More, is a welcome and thought-provoking addition to the debate.”
—Eric Priest, editor of Reason and Wonder: Why Science and Faith Need Each Other
“If you think metaphysics is not fashionable today, then read JD Lyonhart’s book, Space God, and rethink. You will find yourself in the company of More, Newton, and Einstein discussing the nature of space. Philosopher and theologians will benefit from it, and even physicists will find it readable, exciting, and inspiring.”
—Arnold Benz, professor emeritus of physics, ETH Zurich
“Balancing scholarly detail with vivid prose, JD Lyonhart makes Henry More’s eccentric divinization of space accessible and relevant to a contemporary audience while at the same time contributing to our understanding of More’s philosophical development.”
—Matthew A. Leisinger, assistant professor of philosophy, York University
“Revolutionary and provocative yet also deeply Christian, this book manages to truly uphold the Creator-creature distinction while still making God closer to us than we are to ourselves.”
—Cody Graves, senior pastor, First Christian Church
- Title: Space God: Rejudging a Debate between More, Newton, and Einstein
- Authors: J. D. Lyonhart, Douglas Hedley
- Publisher: Cascade Books
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781666757064, 9781666757040, 1666757047, 9781666757057, 1666757055, 1666757063
- Resource ID: LLS:9781666757064
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-11-22T07:31:26Z
JD Lyonhart is an assistant professor of theology and philosophy at LCU, a fellow at the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Platonism at Cambridge University, and a co-host of the Spiritually Incorrect Podcast (spirituallyincorrectpodcast.com). He is also the author of MonoThreeism: An Absurdly Arrogant Attempt to Answer All the Problems of the Last 2000 Years in One Night at a Pub (Cascade, 2021). For more information, see jdlyonhart.com.