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‘In God's Changelessness There Is Rest’: The Existential Doctrine of God's Immutability in Augustine and Kierkegaard
Author(s) -
Hefner Craig A.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
international journal of systematic theology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.149
H-Index - 13
eISSN - 1468-2400
pISSN - 1463-1652
DOI - 10.1111/ijst.12270
Subject(s) - immutability , existentialism , doctrine , philosophy , relation (database) , interpretation (philosophy) , epistemology , theology , linguistics , computer security , database , computer science , blockchain
This article establishes a specific point of agreement between St Augustine and Søren Kierkegaard: for both thinkers the doctrine of God's immutability is an existential doctrine. Specifically, Augustine and Kierkegaard agree that God's immutability functions as a condition to preserve the existential integrity of the human creature across the vicissitudes of time and change. This article describes the existential role of God's immutability in Augustine and Kierkegaard, and it establishes this point of agreement between the two thinkers. Afterward, this article briefly considers some implications of this point of agreement for the interpretation of Augustine and Kierkegaard and some implications for the doctrine of God's immutability.