RamistThomist
Puritanboard Clerk
In a nutshell how would you respond to the claim often asserted by Eastern Orthodox (though similarly asserted by 19th c. Thomists) that Western doctrines of God begin with the unity of the essence and then move to the persons, whereas the East begins wtih the three persons and then moves to the unity.
I've read a fair amount of Patristic theology and I see both eastern and western fathers beginning in both, so to speak. Admittedly, if one contrasts Thomas Aquinas with Gregory Palamas, the Western/Eastern divide seems pretty marked. I am currently responding to an Orthodox apologist on this point. My line of response is something along the following:
1). It's historically iffy, as Eastern Orthodox theologian David B. Hart routinely notes (much to the ire of EO theologians!).
2) Ultimately, it really doesn't matter as long as you don't exalt one at the expense of the other. In that case, start where you will.
3) So what?
I've read a fair amount of Patristic theology and I see both eastern and western fathers beginning in both, so to speak. Admittedly, if one contrasts Thomas Aquinas with Gregory Palamas, the Western/Eastern divide seems pretty marked. I am currently responding to an Orthodox apologist on this point. My line of response is something along the following:
1). It's historically iffy, as Eastern Orthodox theologian David B. Hart routinely notes (much to the ire of EO theologians!).
2) Ultimately, it really doesn't matter as long as you don't exalt one at the expense of the other. In that case, start where you will.
3) So what?