Religious Studies

Table of Contents - March 2011 - Volume 47, Issue 01  

Articles

Continuous creation and secondary causation: the threat of occasionalism

TIMOTHY D. MILLERa1 c1

a1 Lee University School of Religion, PO Box 3450, Cleveland, TN 37320

Abstract

One standard criticism of the doctrine of continuous creation is that it entails the occasionalist position that God alone is a true cause and that the events we commonly identify as causes are merely the occasions upon which God brings about effects. I begin by clearly stating Malebranche's argument from continuous creation to occasionalism. Next, I examine two strategies for resisting Malebranche's argument – strong and weak concurrentism – and argue that weak concurrentism is the more promising strategy. Finally, I argue that weak concurrentism requires a necessitarian approach to secondary causation.

(Online publication June 14 2010)

Correspondence:

c1 e-mail: tmiller@leeuniversity.edu