Sharing in the Divine Nature: A Personalist Metaphysics

A defense of the New Testament view that all things are to be united in Christ, which entails that the ultimate destiny of the universe, and of all that is in it, is to be united in God. Keith Ward argues that this conflicts with classical ideas of God as simple, impassible, and changeless--ideas that many modern theologians espouse, and which Ward subjects to careful and critical scrutiny. He defends the claim that the cosmos contributes something substantial to--and in that way changes--the divine nature, and the cosmos is destined to manifest and express the essential creativity and relationality of a God of beatific, agapic, redemptive, and unitive love.

About the Author :
Keith Ward has been Dean of Trinity Hall, Cambridge and Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of Oxford. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, and is now Professor of Religion at Roehampton University, London.

Review :
"Personal idealism is arguably the most plausible expression of the biblical documents in metaphysical terms. Ward's new book offers the most convincing exposition of personal idealism I have ever read. One by one, he explores the main challenges to this view, responding to each with admirable sharpness and clarity, then gradually drawing them all together in service of the profound spiritual vision of intimate participation in the divine nature."
--Philip Clayton, author of The Problem of God in Modern Thought

"This is a robust defence of a biblical understanding of God against the undue influence of Plato and Aristotle in much Christian thought. Engaging with David Bentley Hart, Rowan Williams, and others, Professor Ward argues that creation and incarnation really do affect God. This involves a radical rethink of what we mean by God's impassibility and immutability. Essential reading for all engaged in the philosophy of religion."
--Richard Harries, King's College, London

"With his vast philosophical and theological scholarship and trademark lucid style, Professor Ward offers us a detailed exposition of the New Testament's teaching on who the God of Jesus is. On this basis, Ward re-examines the dominant Aristotelian-based Western theology of God and finds it deeply wanting. As a 'personal idealist, ' Ward articulates an alternative theology of God who has enabled humans to share in the divine nature. This God is a God of creative, redemptive, and sanctifying love. I enthusiastically recommend this book to all, beginning theology students as well as seasoned scholars."
--Peter C. Phan, Georgetown University

"This is a rich, profound, and yet accessible book. It is Keith Ward in conversation; his interlocutors are primarily the great theologians and philosophers of the twentieth century. Ward gently chides, explains, and illuminates the nature of the faith. A book that lives with you long after you finish reading it."
--Ian S. Markham, Virginia Theological Seminary

"Never one to shirk the big questions, Keith Ward devotes his new book to a critical analysis of what it means for God to be God. He clearly differentiates his own understanding of Christian theology from the views of those who insist that a maximally perfect God must be simple, immutable, and impassible. Taking his scalpel to Thomist scholarship, he laments its over-dependence on the metaphysics of Aristotle and offers instead a sparkling defence of a God passionately affected by what happens in an alienated and suffering creation, ultimately destined for union in Christ. Innovative and nuanced, Sharing in the Divine Nature is an exciting exploration of the respects in which a perfect God may be said to have many unactualized potentialities."
--John Hedley Brooke, University of Oxford