464 - The Nature of Go& An Inquiry into Divine Attributes

The Nature of Go& An Inquiry into Divine Attributes
By Edward R. Wierenga
Cornell University Press, 1989. 238 pp. $28.50.

This is a philosophical discussion of the more prominent attributes of God in Christian theology. Those considered include omnipotence, omniscience, eternity, immutability, and the divine goodness.

This work is strongly oriented toward very recent discussions of these topics in philosophical circles. Wierenga makes extensive use of the "possible worlds" interpretation of modal concepts, and his work seems to have been heavily influenced by that of Alvin Plantinga.

Wierenga's approach puts more emphasis on replying to recent criticisms and objections than to developing positive support for the doctrines he defends. In terms of apologetics, then, his work is stronger on the negative than on the positive side. There are also interesting attempts to clarify or to redefine some of these doctrines, perhaps most notably in the case of omnipotence and of the divine command theory of ethics.

Wierenga's discussions are not overly technical, though many of them demand careful attention to distinctions and to details of logic. They should be reasonably accessible to readers with theological interests and a moderate acquaintance with recent analytic philosophy. For such readers, this book may well provide both learning and provocation.

George I. Mavrodes
The University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Mich.