Christian Materialism?
Peter van Inwagen (a well-known philosopher) believes, or at least claims to believe, in both materialism and Christian doctrine. As elements of Christian doctrine, he believes such things as the Trinity, the Incarnation, God as Spirit and the resurrection. As a materialism, he believed that dualism is false and we are all identical with our living bodies. He believes that it is possible for him to consistently hold both of these positions. Unfortunately for him, that is not true.
As a Christian, one must believe that Jesus Christ was fully human and fully God. One must believe that his humanity is exactly the same as ours, except for our sinning. One must also believe that he has always been human since the beginning of the incarnation. Unfortunately, this is inconsistent with materialism. It is at this point that van Inwagen's materialism conflicts with orthodox Christian doctrine. Either he must abandon orthodoxy and no longer call himself a Christian, or he must abandon physicalism.
Now why is this? There was a period of a few days when Jesus was dead. All orthodox Christians believe this. During this period of time, Jesus was still fully human, because it is a commitment of orthodoxy that he remain human since his incarnation. If materialism is true, then Jesus was not human during that time because his body was a corpse. So if materialism is true, then there was a time after the incarnation in which Jesus was fully divine and not human. This is heretical. So a commitment to materialism entails a denial of materialism. Peter van Inwagen cannot have both.
It does get even worse for van Inwagen. Since Jesus' humanity is the same humanity as ours, and he assumed all of our human nature and nothing more than it, we are not material beings either. Since Jesus did exist as a fully human being while he was dead, we will also. So there is no sense in which an orthodox Christian believer can be a consistent materialist. This is not the only difficulty for van Inwagen. Others are mentioned here, here and here. But this difficulty is uniquely different from the identity problem.
As a Christian, one must believe that Jesus Christ was fully human and fully God. One must believe that his humanity is exactly the same as ours, except for our sinning. One must also believe that he has always been human since the beginning of the incarnation. Unfortunately, this is inconsistent with materialism. It is at this point that van Inwagen's materialism conflicts with orthodox Christian doctrine. Either he must abandon orthodoxy and no longer call himself a Christian, or he must abandon physicalism.
Now why is this? There was a period of a few days when Jesus was dead. All orthodox Christians believe this. During this period of time, Jesus was still fully human, because it is a commitment of orthodoxy that he remain human since his incarnation. If materialism is true, then Jesus was not human during that time because his body was a corpse. So if materialism is true, then there was a time after the incarnation in which Jesus was fully divine and not human. This is heretical. So a commitment to materialism entails a denial of materialism. Peter van Inwagen cannot have both.
It does get even worse for van Inwagen. Since Jesus' humanity is the same humanity as ours, and he assumed all of our human nature and nothing more than it, we are not material beings either. Since Jesus did exist as a fully human being while he was dead, we will also. So there is no sense in which an orthodox Christian believer can be a consistent materialist. This is not the only difficulty for van Inwagen. Others are mentioned here, here and here. But this difficulty is uniquely different from the identity problem.
posted by Matthew at 4:46 PM
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