Theological and Philosophical Biography and Dictionary

THEOLOGICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL
BIOGRAPHY AND GLOSSARY

Eck, Johann:

(14-1543) German theologian; against Luther.

Eckhart, Meister:

(c 1260-1328) German Dominican mystic; God is not known through any of the normal means of human knowledge, but through a direct uniting with Him.

ECLANUM:

See Julian of Eclanum

ECLECTICISM:

See Eclecticism (ancient)

ECLECTICISM (ANCIENT):

Eddington, Arthur Stanley:

(1882-1944) Science professor at Cambridge; wrote The Nature of the Physical World.

EDUCATION:

* See Progressivism in philosophy of education

Edwards, Jonathan:

(1703-1758) US Congregational pastor and theologian; third President of Princeton; entered Yale at age 13 knowing Hebrew, Greek, and Latin; influenced First Great Awakening; friend of George Whitefield; preached from manuscript; preached "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"; wrote 1. Religious Affections, 2. The Freedom of the Will, and 3. Narrative of the Surprising Work of God.

EFFICIENT:

See Efficient cause

EFFICIENT CAUSE:

EGO:

EGOCENTRIC:

See Egocentric predicament

EGOCENTRIC PREDICAMENT:

The predicament you get into when you are confined to your own ideas and are incapable of knowing anything else.

EGOISM:

See Ethical egoism and Psychological egoism

EGOISTIC:

See Egoistic hedonism

EGOISTIC HEDONISM:

Einstein, Albert:

(1879-1955) professor at Zurich, Prague, Berlin and Princeton; theory of relativity.

ELAN:

See Elan vital

ELAN VITAL:

(Bergson) *

Elea:

See Parmenides of Elea

ELEATICS:

Elias, John:

(1774-1841) Welsh Calvinistic Methodist preacher.

Eliot, John:

(1604-1690) US Anglican became Non-conformist; missionary to Indians; helped publish The Bay Psalm Book.

EMANATIONISM:

* (Plotinus)

EMERGENTISM:

Holds that new levels of reality are constantly evolving from matter, to life, to mind, to God. New realities such as mind are formed through evolution and cannot be reduced to lower levels.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo:

(1803-1882)

Emmons, Nathaniel:

(1745-1841) US Congregational pastored one church for 54 years; topical sermons.

EMOTIVISM:

A non-cognitivist ethics system. See Axiological Nominalism.

Empedocles:

(c 495-c 435 BC) Greek philosopher who lived in Sicily. Wrote 1. On Nature and 2. On Purification. Foreshadowed view of evolution. Studied circulation of the blood and atmospheric pressure. Founder of Italian medicine.

EMPIRICAL:

See a posteriori knowledge; Empirical positivism; Empirical theism; Radical empiricism; Empirical realism and Empirical theology

EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE:

see a posteriori knowledge.

EMPIRICAL POSITIVISM:

A form of Phenomenalism proposed by J. S. Mill which combines Hume's pure phenomenalism and the positivism of Comte.

EMPIRICAL REALISM:

EMPIRICAL STATEMENTS:

See Synthetic statements necessary or empirical

EMPIRICAL THEISM:

Also called Religious Pragmatism. God is limited. He is one of many "reals" and is known through your will to believe with superhuman consciousness. You are conscious of this superhuman consciousness (the "more") in the universe because it is on the other side (or subconscious side) of the subconscious side of your conscious life. Natural theology is inadequate; experience and faith are primary. It says "Religion is man's response to an undifferentiated sense of reality, to the more" (William James).

EMPIRICAL THEOLOGY:

EMPIRICISM:

contrasts with Rationalism by believing that you get all ideas or concepts from experience and that truth must be established by reference to experience alone. See Empirical; Radical empiricism; British empiricism; Logical empiricism; Scientific empiricism; Religious empiricism; and Scientific empiricism

Empiricus:

See Sextus Empiricus

ENERGY:

* See Mass-energy

Engels:

(1820-1895)

England, John:

(1786-1842) Irish Roman Catholic preacher.

ENTELECHY:

* (Aristotle)

ENTROPY:

See Entropy law

ENTROPY LAW:

Ephraim (the Syrian):

(c300-373) poetic preacher but weak theologian.

Epictetus:

(c AD 60)

EPICUREANISM:

says religion and concepts of God arise through ignorance and fear. If there be god(s), they are far off and indifferent (Lucretius).

Epicurus:

(341-270 BC) Good is pleasure, pain is evil. Uncontrolled pursuit of pleasure results not in more pleasure but in pain. Therefore we must live austere to avoid pain. Pain, fear of death, and fear of the gods were the greatest threats to man's happiness. If the world (including man) were just chance combinations of atoms, then we would feel pain only as long as we are alive; but when we die, the atoms dispense and we cannot suffer any feelings of evil or fear. The gods are merely combinations of atoms, with no power to rule or punish men. If lightning strikes a man, it is a natural accident and not Zeus hurling a thunderbolt to punish him. These fears should not disturb a person's tranquility (i.e., religion and concepts of God arise through ignorance and fear).

EPIPHENOMENALISM:

Episcopius, Simon:

(1583-1643) Dutch theologian and leader of Remonstrants (Arminian); banished by Synod of Dort; wrote Institutiones Theologicae.

EPISTEMOLOGICAL:

See Epistemological dualism; Epistemological idealism; and Epistemological monism

EPISTEMOLOGICAL DUALISM:

EPISTEMOLOGICAL IDEALISM:

EPISTEMOLOGICAL MONISM:

EPISTEMOLOGICAL REALISM:

The mind knows independent things not ideas alone; knower and things known are distinct; knower is in the world.

EPISTEMOLOGY:

Greek episteme (knowledge) + logeo (to speak). The theory of knowledge: the study of the nature, sources, and validity of knowledge. It differs from logic and psychology. Logic is concerned with the specific and formal problem of correct reasoning, while epistemology deals with the nature of reasoning, with truth, and with the process of knowing themselves. Psychology is concerned with a descriptive study of behavior, phenomena, etc., while epistemology deals with our claims to knowledge, i.e., what we mean by "knowing." See Epistemological realism and knowledge

Erasmus, Desiderius:

(1466-1536) Dutch; Christian humanist of Reformation; disagreed with Luther over freedom of the will (Erasmus was "Arminian"; Luther was "Calvinistic"); wrote In Praise of Folly; influential in establishing the study of Greek NT by publishing a Greek NT used by Luther. Attacked inconsistency and hypocrisy in the church.

Erastus, Thomas:

(1524-1583) founder of Erastianism; the state has authority over the church in all matters.

Erigena, John Scotus:

(c810-877) Irish philosopher; shifted trend from Plato to Aristotle; Scripture is as authoritative as reason; interpret Scripture by reason.

Erskine, Ebenezer:

(1680-1754) saved after he was ordained; kicked out of the Established church; founded Scotland Secession church; exegesis was poor; sermon outlines were very complex.

Erskine, Henry:

(1624-1696) Scottish preacher; father of Ralph and Ebenezer; kicked out of his church for his faith; used open-air services.

Erskine, John:

(1721-1803) leader of evangelical party of Church of Scotland; friends with Whitefield and Wesleys.

Erskine, Ralph:

(1685-1752) Church of Scotland; younger brother to Ebenezer; preacher with little scholarship.

ESSE EST PERCIPI:

* (Berkeley)

ESSENCE:

What a thing is. For Greek philosophy, it means substance (ousia), that which is not apparent but is the true reality about things what can be conceived, what is universal. In Plato, it is the Forms or Ideas (from the Noumena). A similar idea is used by Santayana, Husserl, Thomas Aquinas, Kierkegaard, Sartre, and Heidegger.

ESSENTIALISM:

(Brameld) *

ESTRANGEMENT:

(Tillich) *

ETHICAL:

See Ethical formalism; Ethical hedonism; Ethical naturalism; Intuitionism; Objectivism; Skepticism; Ethical formalism; and Hedonism, ethical

ETHICAL EGOISM:

Always further your own interest and ignore the interest of others unless it affects your own interest.

ETHICAL FORMALISM:

* Also called ethical rationalism

ETHICAL HEDONISM:

ETHICAL INTUITIONISM:

See Intuitionism *

ETHICAL NATURALISM:

ETHICAL OBJECTIVISM:

See Objectivism *

ETHICAL RELATIVISM:

All moral beliefs are true. There is no universal or absolute standard of right and wrong.

ETHICAL RATIONALISM:

See Ethical formalism

ETHICAL SKEPTICISM:

See Skepticism *

ETHICAL THEORY:

See Teleological ethical theory

ETHICS:

See Agapistic ethics; Christian ethics; Ethical egoism; Ethical relativism; Existential ethics; Deontological ethical theory; Normative ethics; Teleological ethical theory; Agapism Ethics of mysticism; Descriptivist ethics; Emotivism; Ethics of power; Situation ethics; Compatibilism; Imperativist ethics; Incompatibilism; Emotivism; Moral conscience, ethics based on; Naturalistic ethics; Non-naturalistic ethics; Power, ethics; Religious ethics; Situation ethics; and Teleological ethics

ETHICS OF LOVE:

See Agapism Ethics of mysticism *

ETHICS OF POWER:

Eucken, Rudolf Christoph:

(1846-1926) German professor at Basel; wrote 1. The Truth of Religionand 2. Philosophy of Spirit; spirit is ultimate reality but not same as Hegelian thought; man is not only a purely physical being but also a spiritual one; all things (even inanimate things) have a kind of spiritual life of their own; emphasized on spirit as the agent of action, rather than merely thought; strong empirical emphasized

EUDAEMONISM:

Ethical theory of Greece which said that the aim of right action is personal well-being or happiness.

Eutyches:

(c 375-454) Archimandrite of a monastery in Constantinople; condemned by Synod of Constantinople in 448; supported by Robber Synod of Ephesus in 449; condemned by Council of Chalcedon in 451.

EVANGELICALISM:

Stresses supernaturalism, theism, and personal regeneration. The Bible is the supreme authority as the verbally inspired Word of God. Certain doctrines, e.g., the virgin birth and the divinity of Jesus, are the necessary conditions of orthodox belief.

Evans, Christmas:

(1766-1838) Welsh Baptist preacher; born on Christmas day; saved at age 17; learned to read same year; beat up by former companions for becoming a Christian and thus lost an eye; known for great revival preaching and soul-winning in South Wales.

Evans, Evan Herber:

(1835-1896) Welsh Congregational pastored one church for 30 years; primary topic was the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible.

Evans, William:

US Presbyterian taught Bible at Moody Bible Institute; dean of Bible Institute of Los Angeles.

EVENT:

See Christ event

EVIDENCE:

EVIL:

See Theodicy

EVOLUTION:

* See Lamarckian hypothesis of evolution

EVOLUTIONISM:

See Evolution

EXCLUDE:

See Excluded middle law

EXCLUDED MIDDLE:

See Excluded middle law

EXCLUDED MIDDLE LAW:

(1870-1950) Any entity is either some particular kind of thing or it is not. A rose is a flower or it is not a flower.

EXCUSING:

EXISTENCE:

The assertion that a thing is, not what it is as a concept of essence. For existentialists, existence is mere consciousness and precedes essence. It is like a man who finds himself existing and then by a deliberate choice and act becomes essence. See Authentic existence; Struggle for existence; and Self-existence

EXISTENTIAL:

See Existential theology and Truth

EXISTENTIAL ETHICS:

Consciousness transcends and gives meaning to the world of which it is conscious. Consciousness is nothingness, thus it is undetermined (free to choose). It arises in the act of intending (giving meaning to the world). Moral decisions are similar to the creative decisions of artists in concrete situations. In moral decisions, freedom is exercised. One becomes being-for-itself. Responsibility is absolute. Man has no excuse. You can't say: "God willed that I do this thing" or "Because of my genes, parents, background, environment, etc. I did this thing."

EXISTENTIAL PHENOMENOLOGY:

See Existentialism *

EXISTENTIAL PHILOSOPHY:

favored by European philosophers. Contrasts with Analytic Philosophy favored by English-speaking philosophers. Rejects rational, purely logical or linguistic analysis in favor of the analysis of experience. Concerned with the components of the human situation. Does not like to express his ideas in intellectual, traditional and/or historic approaches. Generally uses literary or theological expressions. Logic is dialectical rather than traditional or mathematical.

EXISTENTIAL THEOLOGY:

EXISTENTIAL TRUTH:

See Truth *

EXISTENTIALISM:

See Existential ethics; Existential philosophy; Existentialism, religious; Protestant neo-orthodoxy; and Religious existentialism

EXISTENTIALISM, RELIGIOUS:

God is a dimension of quality of existence (or being, reality, etc.). "The ultimate of the act of faith and the ultimate that is meant in the act of faith are one and the same" (Tillich). God is your participation in the ground or depth of your own being. Faith is not a kind of knowledge. Knowing is confined to science. "Faith is the total and centered act (commitment) of the personal self" (Tillich). Except for assertions like "God is Being Itself," all assertions about God are symbolic, including the assertion "God is dead." Statements about God are about your experience and relation to existence (or being). For example, "God exists" means "I experience a depth in my being when I respond to reality with ultimate concern" (Tillich). It says "Religion is man's response to ultimate concerns in terms of the ultimate" (Tillich).

EXPERIMENTAL:

See Experimental method

EXPERIMENTAL METHOD:

EXPERIMENTALISM:

Also called Instrumentalism. Knowledge is a collection of experiences. Stresses the experimental method as the method of inquiry. Held by John Dewey. See Pragmatism

EXPLANATION:

See Covering-law model of explanation; and Logical explanation; Reasons, good; and Scientific explanation

EXPRESSIVE:

See Expressive function of language

EXPRESSIVE FUNCTION:

See Expressive function of language

EXPRESSIVE FUNCTION OF LANGUAGE:

EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE:

See Expressive function of language

EXTENSIONALITY:

EXTERNAL RELATIONS:

See Relations, internal or external

EXTRINSIC:

See Instrumental Value

EXTRINSIC VALUE:

see Instrumental Value.

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