Relational ontology is the philosophical position that what distinguishes subject from subject, subject from object, or object from object is mutual relation rather than substance. Ontologically, substance refers to the essence or nature of a being. The substance of God is immaterial, self-existent, immutable, and eternal. Conversely, the substance of the universe is material, contingent, mutable, and temporal. While distinction of substances clearly differentiates God from the cosmos, it implies that union of God and the cosmos is impossible since ontologically distinct substances cannot interpenetrate. Hence, true God cannot remain true God and be truly immanent in the cosmos. Conversely, true cosmos cannot remain true cosmos and be conceived within the being of God. Substance ontology thus precludes the possibility of conceiving the self-creativity of the cosmos as the immanent creativity of God-qua-Creator and suggests a “God of the gaps” divine-world relation in which God’s...
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Aquinas, T. (1989). The summa theologica a concise translation. Notre Dame: Christian Classics.
LaCugna, C. M. (1991). God for us: The trinity and Christian life. San Francisco: Harper Collins.
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Schaab, G.L. (2013). Relational Ontology. In: Runehov, A.L.C., Oviedo, L. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sciences and Religions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8265-8_847
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8265-8_847
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