The University of Gloucestershire John Baillie's Epistemology of Mediated Immediacy: Its Logic, Importance for Baillie's Mediat
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THE UNIVERSITY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE JOHN BAILLIE'S EPISTEMOLOGY OF MEDIATED IMMEDIACY: ITS LOGIC, IMPORTANCE FOR BAILLIE'S MEDIATING THEOLOGY, AND PROMISE AS A MODEL OF REVELATORY RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE DIVISION OF HUMANITIES IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY TRIG JOHNSON, BA, MA, MSt IN COLLABORATION WITH THE QUEEN’S FOUNDATION FOR ECUMENICAL THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION GLOUCESTERSHIRE, ENGLAND July 25, 2015 _______________________________ __________________________________ Dr. Adam Hood Dr. Ashley Cocksworth Thesis Supervisor Thesis Co-Supervisor _______________________________ __________________________________ Professor George Newlands Dr. Dirk Martin-Grube External Examiner Internal Examiner ii © Copyright 2015 Trig Johnson All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT The field of academic theology is presently maintaining the following about the critical thought of the Scottish thinker John Baillie (1886-1960): (1) Baillie’s so-called "mediating theology" does not have a concept to contribute to contemporary Christian thought; (2) Baillie's concept of "mediated immediacy" is important primarily for Baillie's thought in his Our Knowledge of God (1939); (3) mediated immediacy’s logic about knowledge of God is severely convoluted. Received positions which support the field's marginalization of mediated immediacy's contemporary relevance in particular, they come with a concession: (4) the field's confusion about mediated immediacy's meaning—this, as evidenced in over 75 years' worth of competing interpretations about mediated immediacy’s logic, in particular. This thesis centers primarily on Baillie's concept of mediated immediacy, taking as its primary aim the resolution of research issues (1-4). In doing so, it demonstrates that previous research has underestimated: the staying power of Baillie's mediating theology in general, mediated immediacy’s importance for Baillie’s mediating theology in particular, and mediated immediacy’s potential as a contribution to contemporary Christian thought. Along the way, it resolves several research issues which have been occasioned by perennial confusion about the logic of mediated immediacy's normative epistemology and descriptive epistemology in particular. Research contributions about the logic of mediated immediacy's epistemology per se, these derive from three additional research contributions: a diachronic trace of the development of Baillie's mediating theology (Baillie research has sought a comprehensive and cogent ordering of Baillie's non-systematically articulated critical thought; this thesis provides it, by identifying Baillie's espistemic and apologetic preoccupations across his critical thought's roughly 35-year development); a modeling of mediated immediacy's logic (previously absent in a research corpus whose literature ahs been replete with confusion), that logic's expression in what is found to be, contrary to the thrust of previous research, a concept of mediated immediacy that serves at least four functions for Baillie's mediating theology; and, a comprehensive and rigorous critical evaluation of mediated immediacy’s iv epistemology (also previously absent in Baillie research literature), a multi-disciplinary evaluation of it's logic (from contemporary philosophical-epistemological, empirical- psychological and theological-epistemological perspectives), included. An evaluation warranted by the multi-disciplinary scope of Baillie's mediating theology, as well as by Baillie's employment of his rather versatile concept of mediated immediacy, this evaluation considers mediated immediacy's now robustly evaluated logic's consequences for core aspects of Baillie's mediating theology, including Baillie’s ideas of knowledge of God, divine action, divine revelation and religious experience. The definitive work on John Baillie's concept of mediated immediacy, this thesis is essential for those with an interest in John Baillie's critical thought. Amongst other things, the thesis challenges positions widely held by John Baillie research. For example, it demonstrates that a nascent form of mediated immediacy existed in Baillie's thought before the concept's first explicit mention in the mediating theologian's 1939 publication Our Knowledge of God. Here is a novel interpretation in the research. Furthermore, whereas previous research has rightly observed that Baillie’s critical thought gravitates toward the problems of revelation and knowledge of God in general, this thesis demonstrates that Baillie’s mediating theology focuses on one problem in particular— across the roughly 35-year span of its development: the problem of the epistemological relationship between direct knowledge and indirect knowledge for knowledge of God. In addition, this thesis demonstrates that Baillie’s latter mediating theology (post-1939) provides a stronger doctrine of the Holy Spirit than that found in Baillie's earlier critical thought. This thesis may also be of value to persons with broader interests, including the epistemic interplay between aspects of philosophy of religion, philosophical theology, and empirically-based interpretations of the phenomena of religious experience. v vi AUTHOR’S DECLARATION I declare that the work in this thesis was carried out in accordance with the regulations of the University of Gloucestershire and is original except where indicated by specific reference in the text. No part of the thesis has been submitted as part of any other academic award. The thesis has not been presented to any other education institution in the United Kingdom or overseas. Any views expressed in the thesis are those of the author and in no way represent those of the University. Signed:.... Date: ............July 25, 2015....................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thanks to Keith Ward for three terms of graduate study tutelage and research supervision at Oxford University. It was while studying philosophical theology with the now Emeritus Regius Professor of Divinity, that I began to cultivate an interest in Baillie’s thought. When Professor Ward was unavailable to supervise my DPhil thesis, Alister McGrath offered to supervise my work. My thanks to Professor McGrath for suggestions with some of the contours of the thesis. My final thesis supervisor, Adam Hood, DPhil (Oxon), helped see the research through to its completion and successful defense. My thanks to him for his excellent supervision, insights and encouragement along the way. Ashley Cocksworth, PhD (Camb.), provided particularly helpful eleventh- hour insight into the thesis. My thanks to him for his thesis co-supervision. The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education and the University of Gloucestershire have provided a platform for the practical pursuit of the doctorate. My thanks to Dr. David Allen, Dr. Nicola Slee, and the friendly support staff at Queen's for help with that and things administrative. Professor David Fergusson, his staff at New College, and the University Library Special Collections staff at Edinburgh University—each received me warmly, when I visited Edinburgh to research Baillie's thought. My thanks to them, as well. Foremostly, I wish to thank the Lady Drée for her exquisite and abiding nurturance. This thesis is dedicated in loving memory to my mom, who died while I was pursuing the DPhil at Oxford University. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................................iii! AUTHOR’S DECLARATION.......................................................................................... vi! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................. vii! LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS............................................................................................ xi! INTRODUCTION: JOHN BAILLIE’S MEDIATING THEOOGY: DINOSAURIAN? .. 1! 1.1. BAILLIE’S MEDIATING THEOLOGY: HISTORIANS’ EVALUATION OF ITS ENDURING VALUE............................................................................ 2! 1.2. BAILLIE’S MEDIATING THEOLOGY: BAILLIE RESEARCHERS’ EVALUATION OF ITS EDURING VALUE ................................................... 6! 1.3. THE MYSTERY OF MI’S MEANING ........................................................... 21! 1.4. MI’S IMPORTANCE FOR BAILLIE’S MEDIATING THEOLOGY............ 31! 1.5. MI AND CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN THOUGHT ............................... 32! 1.6. CONCLUSION................................................................................................. 34! 1.7. THESIS OBJECTIVES, METHOD AND GENERAL CONCLUSIONS....... 35! 1.8. LIMITATIONS................................................................................................. 38! DIVISION 1: MI'S MEANING 40! 2. MI’S FOUR FUNCTIONS ...................................................................................... 40! 2.1. JOHN BAILLIE: A MEDIATING THEOLOGIAN ........................................ 41! 2.2. CHRISTIAN THEOLOGICAL SCIENCE: ITS METHOD AND AIMS ....... 42! 2.3. LANGUAGE ABOUT KNOWLEDGE OF GOD: ITS AIMS AND LIMITS 43! 2.4. THE LANGUAGE OF CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS: ITS PURPOSE ........ 49! 2.5. BAILLIE'S CORE THOUGHT ON MI ........................................................... 50! 2.6. MI'S FIRST FUNCTION: A DESCRIPTION OF DIVINE ACTION............. 53! 2.7. MI'S SECOND FUNCTION: A DESCRIPTION OF REVELATION............ 56! 2.8. MI'S THIRD FUNCTION: A DESCRIPTIVE EPISTEMOLOGY ix OF CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS