The Invulnerability of God:
Divine Impassibility According to Anselm

DELIVERED BY

Ryan Hurd


A FREE ZOOM LECTURE + Q&A

Date

Thursday June 20th, 2024

LOCATION

Zoom

TIME

8:00pm ET

Today, Anselm is much maligned for doing theology which results in a heartless god, and central to this caricature is his doctrine of God’s impassibility. However, critics often fail to understand the exact nature of this doctrine. Before one can even consider truth or falsity, one must determine: what does impassibility actually mean? 

In this lecture. Ryan Hurd will determine what Anselm means by saying God is impassible, especially as found in Chapters 7 and 8 of his Proslogion, concluding that his judgment is akin to saying that someone is “invulnerable.” Although many adversities have power over us humans by virtue of our many vulnerabilities, none have any power over God, for he lacks all our vulnerabilities. This alone is what Anselm means when he says God is impassible. As he summarizes, “nothing has power against God.”

The lecture will be followed by a Q&A time.


WHAT ARE FELLOWS LECTURES?

Davenant Fellows Lectures are free, public lectures hosted monthly via Zoom throughout the academic year. They aim to showcase the scholarly expertise of our Davenant Hall faculty, and to provide a bank of high-quality lectures freely available online. Lectures are recorded, with both video and audio being made available after the event. To access past lectures, visit our YouTube or podcast archives.

Schedule

8:00-9:00 Pm ET:

LECTURE: “The Invulnerability of God: Divine Impassibility According to Anselm” by Ryan Hurd

9:00-9:30 Pm ET:

Q+A


Our Speaker


Ryan Hurd

PHD candidate, THEOLOGISCHE UNIVERSITEIT KAMPEN

Ryan Hurd is a systematic theologian whose area of expertise is the doctrine of God, specifically the Trinity. His primary training is in the high medieval and early modern scholastics as well as the 20th century ressourcement movement. He has written a number of articles and regularly does translations of early modern theology sources; but his primary project is writing a systematics of the Trinity. He is a Teaching Fellow at Davenant Hall.

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