TA 5/2018 (123. vuosikerta)

The 1928 Independence Day Celebration of the Finnish Orthodox Church in the Context of Nationalization — On 25 November 1928, the Orthodox Church of Finland celebrated its tenth year of independence. This article discusses the anniversary celebration in the context of the nationalization that the Orthodox Church underwent in the early days of Finnish independence. The clergy’s reports from local festivities testify to widespread nationalistic reinterpretations of the history and status of the Church. The event was meticulously planned to evoke a sense of community in the Church that was recently torn by sectarian disputes. Nevertheless, the event propagated an idealistic image of a national Finnish Church that overlooked the reality of a decidedly multicultural Finland.

On the Theology of Artificial Intelligence Given that the ethical and political challenges posed by artificial intelligence are widely discussed in developed societies, the lack of systematic theological engagement with artificial intelligence is highly surprising. This article seeks to analyze recent work on artificial intelligence and theology as well as to provide an outline for the theology of artificial intelligence. On specific moral and ethical issues (such as the future of work, automated traffic, and data security), theologians have so far made few contributions. However, theology might be able to contribute to the more general discussion by focusing on artificial intelligence in the context of theological anthropology, especially in terms of the nature of intelligence and the doctrine of the image of God. The article then concludes with some reflections on theological anthropology and the future of human intelligence.

Problems of Theodicy: Two Perspectives — This paper deals with some ethical, theological, metaphysical, and meta-philosophical arguments that have been posited against conceptual frameworks in the discussion of theodicy. In particular, I note affinities and differences between the ways D. Z. Phillips and Brian Davies have criticized contemporary formulations of theodicy. I also analyze the relationship between their thinking by taking up the question of the nature and aim of the philosophy of religion.

Is God’s Existence Possible? — The article analyses the metaphysical possibility of God’s existence from the viewpoint of theories of modal knowledge proposed by David Chalmers, Timothy Williamson, and E. J. Lowe. The article’s conclusion is that these theories do not support the metaphysical possibility of God’s existence. While it may seem like this conclusion would have crucial implications for the meaningfulness of religious discourse on God, the author suggests that this is not so, since God’s possibility in a weak sense—that is, in terms of epistemic and conceptual possibility—suffices to make discourse on God meaningful.