ONLINE FIRST
published on November 26, 2024
Craig Baron
https://doi.org/10.5840/philtheol20241125179
Patrick Masterson on Metaphysics for Philosophical Theology
This paper presents the novel and seemingly controversial philosophical theology of Patrick Masterson, who dares to connect metaphysics to phenomenology in the continental philosophy of religion. He boldly claims that God is Esse Subsistens, the self-subsistent unlimited act of existence that exists independently of any relation to human consciousness. The paper lays out the dialogue between Masterson¡¯s Thomistic-inspired metaphysics and some of the major trends in the phenomenology of religion. Parallels between his project and Vatican I and Fides et Ratio are added for philosophical theological context. He concludes that without a metaphysical qualification, the current philosophy remains locked in an immanent frame that prevents any credible and realistic presentation of God.