Being and love: Schleiermacher, aquinas and augustine

This article makes the case for speaking not of divine “attributes” but of divine “names.” There are good scriptural grounds for advancing the thesis that love is not just another divine name, but the name which designates God’s very nature, i.e. who God is. Schleiermacher made that case. This essay argues that “Love,” as a divine name, should be paired with “being” (which is also, for theologians like Augustine and Aquinas, a “biblical” name), since God does not “have” love or being, but is love and is “being itself”.

Duke Scholars

Author Janet Soskice Divinity School