God as the Event of Being

This book focuses on conceptualizing ‘God’ not as a static entity but as an ephemeral event or, more precisely, an atmospheric reality. It presents, discusses, and elaborates on the claim that God is identical with the divine effects, i.e., God’s existence is God’s effective essence. The thesis of the book implies a repudiation of ‘metaphysical’ accounts that conceptualize God as a supranatural entity based on a rigid ontology. If God is not a metaphysical supplement to the world, the question arises as to how one must think about God to be truly referring to God. The author deals with this question by elaborating on three claims: (1) God’s being is identical with God's acting; (2) divine action towards humans is constituted by God's revelation; and (3) the revelatory divine action results in a new understanding of humans and the world. Combining these claims leads to relocating God’s works and thus the divine being. There is no separate referent that has been added to the world, but a new and irreducible reference to the world. This transformation from substance-metaphysical thinking to an understanding in performances is called a modalization of faith. The consequences of this theological upheaval for a post-metaphysical conception of God are worked out in a dialogue with hermeneutical theology and its philosophical foundations. The book will be of particular interest to scholars of theology and philosophy of religion.