Abstract

This dissertation explores two issues of perennial concern in philosophical theology, God's action with respect to the world and God's relation to the world. For the most part, these two issues have been pursued separately. The central conviction underlying this study is that the two discussions would both be well served by being brought together under a unifying concept and a single paradigm. The concept suggested, and then further specified, is the concept of intention; the proposed paradigm is pro alia intentionality. ;The study begins with a survey of contemporary approaches to divine action. Here the importance of retaining biblical images of an agent God is recognized, along with the need to develop further the concept of personal agency. I conclude that further development of the agency discussion still awaits the adoption of a theory of the relation of the divine agent to the world of physical causes and human agents. ;In the second chapter a search for such a theory is undertaken by outlining and assessing the treatment of the God/world relation in Thomistic and process metaphysics. Neither metaphysical system, as it stands, appears to offer a viable theory of the God/world relation. However, Aquinas' explication of creatio ex nihilo as the generous, voluntary act of the divine agent, which establishes the creature's relation to God, points to a way of uniting the action and relation discussions in terms of intentionality. ;In the final two chapters, a constructive proposal is developed, first for the action discussion, and then for the relation issue. Here, drawing on the two earlier chapters, I recommend ways of talking about divine agency, and propose the adoption of pro alia intentionality as a paradigm for God's action with respect to the world and God's relation to the world. This proposal grows out of a discussion of the nature of personal agency and the character of personal relations. I conclude that the concept of intention, further specified as pro alia intentionality, can provide a formal paradigm for bringing together the action discussion and the relation discussion in a way which serves to advance both