KARL JASPERS, COMMENTATOR OF PETER DAMIAN
KARL JASPERS, COMMENTATOR OF PETER DAMIAN

Summary/Abstract: Karl Jaspers was one of the most important contemporary philosophers, who had a significantcontribution to developing modern philosophy and theology in the Western cultural space, together withhis co-nationals Martin Heidegger and Paul Tillich. In his book, Der philosophische Glaube angesichtsder Offenbarung, Karl Jaspers considers the well-known treaty by Peter Damian called “On DivineOmnipotence”, and the present article aims at evincing the manner in which the German-Swissphilosopher deals with this topic of omnipotent divinity, as well as the perspective he has on the doctrineof the famous Benedictine monk and cardinal of the 11thcentury; last but not least, the article focuses onhighlighting the importance of this topic in the past and present philosophical-theological debates. Thisarticle approaches the topic of divine omnipotence in a wider context, thus reviewing the nuancedanswers given by the most remarkable thinkers of the Western Antiquity and Middle Ages to questionsabout the manner in which the divinity interacts with the order of the created world. It is certain that PeterDamian has an innovative view on time, history and natural necessity. To Peter Damian the past does notescape divine omnipotence, it is not merely history, it is not consumed, exhausted and fixed once andforever, but instead it is dependent on divine omnipotence. Consequently, the present article attempts toshow the logical consequences that this novel point of view has at the beginning of the 2nd Christianmillennium.

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