Thesis - Christian Materialism
Todman (Theo)
Paper - Abstract

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Write-up2 (as at 02/03/2026 07:14:53): Christian Materialism

Plug Note3
  1. Introduction
    • Thesis Text:
      1. This Note focuses on those philosophers who profess both some form of Christianity and some form of materialism4, though it also lists those other philosophers associated in one way or another with the philosophy of Personal Identity who have professed Christian faith.
      2. The form of materialism5 I have in mind is that we human beings consist wholly of matter6, without the need to posit a soul7 to ensure our post-mortem survival8 and, in particular, our posited resurrection9.
      3. I will also discuss those Christian philosophers who are dualists or hold other non-materialist accounts of human identity, and who resist Christian Materialism10.
      4. Obviously, no Christian with any claim to orthodoxy believes that all persons11 are essentially12 embodied – as God is, and presumably angels are, taken to be persons and immaterial.
      5. I also suppose that Christians may differ as to what they think of as the intermediate state between death13 and resurrection14 (ignoring those that think that the future state is incorporeal15).
      6. They may also differ as to whether they think matter requires animating16 by the breath of the Spirit in a literal sense.
      7. Lists of Christian Materialists and Related Philosophers
    • Further Remarks
      1. This Note – or those related to it – may become more important in due course, as it might be an alternative focus for my Thesis.
      2. Currently, the reading lists for both this Note and that for Religion18 appear below. I will segregate them in due course.
      3. Some Comments
        1. Lynne Rudder Baker: Works by, or about, Lynne Rudder Baker are mostly covered in my Note on Baker19. A selection appears below.
        2. Kevin Corcoran is very much a supporter of Lynne Rudder Baker.
        3. David Hershenov: most of his papers are relevant, but are not explicitly listed below.
        4. Nancey Murphy is only the (co-)editor of two of the books listed below, and many / most of the contributors will have Christian affiliation of some sort (probably Catholic). However, I have not listed the other contributors / editors directly unless they are otherwise well-known (to me). I have, however, listed Murphy’s contributions to the edited collections.
        5. Alvin Plantinga: The list of relevant works is to be completed once I’ve gone through Alvin Plantinga: Works (maintained by Andrew Bailey).
        6. Peter Van Inwagen: There are so many potentially-relevant papers by Van Inwagen that I’ve had to decide whether to list them all or only some … “All” is more useful, without repeating those in Van Inwagen’s books listed – except from anthologies edited by Van Inwagen.
  2. Works
  3. For a list of Works that have been considered, but have missed the cut for inclusion in this Section of my Thesis, see the following:-
    1. Read: No items to list.
    2. Further Reading: No items to list.
  4. This is a place-holder33.


In-Page Footnotes

Footnote 2: Footnote 27: Footnote 30: Footnote 31:

Text Colour Conventions (see disclaimer)

  1. Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2026


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