Bowen -Hinman Debate: existence of God; Hinman Second defense arg. 1

there are tree documemts to whichI will allude, they are thoeI;ve already written about this debate:

1. "Preparation," or  Q/A" [1]

2. Opening argumemt [2]

3. First Defense [3]



Being famous and admired does not prevent Tillich from Being unclear, however, the fact that the argument I make is by by Tillich,due to his position as a highly regarded thinker of the 20th century,is a good indication that it's not so unclear that it can't the view point seriously,

Stanford Encyclopedia of Phil article on concepts of God opens with Tillich's view and he is the only major theologian the article names. He is also named in their article on faith.[4]

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/concepts-god/#UltConMaxGre

 New World Encyclopedia http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Paul_Tillich

Among the great theologians of the twentieth century, Tillich was perhaps the one with the widest horizon. His approach was interdisciplinary and interreligious. It was also historical. He believed that the tragic situation of contemporary civilization was a great opportunity for realizing the goal of religion in concrete life. For this, he felt the religious dimension had to permeate the secular sphere, neither of the two being able to survive meaningfully without the other. He believed that such a time of fulfillment had come when Jesuswas on earth, and that a similar opportunity was coming to Europe after World War I.[5]

Britannica Encyclopedia

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Paul-Tillich
Assessment 

Tillich was a central figure in the intellectual life of his time both in Germany and the United States. It is generally held that the 20th century has been marked by a widespread breakdown of traditional Christian convictions about God, morality, and the meaning of human existence in general. In assessing Tillich’s role in relation to this development, some critics have regarded him as the last major spokesman for a vanishing Christian culture, a systematic thinker who sought to demonstrate the reasonableness of the Christian faith to modern skeptics. Others have viewed him as a forerunner of the contemporary cultural revolution, whose discussions of the meaning of God and faith served themselves to undermine traditional beliefs.[6]

Wikipedia

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Tillich

Paul Johannes Tillich (August 20, 1886 – October 22, 1965) was a German American Christian existentialist philosopher and theologian who is widely regarded as one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century.[7]

 Encyclopedia.com

http://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/tillich-paul-1886-1965

Tillich's religious thought has been enormously influential, particularly in English-speaking countries. He was strongly influenced by existentialism, and he held, as did Søren Kierkegaard, that religious questions are appropriately raised only in relation to problems that are inherent in the "human situation" and that theological claims are not mere responses to theoretical puzzles. Thus, Tillich presents Christian doctrines as resolutions of practical problems. His discussion of anxiety in The Courage to Be is a good example of his method. He first analyzes thoroughly and with great sensitivity what he considers the three great anxieties of modern man—the anxiety of death, that of meaninglessness, and that of guilt. These three forms of anxiety are three modes of response to various kinds of threats from nonbeing, threats to which existence as such is subject. As a practical solution to this practical problem, theology presents God. [8]

Tillich delivered the Gifford Lectures (like the noble prize for Philosophers)[9]

http://www.giffordlectures.org/lecturers/paul-tillich

(A) The Ground of Being is identical with any aspect of being that is eternal and necessary.

The notation “[=GOB]” does NOT merely specify an acronym for a term already present in the argument; rather, it introduces a new and additional concept into the argument, a concept that is very unclear.  Since premise (A) includes at least three unclear terms (“The Ground of Being”, “any aspect of being that is…”, and  “eternal”), I judge this premise to be VERY unclear.

He knows very well I said necessary and eternal, he leaves the term necessary out of that last quote. He cannot give me any concept that is both necessary and eternal? I have repeatedly said that necessary not only means broadly  logical necessary as in Plantinga's definition (of course his expertise should grasp immediately)  it also includes Hartshorne's argument that the dependence of contingencies upon necessity is also tied to the concept.

I told him it was a concept as far back as my first Q/A post but he didn't think about it and he still doesn't understand.

(1) ground of being unclear

The ABEAN Argument is VERY UNCLEAR

The main problem with the ABEAN argument is that it is UNCLEAR.  This is the same problem that I encountered repeatedly in my analysis and evaluation of Norman Geisler’s case for God in his book When Skeptics Ask.  The problem is not so much that ABEAN uses false premises or invalid inferences.  The problem is that nearly every claim in the argument is unclear, making it nearly impossible to rationally evaluate the argument.

what is he calling unclear?: he does not say!!!!

If Mr. Hinman were to provide clear definitions for the many problematic words and phrases in his ABEAN argument, then it would be possible to rationally evaluate this argument, but I suspect that if he could have provided such definitions then he would have done so already.  So, I’m doubtful that he will be providing clear definitions for all of the many problematic words and phrases in ABEAN.

from "First Defense", my previous speech in this debate Metacrock's blog (July 9,17)

http://metacrock.blogspot.com/2017/07/first-defense-of-god-argument-1.html

"Ground of Being:  the primordial aspect of all that is, the basis of all realty the origin of all thinks, can be construed as first cause. but more organic than Aquinas concept. There is a huge literature on this concept,i did not make it up. It's in Vatican II theologians have been talking about it since the 8th century Paul Tillich made it more popular than it ever was before in the 30s-60s. It's Tillich's notion of the God beyond the God of theism, read Tillich Systematic Theology  vol I."

from my opening argumemt(JULY 02, 2017): "Ground of being (or being itself): The eternal, necessary aspect of being"

from what I call the Q and A post: (JUNE 25, 2017) "Preparation for my debate with Bowen" Metacrock's blog http://metacrock.blogspot.com/2017/06/preparation-for-my-debate-with-bowen.html

What does the phrase "Ground of Being" mean?

Joe:

"Above I indicated that this is a synonym for Primordial being.  If I said "the original being" that would give the wrong impression, you might  think meant a localized entity. Below I will say more about the phrase ground of being with reference to it's history."

So you can see I've made an attempt to define it in every speech, He has never acknowledged a single definition. In addition to my own attempts here are those of others,

God is the ground of being

Boston  Collaborative "being and God," from article on "Paul Tillich (1886-1965)" 

http://people.bu.edu/wwildman/bce/tillich.htm

For Tillich, God is being-itself, not a being among other beings. To describe the relationship between being-itself and finite beings, Tillich takes the word, "ground." For Tillich, God is the ground of being, the ground of the structure of being. God as being itself is the ground of the ontological structure of being. In other words, every ontological being has its power to be in being itself, participate in the ground of being. All accounts of God are expressed through what we comprehend. Can we know God? For Tillich, the answer is clear: we can. Adopting the theory of analogia entis (analogy of being), that is, "that which is infinite is being itself and because everything participates in being itself" (239), The theory of analogia entis explains the possibility of knowing and saying anything about God. However, for Tillich, the analogia entis justifies our ways of saying about God only under a fact that "God must be understood as being itself" (240). Thus, existential approach to God through the category of finitude must be described symbolically. God is the ground of being, being-itself; who concerns us ultimately. Thus, God is our ultimate concern.[10]

the Gifford Lecture website"

Though in many ways unorthodox and reformist Tillich was undoubtedly a Christian theologian. His concern was to develop a satisfying Christian theology in the context of an acceptable philosophy. Heidegger’s influence can be seen in Tillich’s existential starting-point in his ontology of beings and being itself. He uses the existentialist motif of ‘nothingness’ in his characterisation of the experience of beings as confronting the nonbeing inherent in our finitude. He opposed himself to any understanding of God that might give the impression of deity as a being among others; God in Tillich’s view had to be understood as ‘the ground of being’ or to use a not-unfamiliar expression being itself. The manner in which he spoke of God with such remarks as ‘God does not exist. . . . He is being itself beyond essence and existence’ led to some accusations of atheism and pantheism.[11]

what is wrong with these definitions? He does not say. Why are they unclear? he does not say. Is there a problem with the idea of a basis of reality? He does not say! Does he not conceptually understand the attempt or the concept to represent God in some means other than a localized object? He does not say. Can he not see that such a project would be inherently difficult and would contain inherent aspects of unclear? He does not say but apparently no. But he makes a chart! It desn't mean anything but it's pretty and it's chart-like!

"Here is my view of the general unclarity of Hinman’s ABEAN argument (click on image below for a better view of the chart):"

Ridiculous meaningless chart, it's claiming that he  finds things unclear but why, what is unclear about them? since he never replies to any of the expostulations I gave of those terms did he even read them? what's wrong with them? This chart is meaningless because he doesn't even bother to define what is unclear about anything, I hate to say this but his charge of unclarity is unclear!

(2) list of terms he finds unclear

The unclarity that I based this chart on is the unclarity of the meaning of several problematic words and phrases: [of course I have defined each of these terms in every thing I;e written about this debate, but he makes no attempt to acknowledge that]

• naturalistic phenomena

This is obvious,self evident, it;s a common term there is no reason to assume I'm using it in any unusual way. Yet I did define it last time and in fact I used your ever loving secular web to do so,quoting Keith Augustine.

• temporal

another self evident term that everyone understands he makes no attempt to say why it's unclear. 

• some aspect of being

I specifically addressed this phraseology as far back as the Q/A post

BB:
What does it mean to say that an "aspect of being is eternal"?

Joe:

There are only three alternatives for origin of all things given the assumption of cause and effect. They are (1) reality began in a state of nothing and something emerged from nothing, (2) There is an Infinite Causal Regression (ICR) that just happens to always be as a brute fact. (3) Something exists eternally that gives rise to all that is. for various reasons I reject 1 and 2. From the premise that something cannot come from true absolute nothing, something must be eternal and thus able to give rise to all that is not eternal. So at this point we have a distinction between the eternal which I might call "primordial being;" the first form of being, or "ground of being,"  and temporal being or "the beings." McQuarrie makes the distinction between primordial being and the beings.

I speak of it as an aspect of being because I want to avoid the assumption that it is a big man in the . want to use new models for thinking of "God" that don't play off of thinking of God as a magnification of a human king.

• eternal

from my first defense, the previous post: 

Eternal: Not limited to the duration of time

• the Ground of Being

see above where I show that I have defined it every time (preparation, or Q/A,opening statement and previous post) and I also quoted definitions from other sources. I essentially define it as the basis of all being, the foundation upon which being cohere's, 

• being itself

From the preparation document (Q/A) means the same thing as ground of being,I was explicit about that.

• a sense of the numinous

I told you this is a standard term  used by all writers of mysticism including psychology of religion. It is both a theological term as well as a clinical term. All the major studies on mysticism refer to it. I sure as hell did define it, In fact i foot noted the Spilka and Hood book which is a major source in psych of religion, they talk about it in chapter 11,

from my previous post: "Sense of the numinous: That term is carefully and succinctly defined,I pointed out in the Q/A post that it is well defined by doctor Hood in empirical research in chapter 11 of his book, he uses common definition from the scientific field of psychology of religion,[1] (Bernard Spilka, Ralph Hood Jr., Bruce Hunsberger, Richard Gorwuch. The Psychology of Religion: An Empirical Approach. New York, London: the Guildford Press, 2003. 33)

 Its salient feature:  all pervasive presence of love usually identified with God's presence, by those who experience it. "

In my post of July  2 "opening argument" I said "SON: Sense of the Numinous; an aspect of mystical experience that my have given rise to the very concept of religion"

I also definded QA post

• God (Hinman has an idiosyncratic understanding of this word)

idiosyncratic is it? I used the phrase "job description in reference to the TS. That is a functional description and I said as much. I said "In using this term I intend to indicate God's job description as the basis of all meaning and value. The grounding of all moral axioms, the basis of eternal concepts such s truth,justice, the good. The creator, the foundation of all being that bestows existence upon all continent things. "

there is nothing idiosyncratic about any of that. That includes some very orthodox ideas, Clearly i stressed it;s a functional description. My actual concept is clearly the Tillich being itself thing. That is literally orthodox I fn Ware the Orthodox Church (see 'first defense")  which is propaganda for the literal Orthodox church, It's also in Vatican 2 and accepted by most liberal protestants.

his use of idiosyncratic is as an anti-intellectual scare word. this whole exercise in bullshit like most of the atheist movement is very anti-intellectual.

• the transcendental signified

 I just got through talking about, I told you specially what  it is and what it's for, from the previous post "First defense:"

 Transcendental signified: The actual reality refereed to by all marks of signification  the top of the metaphysical hierarchy. In using this term I intend to indicate God's job description as the basis of all meaning and value. The grounding of all moral axioms, the basis of eternal concepts such s truth,justice, the good. The creator, the foundation of all being that bestows existence upon all continent things. 

• universal truth at the top of the metaphysical hierarchy

I said that as part of my explain of TS. this is more anti intellectual hockum. be careful about that thinking stuff. Don;t let your mind wonder about things science can't prove that's how people fall into religion, very anti thought, anti intellectual for a free thinker, don't foget to be afraid of new ideas/.

• believing in… (Hinman has an idiosyncratic understanding of this phrase)

That is quite insane. He doesn't know what it mean to believe in things,I wouldn't put that post most atheists on CARM but I thought better of Bowen.

(3)more quibbles over necessity and contingency

The terms “necessary” and “contingent” are also problematic words, but Hinman provides fairly clear definitions of these two words, which in turn made it possible for me to evaluate the inference from premises (1) and (4) to premise (5) as being an INVALID inference (see Part 2 of this series).  The one time that Hinman provides clear definitions, makes it clear that ABEAN is a bad argument.  This is why, I suspect, that Geisler and Hinman are so unclear and fuzzy-headed when they argue for God.  When they think and reason clearly, their arguments for God fall apart.

[all he said there is that N/C are problematical,he does NOT say anything about the way I define them or why my version of them is problematic. He says nothing as to why they are, he makes no effort to deal with any content i disclosed,]

Geisler the ultimate threat, o please don't say I'm like him, gosh i better drop all my arguments, I don't want to be like Geisler.

 What we see here is his inability to think off script. Lack of a God forbid he should learn anything about Tillich. He has this one gimmick of attacking this other guy so of course lump them in together. Geisler is as different from Tillich as Trump from Obama, or Adam Sandler from Bertrand Russell. He's still stuck trying to compare my argument to Geisler's because he can't deal with the real ideas.

(4) he finds another way to say the very same thing, this time with numbersm and yet no detail no analysis, no ideas

I judged premises (1), (2), (4), (A), (5), (7), (8), (9), (10), and (11) to be VERY UNCLEAR because they each contain at least two different unclear words or phrases, which Hinman failed to adequately define or explain.

He's going to repeat the numbers,  He has nothing to say,he has made no argument

(5) now he;s going to put it in caps so we really know it!

I judged premise (6) to be UNCLEAR, but not to be VERY UNCLEAR, because of the use of the phrase “a sense of the numinous” in that premise.  Given the subjective nature of that concept, it would be difficult for anyone to provide a clear definition of that phrase, and Hinman did make a brief attempt to provide some clarification of this term, but his attempt was inadequate in my judgment.  As it stands, this phrase is too vague to allow one to make a rational evaluation of the truth or falsehood of premises (7) or (8) with any degree of confidence.

what is unclear? he doesn't say, what;s wrong with the explanations i've given?he doesn't say,...

(6) now he tries the stunt of redefining

How Many Possible Interpretations are there of ABEAN?

The easiest sort of unclarity to fix is ambiguity.  There are eight different unclear words or phrases used in ABEAN. (NOTE: some of the unclear words and phrases in the list above are not used in the ABEAN argument, but are used in definitions of terms.)  Most of these unclear words or phrases have MANY different possible meanings, not just two.  So, most of these unclear words or phrases have a more serious problem than that of being ambiguous between two alternative meanings.

Ok for the first time he gives an idea to play with, unfortunate it was already answered in my first answer to him last time. That sort of lea way for re-interpretation is ruled out by the specificity of defining terms,I did define them and he has not bothered to look.

But, for the sake of illustration, let’s assume that all eight unclear words or phrases each have only two alternative meanings.  Let’s also assume that these words or phrases are consistently used with the same meaning in all premises where they occur.  How many different possible interpretations of ABEAN would there be, based on those assumptions?  There would be 2 to the 8th power different interpretations of ABEAN:

Of course we don't need to assume that because I already defined them he has no argument about my definitions. 

2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 =  4 x 4 x 4 x 4 = 16 x 16 = 256 Different Possible Interpretations

Of course that assumes I havnet already defined them,

There are well over two hundred different possible interpretations of ABEAN if the unclear words and phrases in the argument each have only two possible meanings.  But most of the unclear words and phrases have a more serious problem of unclarity than this, so it would not be unreasonable to estimate that there is an average of three different possible meanings for each of the unclear words and phrases.  How many possible interpretations of ABEAN would there be on that assumption?  There would be 3 to the 8th power different interpretations of ABEAN:
3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 =  9 x 9 x 9 x 9 =  81 x 81 = 6,561 Different Possible Interpretations

Given these two estimates of the number of different possible interpretations of ABEAN, it is reasonable to conclude that it is very likely that there are more than 200 but less than 7,000 different possible interpretations of ABEAN.   So, I would need at least 200 blog posts to adequately evaluate all of the various possible interpretations of ABEAN.  Not gonna happen.  Wouldn’t be prudent.  I have better things to do with my time.

wow I'm bowled over with the incompetence of this tactic this is bad high school debate,

(7) critique something from nothing

One Premise in ABEAN is OK

I’m OK with premise (3):

3. Something did not come from nothing.

The wording and clarity could be slightly improved:

3a. It is NOT the case that something came from nothing.

I accept this premise as true, although I’m not entirely certain that it is true.  I think it is based on the Principle of Sufficient Reason, and I’m inclined to accept that principle (i.e. “Every event has an explanation.”)

I am not sure that the abhorrence of something from nothing is directly related to PSR. I know they overlap but I think one would have that same idea with no reference to PSR just a matter of intuitive sense, as well as empirical judgement.

A Couple of Other Problems with ABEAN

I have many objections and concerns about ABEAN in addition to the basic problem of unclear words and phrases.   But I will just mention two of those problems here.  One objection concerns the statement that Hinman failed to make clearly and explicitly:

(8) GOB = any aspect Eternal and necessary

(A) The Ground of Being is identical with any aspect of being that is eternal and necessary.

Premise (4) asserts that “Some aspect of being is eternal and necessary.”  The word “some” is ambiguous here, just like the word “something” as used by Aquinas and by Geisler in their arguments for God.  What premise (4) actually means is this:

No it is not ambiguous at all it is entirely precise: it means not all aspects of being are temporal and contingent some are eternal. Some means not all that's clea I couldsay :ome being is not temporal: but that would cast God the role of a being rather than being itself and defeat the purpose of discussing bedimming the first place.

4a.  Some aspect or aspects of being are eternal and necessary.There is no reason or justification given for limiting the relevant aspects to just ONE aspect.  So, we have, yet again, an ambiguity in quantification that leads to confusion and illogical inferences.  If there are many aspects of being, and if more than one aspect of being is eternal and necessary, then that casts doubt on premise (A).  

It has to be more than that  it has to also be capable of giving rise to all else.He has not shown  that such a thing exists; numbers and shapes are eternal and necessary but they are not creators.

If there are multiple aspects of being that are eternal and necessary, then it is doubtful that we ought to identify “the Ground of Being” with that collection of aspects.

Since it is logical to assume that we are talking the origin of all being then that aspect must be creator and that rules out the other things I can think of,he has not answered,he has no example of other such things. He might suggest a committee of gods but we are not talking about individual beings, God is not a being we are talking the ground of being. This is not just another very powerful being, that's the point Tillich is making. It is literally  an aspect of being.

This is particularly the case if an “aspect” of being is an individual thing or event.  The concept of an “aspect of being” is VERY UNCLEAR, so it is not at all obvious that we can rule out the possibility that individual things or events could count as aspects of being.  Clearly, Mr. Hinman would NOT accept the idea that “the Ground of Being” is composed of various individual things or events (that would lead us in the direction of Polytheism or Pantheism), so the identification of “the Ground of Being” with “some aspect or aspects of being” might well turn out to be an incoherent claim, a claim that contradicts the implications of Hinman’s concept of “the Ground of Being”.

It's at all un clear, it may well be beyond our understanding but the concept is specific. Now I have my own wrinkle in the plot because I think Tillich was trying to bring Platonic Christianity into modern age,so I use the Platonic Christian concept of universal mind that is the explanation I give as to what this aspect of being is;  the knowing conscious aspect that produces all being apart from itself.

This is one more example that illustrates the need for clear definitions of problematic words and phrases such as “an aspect of being” and “the Ground of Being”.  Without such definitions, we may well be stumbling over various logical errors and incoherent claims.
I also have a problem with premise (9):

That actually might be so but it's not a valid reason to reject the argument. There's still enough validity in the idea to warrant belief it just requires more understanding of the concept of mind. I am not seeking to prove God exists I am only arguing that belief that God "exists: is rational.

(9) now he's going to repeat the same BS he said before about GOB but without acknowledging any of the answers I've already given/

9. GOB = God.First of all, this premise needs to be spelled out in a clear sentence of English:

why? Especially since it is spelled out in Vatican II.

9a. The Ground of Being is identical with God.Although Hinman fails to provide a clear definition of “the Ground of Being” or of the word “eternal”, I strongly suspect that by “eternal” he means “outside of time”, and it is clear that Hinman believes “the Ground of Being” to be “eternal”.  Given these assumptions, it follows that “the Ground of Being” cannot change.   But God is a person, or at least a being with personal characteristics like “can think”, “can communicate”, “can make choices”, and “can perform actions”.  But only a being that can change can have such personal characteristics.  Therefore, given the assumption that “the Ground of Being” is something that is “outside of time” it follows that “the Ground of Being” is NOT identical with God.  Premise (9) appears to be false.

 I had a whole big analytical thing in first speech about Orthodox church their distinction between God;s essence and his energies that answers the time problem i also argued universal mind solves the problem, he doesn't answer any of  that, he doesn't even acknowledge it,

He also totally misses the fact than Tillich's;s view God is not a person he;s not a being,so that is just his lack of willingness to learn the concept he argues against,

more obfuscation ignoring the explicates I gave,see above;he has no critique of any of it, he doesn't even admit i gave you see he just lied abouit my not giving one, for my answer see above,

turn back to the Boston collaborative source and look at the quote in the larger context:
Here is a paragraph that essentially sums up my argument, It is from the Boston Collaborative site, The interesting thing is they don;t find it so unclear they seem to get what he;s talking about and to take it seriously,

Being and GodThe question of God is the fundamental question of theology. Without a doubt, God is the answer to the question of theology. Yet, where can we find the answer? For Tillich, he believes that the answer is implied in the analysis of being. Tillich turns the question of God to the question of being from which the answer to the question of God lies. Examining the question of being (i.e., What is being-itself?) is not to examine the particular being or a group of beings. Rather, it is to examine the question of what it means to be. Tillich believes that such an ontological question of being-itself springs from the "shock of nonbeing." Nonbeing is experienced as the threat to being, which generates a sense of finitude. In other words, finitude unites being with nonbeing. Thus, the fundamental questions are of being and nonbeing, namely, to be and not to be. Human’s finitude is incomprehensible without the concept of nonbeing because finitude is experienced on the human level. Nevertheless, we have the capability to operate our imagination to surpass our finitude and to point to infinity. Therefore, we are able to be aware of infinity. This awareness presupposes the question of God. Yet, this awareness of infinity is rooted in our awareness of finitude. The concept of the finitude is necessary for Tillich’s works because this concept drives him to the question of God. For Tillich, we are able to ask the question of God, because we are aware of infinity. "The question of God is possible because an awareness of God is present in the question of God. This awareness precedes the question" (206). "The question of God must be asked because the threat of nonbeing, which man experiences as anxiety, drives him to the question of being conquering nonbeing and of courage conquering anxiety. This question is the cosmological question of God" (208). Accordingly a quest for God is inevitable for human beings.God is the answer to the question implied in the human awareness of the finitude. God concerns us ultimately. Whatever we grasp as our ultimate concern we call "god." "god" must be encountered by us in concreteness (214). Tillich uses the lowercase "g" to stress the necessity of concreteness over against ultimacy in the idea of god. Yet, our ultimate concern must transcend every concrete concern. Therefore, Tillich uses the uppercase "G" to stress the transcendent dimension over the concrete concern. However, in transcending the finite, our ultimate concern breaks off the concreteness of a being-to-being relationship with us. This is the indispensable inner conflict in the idea of God. For Tillich, this conflict is the guide to examine the history of religion. Tillich argues that polytheism rising from the need for concreteness or absoluteness motivates a step toward monotheism; and that one’s "need for a balance between the concrete and the absolute drives him toward trinitarian structures" (221). Trinitarian monotheism is not that it allows only one god, but that the ultimacy prevails over the concrete. It is rather a qualitative than quantitative characteristic of God. It also allows human to speak of the living God in whom the concrete and the ultimate are united. "Trinitarian monotheism is concrete monotheism, the affirmation of the living God" (228). The question is how we describe this living God?For Tillich, God is being-itself, not a being among other beings. To describe the relationship between being-itself and finite beings, Tillich takes the word, "ground." For Tillich, God is the ground of being, the ground of the structure of being. God as being itself is the ground of the ontological structure of being. In other words, every ontological being has its power to be in being itself, participate in the ground of being. All accounts of God are expressed through what we comprehend. Can we know God? For Tilich, the answer is clear: we can. Adopting the theory of analogia entis (analogy of being), that is, "that which is infinite is being itself and because everything participates in being itself" (239), The theory of analogia entis explains the possibility of knowing and saying anything about God. However, for Tillich, the analogia entis justifies our ways of saying about God only under a fact that "God must be understood as being itself" (240). Thus, existential approach to God through the category of finitude must be described symbolically. God is the ground of being, being-itself; who concerns us ultimately. Thus, God is our ultimate concern [12]

[1] Josesph Hinman, "Preparation for my debate with Bowen." Metacrock's blog, (JUNE 25, 2017)(acessed  7/12/17)

http://metacrock.blogspot.com/2017/06/preparation-for-my-debate-with-bowen.html

this is Preperation or Q/Q doc

[2] Joseph Hinman, "Opening argument Resolved : that belief in God is rationally warranted
," Metacrcock's blog (JULY 02, 2017)(accessed 7/12/17 )

http://metacrock.blogspot.com/2017/07/opening-argument-resolved-that-belief.html

this is "opening argument" doc

[3] Joseph Hinman, "First Defense of God Argument 1," Metacrock's blog(JULY 09, 2017) (accessed

http://metacrock.blogspot.com/2017/07/first-defense-of-god-argument-1.html

[4]Wainwright, William, "Concepts of God", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2017/entries/concepts-god/>.

that's the archived URL, the dynamic is below-

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/concepts-god/#UltConMaxGre

[5] "Paul Tillich," New World Encyclopedia,  Project Chairman: Dr. Chung Hwan Kwak, Project Director: Dr. Thomas G. Walsh, Editor in Chief: Dr. Frank Kaufmann, no date indcated (accessed 7/12/17) URL:

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Paul_Tillich

[6]  Arne Unhjem, "Paul Tillich,American Theologian and philosopher," Britannica Encyclopedia, on line, Encyclopedia Brotannica inc. on line (accessed 7/12/17) last updated 2017 URL:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Paul-Tillich

[7] "Paul Tillich." Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; last edited (July 9,2017)  (accessed 7/12/17)URL

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Tillich

[8] Thomson Galen, "Tillich,Paul." Encyclopedia.com Encyclopedia of Philosophy 
COPYRIGHT 2006 (July 13,2017) (accessed 7/12/17)URL

http://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/tillich-paul-1886-1965

[9] "Paul TilichProfessor of Philosophical Theology, Union Theological Seminary, New York" The Gifford Lectures: Over 100 years of  Lectures on Natural Theology, University of St Andrews, website by Templeton press. 2017.b (accessed 7/12/17) URL

http://www.giffordlectures.org/lecturers/paul-tillich

[10]James Wu  and Wilfredo Tangunan .Boston  Collaborative Encyclopedioa of Western Theology. "being and God," from article on "Paul Tillich (1886-1965)" ed Derek Michaud,copyright ©1994 onwards, Wesley Wildman (accessed 7/12/17)URL

http://people.bu.edu/wwildman/bce/tillich.htm

[11] Gifford Lectures, op cit
[12] James Wu  and Wilfredo Tangunan. Boston  Collaborative, op cit