Is divine simplicity biblical? A fresh argument on behalf of a traditional doctrine

Jared Michelson

doi:10.1017/S0036930625101476

Is divine simplicity biblical? A fresh argument on behalf of a traditional doctrine

Jared Michelson^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Divinity

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Divine simplicity is plausibly seen as a biblical doctrine, given a standard account of the way doctrine is derived from Scripture. The polemic of Jeremiah 10 against ancient Near Eastern mis pî or ‘mouth opening’ rituals involves a commitment to a radical account of divine aseity. In dialogue with Thomas Aquinas and a number of contemporary figures, I suggest this view of divine aseity might plausibly be thought to lead to the inference to divine simplicity.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-14
Journal	Scottish Journal of Theology
Volume	First View
Early online date	17 Dec 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0036930625101476
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 17 Dec 2025

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10.1017/S0036930625101476Licence: CC BY

Michelson_2025_SJT_Divine-simplicity_CC
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Final published version, 182 KBLicence: CC BY

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title = "Is divine simplicity biblical? A fresh argument on behalf of a traditional doctrine",

abstract = "Divine simplicity is plausibly seen as a biblical doctrine, given a standard account of the way doctrine is derived from Scripture. The polemic of Jeremiah 10 against ancient Near Eastern mis p{\^i} or {\textquoteleft}mouth opening{\textquoteright} rituals involves a commitment to a radical account of divine aseity. In dialogue with Thomas Aquinas and a number of contemporary figures, I suggest this view of divine aseity might plausibly be thought to lead to the inference to divine simplicity.",

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AB - Divine simplicity is plausibly seen as a biblical doctrine, given a standard account of the way doctrine is derived from Scripture. The polemic of Jeremiah 10 against ancient Near Eastern mis pî or ‘mouth opening’ rituals involves a commitment to a radical account of divine aseity. In dialogue with Thomas Aquinas and a number of contemporary figures, I suggest this view of divine aseity might plausibly be thought to lead to the inference to divine simplicity.

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Is divine simplicity biblical? A fresh argument on behalf of a traditional doctrine

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