Atheistic Theism: Brook Ziporyn’s Mystical Atheism and the Exclusivity of Beatitude

The authors introduce the concept of 'atheistic theism' to reconcile monotheism with Brook Ziporyn's concept of mystical atheism. They argue that Ziporyn's principle of intersubsumption—the idea that any determinate content is indistinct from any and all other contents—leads to this reconciliation. In atheistic theism, both atheism and monotheism become contradictory: absolute intersubsumption requires a theistic transformation of atheism and an atheistic transformation of monotheism.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract By introducing the concept of atheistic theism, we mean to reconcile monotheism with Brook Ziporn’s concept of mystical atheism. We demonstrate that Ziporyn’s own principle of intersubsumption, the principle according to which any determinate content is indistinct from any and all other contents, engenders this very result. In atheistic theism, both atheism and monotheism take on a contradictory character: absolute intersubsumption calls for a theistic transformation of atheism as well as an atheistic transformation of monotheism.