In the postNewtonian world motion is assumed to be a simple category whichrelates to the locomotion of bodies in space and is usually associated onlywith physic... » 

In the postNewtonian world motion is assumed to be a simple category whichrelates to the locomotion of bodies in space and is usually associated onlywith physics. Philosophy God and Motion shows that this is a relativelyrecent understanding of motion and that prior to the scientific revolutionmotion was a much broader and more mysterious category applying to moral aswell as physical movements.Simon Oliver presents fresh interpretations of key figures in the history ofwestern thought including Plato Aristotle Aquinas and Newton examining thethinkers handling of the concept of motion. Through close readings of seminaltexts in ancient and medieval cosmology and early modern natural philosophythe book moves from antique to modern times investigating how motion has beenof great significance within theology philosophy and science. Particularlyimportant is the relation between motion and God following Aristotletraditional doctrines of God have understood the divine as the unmoved moverwhile postHolocaust theologians have suggested that in order to becompassionate God must undergo the motion of suffering. Philosophy God andMotion suggests that there may be an authentically theological as well as anatural scientific understanding of motion. «