Emphasizes the importance of metaphysical necessity to both philosophical theology and through it to moral and political theory.In this collection of essays Franklin I. Gamwell offers a defense of transcendental metaphysics especially in its neoclassical form and builds a case for its importance as a tool for addressing abiding problems in philosophical theology and moralityincluding talk about God human fault moral decision and the relationship of politics and religious freedom.In Part I Gamwell argues against Kant and a wide range of contemporary philosophers for the validity of transcendental metaphysics designated in the strict sense. He engages with Aquinas Schleiermacher Augustine and Reinhold Niebuhr to argue that neoclassical metaphysics for which the divine whole is itself temporal or forever selfsurpassing provides a more coherent account of God than does classical metaphysics for which the divine whole is completely eternal.