On Evil, Providence, and Freedom
Title | On Evil, Providence, and Freedom PDF eBook |
Author | Mark Wiebe |
Publisher | Cornell University Press |
Pages | 252 |
Release | 2017-04-15 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 1609092341 |
This original study is concerned with the reconciliation of divine providence, grace, and free will. Mark Wiebe explores, develops, and defends Luis de Molina's work in these areas, and bridges the main sixteenth-century conversations surrounding Molina's writings with relevant sets of arguments in contemporary philosophical theology and philosophy of religion. The result fills a gap between theologians and philosophers working in related areas of study and is a unique contribution to the field of analytic theology. Wiebe begins by sketching the historical and theological context from which Molina's work emerged in the late sixteenth century. He then lays out Thomas Aquinas's understanding of God's nature and activity, as well as his understanding of the relationship between God's action and creaturely activity. In the face of challenges like the Problem of Evil, Wiebe argues, Molina's work is a helpful supplement to Aquinas's thought. Turning to direct consideration of Molina's work, Wiebe responds to several of the most well-known objections to Molinism. In support of Molina's understanding of creaturely freedom, he then develops some twentieth-century work in free will philosophy, focusing on the work of thinkers like Austin Farrer, Timothy O'Connor, and Robert Kane. He argues that there are good reasons to defend a restrained version of libertarian or noncompatibilist free will, and also good reasons to believe this sort of freedom obtains among human agents. Wiebe concludes that a Molinistic revision of Eleonore Stump's work on the relationship between providence and free will provides a well-rounded, coherent theological option for reconciling divine providence, grace, and free will. This thoughtful study will appeal to theologians and philosophers, as well as educated readers with a basic knowledge of Christian theology.
On Evil, Providence, and Freedom
Title | On Evil, Providence, and Freedom PDF eBook |
Author | Mark Wiebe |
Publisher | Niu Press |
Pages | 176 |
Release | 2017 |
Genre | Free will and determinism |
ISBN | 9781609092115 |
Divine Providence
Title | Divine Providence PDF eBook |
Author | Bruce R. Reichenbach |
Publisher | Wipf and Stock Publishers |
Pages | 344 |
Release | 2016-09-08 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 1498292860 |
We ask God to involve himself providentially in our lives, yet we cherish our freedom to choose and act. Employing both theological reflection and philosophical analysis, the author explores how to resolve the interesting and provocative puzzles arising from these seemingly conflicting desires. He inquires what sovereignty means and how sovereigns balance their power and prerogatives with the free responses of their subjects. Since we are physically embodied in a physical world, we also need to ask how this is compatible with our being free agents. Providence raises questions about God's fundamental attributes. The author considers what it means to affirm God's goodness as logically contingent, how being almighty interfaces with God's self-limitation, and the persistent problems that arise from claiming that God foreknows the future. Discussion of these divine properties spills over into the related issues of why God allows, or even causes, pain and suffering; why, if God is all-knowing, we need to petition God repeatedly and encounter so many unanswered prayers; and how miracles, as ways God acts in the world, are possible and knowable. Throughout, the author looks at Scripture and attends to how providence deepens our understanding of God and enriches our lives.
Providence, Evil and the Openness of God
Title | Providence, Evil and the Openness of God PDF eBook |
Author | William Hasker |
Publisher | Psychology Press |
Pages | 256 |
Release | 2004 |
Genre | Open theism |
ISBN | 9780415329491 |
This book is a timely exploration of the philosophical implications of the rapidly growing theological movement known as open theism, or the 'openness of God'. William Hasker, one of the philosophers prominently associated with the movement,
Providence, Evil and the Openness of God
Title | Providence, Evil and the Openness of God PDF eBook |
Author | William Hasker |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 245 |
Release | 2021-07-16 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 1136890963 |
Providence, Evil and the Openness of God is a timely exploration of the philosophical implications of the rapidly-growing theological movement known as open theism, or the 'openness of God'. William Hasker, one of the philosophers prominently associated with this movement, presents the strengths of this position in comparison with its main competitors: Calvinism, process theism, and the theory of divine middle knowledge, or Molinism. The author develops alternative approaches to the problem of evil and to the problem of divine action in the world. In particular, he argues that believers should not maintain the view that each and every evil that occurs is permitted by God as a means to a 'greater good'. He contends that open theism makes possible an emphasis on the personalism of divine-human interaction in a way that traditional views, with their heavy emphasis on divine control, cannot easily match. The book concludes with a section of replies to critics, in which many of the objections levelled against open theism are addressed.
Providence and the Problem of Evil
Title | Providence and the Problem of Evil PDF eBook |
Author | Richard Swinburne |
Publisher | OUP Oxford |
Pages | 278 |
Release | 1998-08-27 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 0191606855 |
Why does a loving God allow humans to suffer so much? This is one of the most difficult problems of religious belief. Richard Swinburne gives a careful, clear examination of this problem, and offers an answer: it is because God wants more for us than just pleasure or freedom from suffering. Swinburne argues that God wants humans to learn and to love, to make the choices which make great differences for good and evil to each other, to form our characters in the way we choose; above all to be of great use to each other. If we are to have all this, there will inevitably be suffering for the short period of our lives on Earth. But because of the good that God gives to humans in this life, and because he makes it possible for us, through our choice, to share the life of Heaven, he does not wrong us if he allows suffering. Providence and the Problem of Evil is the final volume of Richard Swinburne's acclaimed tetralogy on Christian doctrine. It may be read on its own as a self-standing treatment of this eternal philosophical issue. Readers who are interested in a unified study of the philosophical foundations of Christian belief will find it now in the tetralogy and in his trilogy on the philosophy of theism.
Aquinas on Providence, Evil, and Freedom
Title | Aquinas on Providence, Evil, and Freedom PDF eBook |
Author | John Glenn Morris |
Publisher | |
Pages | 248 |
Release | 1994 |
Genre | |
ISBN |