The Challenges of Divine Determinism

The Challenges of Divine Determinism PDF Author: Peter Furlong
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110848302X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
Explores past and present arguments for and against divine determinism, presenting balanced discussion of a major philosophical and religious debate.

The Challenges of Divine Determinism

The Challenges of Divine Determinism PDF Author: Peter Furlong
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110848302X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
Explores past and present arguments for and against divine determinism, presenting balanced discussion of a major philosophical and religious debate.

Our Fate

Our Fate PDF Author: John Martin Fischer
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199311293
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
Our Fate collects John Martin Fischer's previously published articles on the relationship between God's foreknowledge and human freedom. The book includes a substantial new introductory essay that puts all of the chapters into a cohesive framework, and presents a bold new account of God's foreknowledge of free actions in a causally indeterministic world.

The Challenges of Divine Determinism

The Challenges of Divine Determinism PDF Author: Peter Furlong
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781108710664
Category : Free will and determinism
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Human Freedom, Divine Knowledge, and Mere Molinism

Human Freedom, Divine Knowledge, and Mere Molinism PDF Author: Timothy A. Stratton
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1725276119
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
Does humanity possess the freedom to think and act, or are we always caused and determined to think and act—exactly how we think and act—by things outside of our control? If we are always causally determined to think and act by things outside of our control, then how can humans be genuinely responsible for any of our thoughts or following actions? However, if humanity is genuinely free and responsible for at least some of our thoughts and actions, then how can the Christian rationally affirm the doctrine that God is totally sovereign and predestines all things? In Human Freedom, Divine Knowledge, and Mere Molinism, Timothy A. Stratton surveys the history of theological thought from Augustine to Edwards and reaches surprising historical conclusions supporting what he refers to as “limited libertarian freedom.” Stratton goes further to offer multiple arguments appealing to Scripture, theology, and philosophy that each conclude humanity does, in fact, possess libertarian freedom. He then appeals to the work of Luis de Molina and offers unique arguments concluding that God possesses middle knowledge. If this is the case, then God can be completely sovereign and predestine all things without violating human freedom and responsibility.

Free Will and God's Universal Causality

Free Will and God's Universal Causality PDF Author: W. Matthews Grant
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350082910
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
The traditional doctrine of God's universal causality holds that God directly causes all entities distinct from himself, including all creaturely actions. But can our actions be free in the strong, libertarian sense if they are directly caused by God? W. Matthews Grant argues that free creaturely acts have dual sources, God and the free creaturely agent, and are ultimately up to both in a way that leaves all the standard conditions for libertarian freedom satisfied. Offering a comprehensive alternative to existing approaches for combining theism and libertarian freedom, he proposes new solutions for reconciling libertarian freedom with robust accounts of God's providence, grace, and predestination. He also addresses the problem of moral evil without the commonly employed Free Will Defense. Written for analytic philosophers and theologians, Grant's approach can be characterized as “neo-scholastic” as well as “analytic,” since many of the positions defended are inspired by, consonant with, and develop resources drawn from the scholastic tradition, especially Aquinas.

Why Free Will Is Real

Why Free Will Is Real PDF Author: Christian List
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674979583
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
A crystal-clear, scientifically rigorous argument for the existence of free will, challenging what many scientists and scientifically minded philosophers believe. Philosophers have argued about the nature and the very existence of free will for centuries. Today, many scientists and scientifically minded commentators are skeptical that it exists, especially when it is understood to require the ability to choose between alternative possibilities. If the laws of physics govern everything that happens, they argue, then how can our choices be free? Believers in free will must be misled by habit, sentiment, or religious doctrine. Why Free Will Is Real defies scientific orthodoxy and presents a bold new defense of free will in the same naturalistic terms that are usually deployed against it. Unlike those who defend free will by giving up the idea that it requires alternative possibilities to choose from, Christian List retains this idea as central, resisting the tendency to defend free will by watering it down. He concedes that free will and its prerequisites—intentional agency, alternative possibilities, and causal control over our actions—cannot be found among the fundamental physical features of the natural world. But, he argues, that’s not where we should be looking. Free will is a “higher-level” phenomenon found at the level of psychology. It is like other phenomena that emerge from physical processes but are autonomous from them and not best understood in fundamental physical terms—like an ecosystem or the economy. When we discover it in its proper context, acknowledging that free will is real is not just scientifically respectable; it is indispensable for explaining our world.

Excusing Sinners and Blaming God

Excusing Sinners and Blaming God PDF Author: Guillaume Bignon
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532618654
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
Calvinist determinism destroys moral responsibility and makes God the author of sin. These two accusations are not new, and were arguably anticipated by Paul in Romans 9, but they remain today the most important objections offered against Calvinist/determinist views of human free will. This book is a philosophically rigorous and comprehensive defense of Calvinism against these two families of arguments. With respect to human moral responsibility, it discusses whether determinism destroys “free will,” turns humans into pets or puppets, and involves or is analogous to coercion and manipulation. It responds to the consequence argument and direct argument for incompatibilism, the principle of alternate possibilities, the “ought implies can” maxim, and related claims. With respect to the authorship of sin, it discusses whether Calvinist determinism improperly involves God in evil. Does it mean that “God sins,” or “causes sin,” or “wills sin” in problematic ways? “Does God intend our sin, or (merely) permit sin?” In each case the coherence of the Calvinist view is defended against its most potent objections, to reject the claim that Calvinism is “excusing sinners and blaming God.”

Divine Action, Determinism, and the Laws of Nature

Divine Action, Determinism, and the Laws of Nature PDF Author: Jeffrey Koperski
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429639589
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
A longstanding question at the intersection of science, philosophy, and theology is how God might act, or not, when governing the universe. Many believe that determinism would prevent God from acting at all, since to do so would require violating the laws of nature. However, when a robust view of these laws is coupled with the kind of determinism now used in dynamics, a new model of divine action emerges. This book presents a new approach to divine action beyond the current focus on quantum mechanics and esoteric gaps in the causal order. It bases this approach on two general points. First, that there are laws of nature is not merely a metaphor. Second, laws and physical determinism are now understood in mathematically precise ways that have important implications for metaphysics. The explication of these two claims shows not only that nonviolationist divine action is possible, but there is considerably more freedom available for God to act than current models allow. By bringing a philosophical perspective to an issue often dominated by theologians and scientists, this text redresses an imbalance in the discussion around divine action. It will, therefore, be of keen interest to scholars of Philosophy and Religion, the Philosophy of Science, and Theology.

Salvation and Sovereignty

Salvation and Sovereignty PDF Author: Kenneth Keathley
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
ISBN: 1433669633
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
In Salvation and Sovereignty, Kenneth Keathley asks, “What shall a Christian do who is convinced of certain central tenets of Calvinism but not its corollaries?” He then writes, “I see salvation as a sovereign work of grace but suspect that the usual Calvinist understanding of sovereignty (that God is the cause of all things) is not sustained by the biblical witness as a whole.” Aiming to resolve this matter, the author argues that just three of Calvinism’s five TULIP points can be defended scripturally and instead builds on the ROSES acronym first presented by Timothy George (Radical depravity, Overcoming grace, Sovereign election, Eternal life, Singular redemption). In relation, Keathley looks at salvation and sovereignty through the lens of Molinism, a doctrine named after Luis Molina (1535-1600) that is based on a strong notion of God’s control and an equally firm affirmation of human freedom.

Divine Will and Human Choice

Divine Will and Human Choice PDF Author: Richard A. Muller
Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 1493406701
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 524

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Book Description
This fresh study from an internationally respected scholar of the Reformation and post-Reformation eras shows how the Reformers and their successors analyzed and reconciled the concepts of divine sovereignty and human freedom. Richard Muller argues that traditional Reformed theology supported a robust theory of an omnipotent divine will and human free choice and drew on a tradition of Western theological and philosophical discussion. The book provides historical perspective on a topic of current interest and debate and offers a corrective to recent discussions.