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Tag Archives: free will
Riding the Waves of Providence
Imagine a world in which you live not on a body of fixed land, whether continent or archipelago, but on a floating island that moves on the waves, driven by current, tide, and wind. One might describe the island as … Continue reading
Posted in Inklings & Company
Tagged Adam and Eve, C. S. Lewis, divine providence, Eden, free will, gluttony, Perelandra, sin
1 Comment
St John of Damascus on the Providence of God
“God is both Creator and Provider,” writes St John of Damascus, “and is power of creating, sustaining, and providing is his good will. For ‘whatsoever the Lord pleased he hath done, in heaven, and in earth’ [Ps 134:6], and none … Continue reading
Posted in Theology
Tagged evil, free will, God, human freedom, John of Damascus, Nemesius, providence, synergism
18 Comments
Is God the Author of Sin?
Is God the author of sin? The question assumes paramount importance when evaluating the construal of divine and human agency advanced by Hugh J. McCann. Popular theodicies seek to protect God from responsibility for human evil. That’s the upshot of … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophical Theology
Tagged creation, divine sovereignty, evil, free will, God, human freedom, Kathryn Tanner, providence, sin, theodicy
51 Comments
God Makes Us Freely Acting
“We seem almost compelled,” remarks Hugh McCann, “to think there is some competition here: that when it comes to free will there is no way that both we and God can both have legitimate prerogatives, no way that one can … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophical Theology
Tagged determinism, divine agency, divine creation, divine sovereignty, free will, God, human freedom, Kathryn Tanner
16 Comments
The World is a Novel in the Mind of God
Can God determine our actions? One need not think more than a second or two. Of course he can, we answer. If CIA brainwashers and television advertising can cause us to act in specific ways, then certainly God can. Let’s … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophical Theology
Tagged determinism, divine creation, divine sovereignty, free will, God, human freedom, predestination, Westworld
14 Comments
Freedom and Determinism: What’s the Difference?
Free agency, states Hugh McCann, exhibits three essential features. First, free actions cannot be “the product of independent event-causal conditions. An autonomous agent has to be a center of novelty—a point from which, to the extent he influences it, the … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophical Theology
Tagged determinism, divine creation, divine sovereignty, free will, God, Hugh McCann, libertarian freedom
26 Comments
The Free-Will Defense and the Impossible Worlds of Molinism
The free-will defense against the problem of evil is a failure–at least that’s what Hugh McCann believes. This verdict surprises, given the opinion of so many philosophers that Alvin Plantinga’s argument succeeds resoundingly. But it succeeds, suggests McCann, only because … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophical Theology
Tagged divine sovereignty, evil, free will, God, human freedom, middle knowledge, Molinism, providence, theodicy
5 Comments
