Tag Archives: free will

At Liberty to Become Free

Posted on 25 May 2022 by Fr Aidan Kimel

by Tom Belt, TE (theologian extraordinaire) Many thanks to Fr Adian for the invitation to share my views on the controversial subject of “free will.” I’m grateful for Fr Aidan’s friendship, the encouraging conversations we have, and his kindness in … Continue reading →

Posted in Eschatology, Theology, Tom Belt | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Taking the Bus to Hell

Posted on 4 December 2021 by Fr Aidan Kimel

One by one the lost souls step off the bus to enjoy a Great Divorce holiday in Heaven . . . and one by one they decide to take the bus back to the other place. The choice is theirs. … Continue reading →

Posted in Eschatology, Inklings & Company | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Is God the Author of Sin?

Posted on 13 November 2021 by Fr Aidan Kimel

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 Hugh McCann, Philosophical Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

The World is a Novel in the Mind of God

Posted on 19 October 2021 by Fr Aidan Kimel

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 the Creator of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Hugh McCann, Philosophical Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 28 Comments

The Free-Will Defense and the Impossible Worlds of Molinism

Posted on 10 October 2021 by Fr Aidan Kimel

The free-will defense of evil and suffering is a failure—so Hugh McCann con­tends. This verdict sur­prises, given the opinion of so many phi­losophers that Alvin Plan­tin­ga’s argument succeeds resoundingly. But it succeeds, maintains McCann, only be­cause it aban­dons God’s provi­dential … Continue reading →

Posted in Herbert McCabe & Friends, Hugh McCann, Philosophical Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

C. S. Lewis, Alvin Plantinga, and the Free-Will Defense

Posted on 5 October 2021 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Why did God create a world filled with evil and horrific violence? In the midst of World War II, C. S. Lewis offered what has become a classic Christian response: God created things which had free will. That means creatures which … Continue reading →

Posted in Hugh McCann, Philosophical Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 43 Comments

When Only Bad Arguments Are Possible: A Response to Diem (among others)

Posted on 26 July 2020 by Fr Aidan Kimel

by David Bentley Hart In my last posting here, I confessed my bafflement at Edward Feser’s strange assertion that, when discussing the structure of rational freedom in That All Shall Be Saved, I do so in order to deny that … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, David B. Hart, Eschatology | Tagged , , , , , | 337 Comments

The Remarkable Unity of Rhetoric and Dialectic in ‘That All Shall Be Saved’

Posted on 23 February 2020 by Fr Aidan Kimel

by Jordan Daniel Wood, Ph.D. I I had resolved to avoid, at all costs, making the substance of my reflection on David Hart’s That All Shall Be Saved about its rhetoric. Rhetoric features prominently among the main concerns of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, David B. Hart, Eschatology, Jordan Wood | Tagged , , , , , , , | 44 Comments