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Tag Archives: God
Creation, Theodicy, and the Problem of Evil
by Robert F. Fortuin This essay sets forth the claim that the absolute freedom of God’s act of creation informs the nature and meaning of evil. Because God created the universe without prior constraint or necessity, His moral nature and … Continue reading
Posted in Robert Fortuin
Tagged creatio ex nihilo, evil, God, Gregory of Nyssa, suffering, theodicy, universalism
62 Comments
Suffering, Theodicy, and Apokatastasis
“What then, one might well ask, is divine providence?” David Bentley Hart poses this question after pondering upon the evil and suffering of the world in his beautiful little book The Doors of the Sea. In the preceding eighty-one pages Hart compares the … Continue reading
Posted in David B. Hart
Tagged apocatastasis, damnation, David Hart, evil, God, hell, Hugh McCann, providence, suffering, theodicy, universalism
82 Comments
God is Different Because of the World
Norris Clarke is clear—he does not seek a repristination of the metaphysics of St Thomas Aquinas. He speaks, rather, of a “creative retrieval”; and some of his views can be pretty creative, at least by Thomist standards. Consider Clarke’s position … Continue reading
The Diffusiveness of Being
Norris Clarke writes: “It is proper to every being, insofar as it is in act, to overflow into action, to act according to its nature, whether such action be free or necessitated in its modality” (Explorations in Metaphysics, p. 46). … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophical Theology
Tagged being, creation, diffusiveness, emanation, God, Norris Clarke, Pseudo-Dionysius, Thomas Aquinas
10 Comments
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
