The Dilemma Of Theistic Determinism -- By: Günther H. Juncker
Journal: Journal for Baptist Theology & Ministry
Volume: JBTM 12:2 (Fall 2015)
Article: The Dilemma Of Theistic Determinism
Author: Günther H. Juncker
JBTM 12:2 (Fall 2015) p. 15
The Dilemma Of Theistic Determinism
Günther H. Juncker is Professor of New Testament and Greek at Toccoa Falls College in Toccoa Falls, Georgia.
Introduction
In the popular tradition of William James’s classic “The Dilemma of Determinism” and Sir Karl Popper’s “Indeterminism and Human Freedom,”1 I offer up the following sound bite as food for philosophical and theological thought.
If determinism is true then either God is evil and the author of evil or all talk of good and evil, of praise and blame, of moral responsibility, and of justice is meaningless and incomprehensible with reference to God. That is, if God can cause or determine evil and yet remain good, and if God can punish those who do exactly and only what He has meticulously caused and determined them to do and yet remain just, then we have no idea who God is or what He might or might not do or what Scripture could possibly mean when it calls Him “good” and “just.”
These are strong claims; nevertheless, it seems to me that theistic determinism is committed to the conjunction of several theses that lead to precisely such a dilemma. Note, for example, the following related pairs of statements (reading each pair left to right):
JBTM 12:2 (Fall 2015) p. 16
When a moral agent who is not God causes/determines another to do evil, then that first moral agent is morally blameworthy and guilty of evil. | When God causes/determines another to do evil, then He is not morally blameworthy and guilty of evil.2 |
When a moral agent who is not God causes/determines another to do evil, then that other person is not morally guilty, responsible, or justly worthy of blame or punishment. | When God causes/determines another to do evil, then that other person is morally guilty, responsible, and justly worthy of blame and punishment (up to and including eternal conscious torment in hell). |
When a moral agent who is not God judges and condemns another for some terrible evil or crime that the judge Himself caused/determined the other person to commit, then that judge is unjust and morally reprehensible. You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article. visitor : : uid: ()
Click here to subscribe
Copyright © 2024, . Theme by Devsaran
|