Excusing sinners and blaming God : a Calvinist assessment of determinism, moral responsibility, and divine involvement in evil / Guillaume Bignon ; foreword by Paul Helm.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bignon, Guillaume, author.

Contributor:

Helm, Paul, writer of foreword.

Series:

Princeton theological monograph series.

Princeton Theological Monograph Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Calvinism.

Good and evil--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Good and evil.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (207 pages).

Place of Publication:

Eugene, Oregon : Pickwick Publications, 2018.

Summary:

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."

Contents:

Calvinism and moral responsibility

Free will, pets, and puppets

The coercion argument

The manipulation argument

The mental illness argument

Biblical interlude-"not the will of men"

The consequence argument and the principle of alternate possibilities

Beyond mere skepticism : positive arguments against the principle of alternate possibilities and what its falsity means for incompatibilism

A final few worries and conclusions on moral responsibility

Calvinism and divine involvement in evil

Preliminaries on the problem of evil

The "half-baked" argument and three recipes to complete its baking

The specific arguments from evil against determinism.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (EBC, viewed April 13, 2018).

ISBN:

9781498244404

1498244408