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Chapter 7 - God, Determined Agents, and Love

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2019

Peter Furlong
Peter Furlong
Affiliation:
Valencia College, Florida
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Summary

According to many theists, God loves humans and humans ought to strive for love of God. Divine determinism threatens to overturn both of these claims. First, given the suffering and evil in the world, if divine determinism is true, then it seems we have reason to think that God does not love everyone, at least not with the sort of perfect parental love that theists often claim. Second, if divine determinism is true, then humans love God only if God determines them to do so. But it seems that love – at least union-seeking love – cannot arise in this manner. If all love of God ultimately arises because of something like divine manipulation, then love of God seems thin and worthless. In this chapter I take up both of these worries, first carefully formulating them and then articulating and examining several responses to each.

Keywords

divine determinismGodloveparental loveunion lovemanipulationevilsuffering
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Chapter
Information
The Challenges of Divine Determinism
A Philosophical Analysis
 , pp. 160 - 186
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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