Religion Commons^™

Ethically Managing Theories Of Agency In Counseling And Psychotherapy, Jeffrey S. Reber, Jacob D. Tubbs, Jacob A. Larson

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

Informed by personal and professional cultures, clients and therapists inevitably hold various assumptions and attributions about the possibility of free will. Given that these “theories of agency” may not always align, and in light of the ethics codes for psychotherapists and counselors, it is imperative, as a matter of cultural competence and responsivity, that therapists seek training in understanding different cultures of agency. To that end, and to help therapists navigate cultural differences and mitigate the risk of personal and professional values imposition, this article provides a conceptual framework for organizing the common formal and informal theories of agency that …

A Patristic Christological Defense: Utilizing The Patristic View Of The Incarnation As A Defense Against The Problem Of Suffering, Scott Steven Hyland Sr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

At issue is the question of whether it is logically consistent to embrace the existence of an omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent God in the presence of evil and suffering. Many factors prima facie seem to indicate that the existence of such a God in the presence of an abundance of pain, evil, and suffering is logically incoherent. If such a God does exist, why does He allow the evil and suffering that He does? Hume asserts, such a being should be capable of preventing evil and suffering. Van Inwagen argues that the existence of a world that is constantly modified to …

Between Choice And Compulsion: An Examination And Critique Of The Evolution Of 'Original Sin', Matthew James Wynn

MSU Graduate Theses

“Why are we the way that we are?” is one of the hardest questions to answer because it requires grasping the origin of human beings. This has left philosophers and theologians in century-long debates on forming a “cosmogony of ontology” (i.e., how the origin of the universe informs the human condition). The concept, “original sin” was developed by a North African theologian named Augustine (354 – 430 CE). Augustine’s reading of Genesis 3, and inaccurate translation of Romans 5:12, taught that a person is born morally culpable for a fault antecedent to their existence. This way of thinking about the …

A Reader In Early Franciscan Theology: The Summa Halensis, Lydia Schumacher, Oleg Bychkov

Philosophy & Theory

A Reader in Early Franciscan Theology presents for the first time in English key passages from the Summa Halensis, one of the first major installments in the summa genre for which scholasticism became famous. This systematic work of philosophy and theology was collaboratively written mostly between 1236 and 1245 by the founding members of the Franciscan school, such as Alexander of Hales and John of La Rochelle, who worked at the recently founded University of Paris.

Modern scholarship has often dismissed this early Franciscan intellectual tradition as unoriginal, merely systematizing the Augustinian tradition in light of the rediscovery of …

The Freedom Of God, Scout Powell

Quaerens Deum: The Liberty Undergraduate Journal for Philosophy of Religion

This paper addresses the exceedingly complex nature of God's freedom through the defense of Friedrich Lohmann’s article, “God’s Freedom: Free to be Bound.” The role of God’s creation in his own freedom is explored as well as the idea of omnipotence, negative freedom, positive freedom, and gracious autonomy. This paper affirms the idea that God is simultaneously free and bound to his own creation; God’s own self-restriction leads to his eternal glory. God’s freedom to be bound is seen both in the Old Testament Scriptures as well as the New Testament. For example, God permanently tied himself to the world …

"Sapiens Dominabitur Astris": A Diachronic Survey Of A Ubiquitous Astrological Phrase, Justin Niermeier-Dohoney

Arts and Communication Faculty Publications

From the late thirteenth through late seventeenth centuries, a single three-word Latin phrase—sapiens dominabitur astris, or “the wise man will be master of the stars”—proliferated in astrological, theological, philosophical, and literary texts. It became a convenient marker denoting orthodox positions on free will and defining the boundaries of the scientifically and morally legitimate practice of astrology. By combining the methodology of a diachronic historical survey with a microhistorical focus on evolving phraseology, this study argues that closely examining the use of this phrase reveals how debates about the meanings of wisdom, free will, determinism, and the interpretation of stellar influence …

De Libero Conscientia: Martin Luther’S Rediscovery Of Liberty Of Conscience And Its Synthesis Of The Ancients And The Influence Of The Moderns, Bessie S. Blackburn

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

One fateful day on March 26, 1521, a lowly Augustinian monk was cited to appear before the Diet of Worms.[1] His habit trailed behind him as he braced for the questioning. He was firm, yet troubled. He boldly proclaimed: “If I am not convinced by proofs from Scripture, or clear theological reasons, I remain convinced by the passages which I have quoted from Scripture, and my conscience is held captive by the Word of God. I cannot and will not retract, for it is neither prudent nor right to go against one’s conscience. So help me God, …

Mackie's Arguement For The Infinite Man, Abigail J. Basile

Quaerens Deum: The Liberty Undergraduate Journal for Philosophy of Religion

Theists and non-theists alike have toiled with the characteristics of the Judeo-Christian God and how they may or may not be contradictory with the existence of evil. Some philosophers, such as J. L. Mackie, have decided that God and evil cannot coexist, mainly because the existence of evil means that any God is unable to keep evil and suffering away from His beloved creation, and such a limited God is no God at all. But Mackie’s argument rests on flawed foundation. Mankind is necessarily finite because even the infinite God cannot do the logically impossible and create the infinite—nothing infinite …

Quantum Mechanics & Its Broader Implications: The Von Neumann– Wigner Interpretation, Aeowyn Kendall

Computing, Mathematics and Physics Student Scholarship

Essay for PHYS 402 Quantum Mechanics

Like the popular Copenhagen Interpretation, the von Neumann-Wigner Interpretation of quantum mechanics posits that measurement causes a collapse of the wavefunction. Once observed, the wavefunction collapses from a superposition of various states to just one of the possibilities. While the Copenhagen Interpretation does not identify what constitutes a measurement, an observer, or an observation, the von Neumann-Wigner Interpretation specifies that consciousness is necessary for the measurement process to occur (we might say a reading of the measurement), and that it is consciousness itself that causes wavefunction collapse. In simple terms, the von Neumann-Wigner Interpretation …

‘Upright, Whole, And Free’ Eschatological Union With God, Kevin Timpe

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

In the closing canto of the Purgatorio in his Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri describes the souls preparing to enter heaven as “new, remade, reborn, … perfect, pure, and ready for the Stars [i.e., heaven].” But what exactly would it mean for a human soul to be morally perfect and in perfect union with the divine will? Furthermore, if the soul fit for heaven is perfectly united with God, what sense does it make to think that individual retains their free will? In this paper, I assume a number of Christian claims about the Beatific Vision and argue that not …

The Second Great Awakening And The Making Of Modern America, Kerry Irish

Faculty Publications - Department of History and Politics

In the decades before the Civil War which began in 1861, the Second Great Awakening was the most powerful social movement in America. It inspired the conversion of millions of Americans to faith in Jesus Christ. And that faith motivated many of those people to attempt to transform the moral habits of the nation. Slavery was ended, consumption of alcohol reduced, women’s rights, though often opposed by people of faith, were set on a path that would result in woman’s suffrage in the early Twentieth century. A host of other reforms, too many to list, were instigated. It is not …

Can God Know What Time It Is? A Working Paper, Caleb Brown

Quaerens Deum: The Liberty Undergraduate Journal for Philosophy of Religion

Many thinkers hold the following five propositions are inconsistent:

1. The dynamic theory of time (McTaggart’s “A-theory”) is correct
2. God is atemporal
3. God knows tensed facts
4. Free human actions are possible
5. God interacts responsively with humans

This working paper uses the discussion in Four Views: God and Time as a starting-point and moves towards explaining how these propositions are consistent.

Mollifying Neuroscience And Christian Faith: An Emergent Monistic Claim For Free Will And The Soul, Paul Figel

Dialogue & Nexus

Modern neuroscience makes it difficult for one to support a case for substance dualism regarding the existence of a soul and free will. The neuroscientific evidence stems from several experiments in which test subjects were instructed to perform a simple voluntary movement. Scientists consistently observed neurological antecedents preceding the subject’s conscious decision to perform the action. An examination of these experiments and the conclusions drawn will show several key inconsistencies that weaken the extreme anti-conscious will claim. However, it is important to not reject the neurological evidence against substance dualism, but instead discover a new perspective (e.g. emergent monism) that …

Examination Of Molinism, Olivia Grey Steele

The Kabod

What is the driving force behind salvation? Is it God’s sovereign will, enacting His efficacious grace upon the heart of man? Or is it the free will of man himself, choosing to accept the grace that has been extended to him? This is the age-old question behind the argument of sovereignty versus free will. Luis de Molina, a sixteenth century Jesuit theologian, believed that God, through His omniscience and omnipotence, can predestine an individual for salvation while keeping the free will of that individual intact. This system, known as Molinism, stands on three main principles: a wholly libertarian account of …

A Review Of John Rists' "Augustine On Free Will And Predestination", Caleb H. A. Brown

Quaerens Deum: The Liberty Undergraduate Journal for Philosophy of Religion

In this paper I seek to summarize and critique John Rist’s article “Augustine on Free Will and Predestination.” Rist treats Augustine with honesty. When someone is as prominent, loved, and recognized as Augustine, when someone has as much authority as he does, the temptation to manipulate his writings into saying things which agree with one’s own position is strong. Rist resists this temptation, even concluding that Augustine holds a position on free will and predestination which Rist finds highly objectionable. But in his objections to Augustine’s position, Rist does not do justice to the whole system of Augustine’s thought. In …

Will And Grace: The Essence Of The Pelagian Debate, Steve Curtis

Steve Curtis

The early centuries of the Christian church saw a number of clarifying councils and theological treatises directed at objective doctrines such as the triunity of God and the hypostatic nature of Christ. By the late fourth century, the discussions were becoming more subjective: to what extent does man possess a free will? What is the cause of sin? What are the theological implications involved in salvation, and to what extent does the grace of God hold sway? Such questions naturally led back to the very beginning of time and to the nature of Adam and the consequence of his sin …

Divine Providence And Free Will, Stanley Boylan

New York School for Career and Applied Studies (NYSCAS) Publications and Research

The author responds to a recent article ("God, Man, Chaos and Control: How God Might Control the Universe") by Dr. Alan Kadish. He refers to Special Divine Action, determinism, and free will, particularly as they are discussed in Judaism.

Response To Letters To The Editor, Alan H. Kadish

Office of the President Publications and Research

The author responds to letters to the editor about his article "God, Man, Chaos and Control: How God Might Control the Universe."

God, Man, Chaos And Control: How God Might Control The Universe, Alan H. Kadish

Office of the President Publications and Research

The purpose of this article is to review the problem of free will and divine intervention from the prism of Jewish sources, within the context of modern science. Among the many lenses the Jewish tradition provides for us to frame history is the division between times of open miracles and hidden miracles. The Bible is full of open miracles, divine revelation, and prophecies. Whereas there is controversy among rabbinic scholars and theologians about whether the miracles happened through natural or supernatural forces, either way, the miracles were still immediately recognizable as acts of God. However, since the destruction of the …

Jesus’ Temptations And Ours, Lawrence E. Frizzell D.Phil.

Reverend Lawrence E. Frizzell, S.T.L., S.S.L., D.Phil.

Cycle C liturgical readings for the First Sunday of Lent, February 17, 2013: Dt 26:4-10, Ps 91; Rom 10:8-13; Lk 4:1-13.This article was previously published in The Catholic Advocate.

The Problem Of Evil, Modern Calvinism And The Doctrine Of Free Will: Is John Feinberg's Theodicy A Coherent Resolution To The Problem Of Tragic Moral Evil?, Michael Obanla

Masters Theses

The thesis examines and evaluates Feinberg's theistic defense against the problem of evil with a view to determining whether it represents a coherent and consistent resolution to the problem of tragic moral evil. The thesis relies on three criteria for the evaluation: the internal consistency of Feinberg's theistic defense, its exegetical accuracy, and epistemic adequacy.

A Discussion Of The Theological Implications Of Free Will In The Biblical Story Of The Exodus From Egypt, Michelle Okun

Senior Theses and Projects

The exploration of free will and divine providence was a focus of medieval, specifically Jewish, philosophers. Three men wrote extensively about the subject: Philo of Alexandria, Saadia Gaon, and Moses Maimonides. All argued through textual proof and critical thinking that God was innocent and just throughout the occurences described in the Exodus from Egypt. Each man used principles they held to be true and textual evidence to defend God, prove the continued existence of free will, and the ability for divine providence to exist without interfering with free will. Through an exploration of the story of Creation, mind and knowledge, …

An Exegetical Analysis Of Jeremiah 1:5: The Presence Of Free Will And Choice, Daniel Xisto

Papers

This research paper will show that even during the collapse of the kingdom of Judah, the Lord, wanting to save His children, never forced or predestined the will of Jeremiah. The following exegesis points to an alternate reading, one of free will and choice.

A Brief Look At Methodology And Grace In Wesleyan Theology, Kyle Blanchette

The Asbury Journal

In a recent piece for the Asbury Theological Journal, Nathan Crawford has attempted to put current understandings of emergent phenomena within the neurosciences in conversation with Christian soteriology; in particular, Crawford has sought to link up themes found in emergence with distinctively Wesleyan perspectives on sanctification. In this article, I offer some reflections on theological methodology in light of Crawford's analysis, and I identify some needed clarifications of Kenneth J. Collins's model of John Wesley's soteriology. In the latter half of the piece, I present a critical analysis of the issue of monergism and synergism in Wesley's understanding of grace.

Reductionism And Holism, Chance And Selection, Mechanism And Mind, Ursula Goodenough

Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations

Despite its rich and deepening panoply of empirical support, evolutionary theory continues to generate widespread concern. Some of this concern can be attributed to misunderstandings of the original concept, some to unfamiliarity with its current trajectories, and some to strongly held fears that it strips the human of cherished attributes. In this essay I seek to deconstruct such misunderstandings, lift up current concepts of what evolution entails, and address some of the existential issues it generates.

Divine Foreknowledge And The Arrow Of Time: On The Impossibility Of Retrocausation, Alan G. Padgett

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Return Of The Will: Jonathan Edwards And The Possibilities Of Free Will, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

If certain national cultures seem to own certain great problems of the mind, then freedom of the will seems to be the American problem. This is not just because of the sheet stupifying bulk of what Americans have written on this problem over the past 300 years, from Benjamin Franklin to Daniel Dennett, from Quaker prophetesses in Vermont to prairie lawyers in Illinois. In the most fundamental sense, freedom of the will has been an American possession because it forms a cognate philosophical discourse to that most fundamental of all American ideas, that if political and civil liberty. To speak …

Erasmus, Luther, And Aquinas, Philip Watson

Concordia Theological Monthly

One of the most recent additions to the growing Roman Catholic literature on Luther is a study of his doctrine of the bondage of the will in the light-as the subtitle of the German edition says-of the Biblical and ecclesiastical tradition. Its author, Harry J. McSorley, endorses Luther's own view of the outstanding importance of his De servo arbitrio as dealing with the most central issue of his reforming work. He also endorses Luther's claim that his primary concern was a reformation, not simply of practical abuses but of doctrine, and he fully agrees that no area of doctrine in …

The Concept Of Free Will In The Lutheran Confessions And In Selected Writings Of Soren Kierkegaard, David Klumpp

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

Ultimately freedom is a spiritual concept. Our Lord said, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free." Saint Paul underscores the freedom that comes to the follower of Christ in the words, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. " This freedom is of a different nature from the freedom so ardently sought after today, but …

Luther Against Erasmus, James I. Packer

Concordia Theological Monthly

On Sept. 6, 1524, Desiderius Erasmus, the foremost literary man of his day, sat in his study writing a letter to a distinguished friend and patron, Henry VIII, King of England. In the course of his letter came the words: ''The die is cast. The little book on free-will has seen the light of day." He was referring to his Diatribe seu collatio de libero arbitrio ("Discussion or Conference Concerning Free Will"), which had been published at Basel five days earlier. He wrote more truly than he knew. The die was now cast indeed. A Rubicon had been crossed, and …