Divine Sovereignty

[Desert Walker]

I think the trouble here is the focus on God's sovereignty and omnipotence without considering His love and justice, which are also perfect. God's love and justice would be contradicted if He did not give us power over our own end. Even though God sees all ends, he can do nothing to remove a person from an end which that person has deliberately and, in complete freedom, chosen. If God did such a thing He could not be the God of Abraham because the God of Abraham is all just and all loving, and justice and love require that God allow us to freely choose evil or good, Hell or Heaven.

Also, concerning that author with whom you disagree:

[quote]The author dodges this one by saying that evil is only evil if compared to a higher authority. [/quote]

He is incorrect here, and that sounds suspiciously like a phenomenological viewpoint. It is improper to view this question only from that kind of philosophical system. Phenomenology studies the RELATIONSHIPS that all things have to each other. If you only view reality from that kind of thinking, it is possible to deny the validity of ALL definitions. Evil can be defined as soon as something good becomes distorted. Distortion of good is the proper definition of evil.

Your question is strongly a matter of definitive doctrine, which means that further intellectual speculation can only lead to LESS understanding of the truth as stated by Christ's Apostles. If you don't work from defined doctrines, you will inevitably become confused.

Unchangeable definitions concerning objects of faith are the purview of Scholastic Philosophy. Post-Enlightenment schools are notorious for changing the meaning of definiitons, or the definitions themselves to suit a subjective, personal interpretation of the objects of faith. Stick to the Angelic Doctor as a firm foundation for your thnking.

Does that help?

[Guest JeffCR07]

You should read St. Anselm's [i]De Concordia[/i]. He deals explicitly with the topic of reconciling God's Foreknowledge, Human Free Will, and Predestination.

[rkwright]

Thanks Jeff... I have it actually, but haven't read it yet so I'll take a look at it. BTW I was also planning on using that article you posted some weeks ago in the Problem of Evil thread since it deals with similar issues.