Be Beyon ond the Free Will Defense: Nat Natur ural al Evil, Theo heodi dicy, and and Sac acrificial al Lo Love American Scientific Affiliation Annual Meeting Gordon College in Wenham, MA July 27-30, 2018 Loren Haarsma Calvin College Physics & Astronomy Department Thanks to: • BioLogos Evolution and Christian Faith program • Calvin College
Ma Materialis ialist reas asons cit ited for not belie lievin ing in in God • Immensity of universe (compared to humans) • Eternal / self-existing Multiverse theories • Natural laws and Ockham’s razor • Randomness • Hiddenness of divine action • Suffering caused by natural events • Moral evil • Evolution • Neuroscience / evo-psych of belief in God 2
Question: Are these objections to all versions of God, or only some versions of God? 3
Fr Free W Will D Defense --Plantinga, Alvin. God, Freedom, and Evil. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans (1977). “ A world containing creatures who are significantly free (and freely perform more good than evil actions) is more valuable, all else being equal, than a world containing no free creatures at all. Now God can create free creatures, but He can't cause or determine them to do only what is right. For if He does so, then they aren't significantly free after all; they do not do what is right freely. To create creatures capable of moral good, therefore, He must create creatures capable of moral evil; and He can't give these creatures the freedom to perform evil and at the same time prevent them from doing so. As it turned out, sadly enough, some of the free creatures God created went wrong in the exercise of their freedom; this is the source of moral evil. The fact that free creatures sometimes go wrong, however, counts neither against God's omnipotence nor against His goodness; for He could have forestalled the occurrence of moral evil only by removing the possibility of moral good. ” 4
Fr Free ee Wi Will Defen ense ( some examples on my bookshelf) • Hick, John. Evil and the God of Love . Springer, 2010 (1966). • Corey, Michael Anthony. Evolution and the problem of natural evil . Rowman and Littlefield, 2000. • Peterson, Gregory R. "14. Falling Up: Evolution and Original Sin." in Evolution and ethics: Human morality in biological and religious perspective 61 (2004): 273. • Hill, Matthew Nelson. Evolution and Holiness: Sociobiology, Altruism and the Quest for Wesleyan Perfection . InterVarsity Press, 2016. 5
“ agape agape /p /prob obability acc ccou ount” --Barrigar, Christian J. Freedom All the Way Up: God and the Meaning of Life in a Scientific Age. FriesenPress, 2017. “God created the universe(s) to provide the space and conditions for the emergence of habitable bio-niches in which agape -capable beings would eventually and inevitably emerge to live in agape -love relations with God and with others. Earth is one such emergent bio-niche, and Homo sapiens are an instance of such emergent agape -loving beings.” 6
“ agape agape /p /prob obability acc ccou ount” • Affirms free will defenses as a pre-requisite . • Accounts for features of the natural world • Develops a rich and inviting picture of agape Agape -relationships (70% of Barrigar’s book) : • “Self-giving to God and self-giving for the well-being of others, including strangers and enemies” • freedom-in-Christ (vs. “autonomous freedom”) • deep source of existential meaning 7
agape agape -fo focus evangelism • An attractive starting point for people focused on the good in the world (common-grace) • A sensitive starting point for people focused on the suffering in the world • Addresses common negative stereotypes of Christians • Responds to “scientific” objections to belief in God • Not just belief in God. Belief in Christ. 8
Ce Centrality of sa sacrificial love I want my spouse / children / friends / colleagues to value most highly in me what I value most highly in myself. • Self-giving love is central to the inner life of the Trinity. • Ultimate revelation of God’s character in Christ: “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” (John 14:9) • Suppose you are a Creator…. 9
Features of this universe 1. NOT an Eternal / self-existing Multiverse Need for a beginning, or infinite orderly energy • Fine tuning of laws of nature for life • 2. Natural laws and Ockham’s razor blunted Note the “divine” properties of self-existing • matter in a Materialist universe Theories aren’t simple if they have many • unexplained coincidences Theistic interpretation of natural laws • 10
Features of this universe 3. Randomness • Humans use randomness for purpose • Necessary condition for freedom • Range and distribution of outcomes still predictable 4. Immensity of universe • Resources to explore a still larger space of theoretical possibilities • Very high probability 11
Features of this universe 5. Hiddenness of divine action • “Epistemic distance” • Satan’s charge against Job 6. Suffering caused by natural events • Inevitable consequences of an over-all good system E.g. plate tectonics, evolutionary adaptation… • • Events have predictable consequences 7. Moral evil • Free choices + predictable consequences 12
Features of this universe 8. Evolution • Randomness + predictability • Freedom to explore possibilities • Evolutionary convergence • Convergence to agape -capable beings 9. Neuroscience / evo-psych of belief in God • Neuroscience / evo-psych of disbelief • Naturalness of belief while maintaining necessary “epistemic distance” 13
“ agape agape /p /prob obability acc ccou ount” --Barrigar, Christian J. Freedom All the Way Up: God and the Meaning of Life in a Scientific Age. FriesenPress, 2017. “God created the universe(s) to provide the space and conditions for the emergence of habitable bio-niches in which agape -capable beings would eventually and inevitably emerge to live in agape -love relations with God and with others. Earth is one such emergent bio-niche, and Homo sapiens are an instance of such emergent agape -loving beings.” 14
Concerns to discuss 1. Required hiddenness of God 2. Multiple planets, multiple incarnations of Christ? 3. “Inevitability” of the Fall What does “inevitable” mean? • Strongly caused by God? • Predictable to God? • Fully predictable to non-divine beings? • Asymptotically predictable? • Theological vs. “scientific” arguments • Discussion 15
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