Is a Good God Logically Possible?

by James P. Sterba

Overview

Using yet untapped resources from moral and political philosophy, this book seeks to answer the question of whether an all good God who is presumed to be all powerful is logically compatible with the degree and amount of moral and natural evil that exists in our world. It is widely held by theists and atheists alike that it may be logically impossible for an all good, all powerful God to create a world with moral agents like ourselves that does not also have at least some moral evil in it. James P. Sterba focuses on the further question of whether God is logically compatible with the degree and amount of moral and natural evil that exists in our world. The negative answer he provides marks a new stage in the age-old debate about God's existence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783030054687
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	07/16/2019
Edition description:	1st ed. 2019
Pages:	209
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

James P. Sterba is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, USA. He has published thirty-four books, including the award-winning Justice for Here and Now (1998).

Table of Contents

1. Introduction.- 2. There Is No Free-Will Defense.- 3 An Attempt at Theodicy.- 4. The Pauline Principle and the Just Political State.- 5. Skeptical Theism to the Rescue?.- 6. What If God Is Not a Moral Agent?.- 7. What About a Redemptive God?.- 8. Taking Natural Evil into Account .- 9. Conclusion.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“This book marks the most significant advance in defenses of logical arguments from evil since the seminal works of Mackie and Rowe. What makes the argument novel is, in part, the way in which it draws upon recent work in moral philosophy, and, in particular, on recent discussion of trolley cases and the Pauline Principle that one may never do sufficiently horrendous evil that good may come of it.” (Graham Oppy, Professor of Philosophy, Monash University, Australia)

“James P. Sterba has put a new twist on the problem of evil by devising a set of moral principles which represent requirements for the actions of a morally perfect God. The requirements appear to be fairly weak and thus plausible, yet they clearly are not met in the actual world. Sterba thus makes a contribution to the contemporary discussion of ‘God's ethics,’ the principles that a good God would need to follow in governing the world.” (William Hasker, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Huntington University,USA)

Editorial Reviews

Sterba does offer a sustained argument against many contemporary theodicies, especially those that appeal to the value of soul-making and free will. … it is a valuable contribution to the literature on the problem of evil.” (Michael Almeida, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Vol. 87, 2020)

From the Publisher