What Explains God’s Moral Grounding Power? A Problem for Divine Command Ethics
The Divine Command Theory says that God possesses the power to ground or create moral obligations. Let’s call this power, in virtue of which God’s commands ground moral obligations, ‘moral grounding power’ (MG-power). Moral Grounding Power (MG-power): Being B has MG-power if and only if the commands of B ground moral obligations I want to … What Explains God’s Moral Grounding Power? A Problem for Divine Command Ethics
More on the Arbitrariness Objection to the Divine Command Theory
I’ve been carrying on a conversation with Matthew Flannagan about the arbitrariness objection to the divine command theory. You can find my first post on the issue here and Matt’s response here. In this post I am going to continue my defense, against Flannagan’s objections, of the arbitrariness argument (AA): A very brief summary of … More on the Arbitrariness Objection to the Divine Command Theory
Matthew Flannagan on The Arbitrariness Objection to Divine Command Ethics
There is a standard objection to the divine command theory (DCT) that runs as follows: I’ll call this the Arbitrariness Argument (AA). You can find versions of this argument in Walter Sinnot-Armstrong’s book Morality Without God? and in his article “Why Traditional Theism Cannot Provide an Adequate Foundation for Morality.” Here is a quote from the latter: … Matthew Flannagan on The Arbitrariness Objection to Divine Command Ethics
Books Like This Should be a Warning Signal to Inerrantists
I just saw an announcement of a new book by Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan. Copan and Flannagan are good guys, but some of the positions they have to defend (because of their commitment to Biblical inerrancy) are not. I’m embarrassed for inerrantists. Just look at the publisher’s description (presumably written by one or both … Books Like This Should be a Warning Signal to Inerrantists
God and Massive Deception about the Resurrection – Part2
The key question at issue is whether (S2) is true or false: (S2) But God would neither perpetrate nor permit grand deception regarding the Incarnation and Resurrection. I have raised two objections against one reason that Cavin and Colombetti give for their conclusion that “(S2) is patently false”. One reason they gave was a passage … God and Massive Deception about the Resurrection – Part2
God and Massive Deception about the Resurrection
Robert Cavin and Carlos Colombetti have written an article raising some significant objections to Richard Swinburne’s case for the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus: “Swinburne on the Resurrection” (Philosophia Christi, Vol. 15, No. 2; hereafter: SOR). LINK I’m fully on-board with their overall conclusion that “…Swinburne’s argument for the Incarnation and Resurrection…is seriously undermined by … God and Massive Deception about the Resurrection
A Ten-Year Project – Part 2
Before deciding what topics and issues to cover in my multi-volume critique of Christianity, I want to look over some lists of common topics in (a) Christian Apologetics, (b) Systematic Theology, and (c) Philosophy of Religion. I looked through the table of contents of a number of handbooks on Christian Apologetics to come up with … A Ten-Year Project – Part 2
Brigham Young: Racist Prophet of the Mormons – Part 3
In January of 1852, Brigham Young encouraged the Utah territorial legislature to pass a law that prohibitted sex between white people and black people, and publically declared that black people (or people with a black grandparent or great grandparent) “Cannot hold the priesthood”: ======================================= Mormon Anti-Miscegenation in Utah Law Brigham Young addressed the Utah territorial … Brigham Young: Racist Prophet of the Mormons – Part 3
Brigham Young: Racist Prophet of the Mormons – Part 2
It is not clear why Brigham Young followed the racist pro-slavery views of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery from 1836 instead of the more liberal-minded abolitionist views of Joseph Smith from 1842 to 1844. However, confronting the reality of mixed-race marriages and sex between black men and white women appears to have pushed Young further … Brigham Young: Racist Prophet of the Mormons – Part 2
Brigham Young: Racist Prophet of the Mormons – Part 1
Brigham Young was a racist white man who initiated racial discrimination into the official policies and practices of the Mormon church (more specifically: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest denomination of the Latter Day Saint movement). One key racist policy of the Mormons was to exclude blacks from “the priesthood”. In … Brigham Young: Racist Prophet of the Mormons – Part 1