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See, for instance, Richard Swinburne,The Coherence of Theism (Oxford: Clarendon, 1978), pp. 179–187. And see Thomas Morris,Anselmian Explorations (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1987), pp. 26–75.
See, for instance, St. Augustine,The City of God, trans. M. Dods (NY: The Modern Library, 1950), p. 783. And see John Calvin,Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. F.L. Battles (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960), Bk. III, Ch. 13, 5.
This claim has been come under fire recently, see, for example, Nelson Pike, “Omnipotence and God's Ability to Sin,”American Philosophical Quarterly 6 (1969): 208–216. And see Stephen Davies,Logic and the Nature of God (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Press, 1983), pp. 86–96.
Summa Theologica (NY: Benzinger Brothers, 1974) I, 25, 3. See also Anselm,ST. Anselm: Basic Writings, trans. S.N. Deane (LaSalle, IL: Open Court, 1968), pp. 12–13. And see Joshua Hoffman, “Can God Do Evil?”Southern Journal of Philosophy 17 (1979): 213–220. The idea that God cannot perform an act of evil can be found as early as Plato, seeThe Republic, Bk. II, Sec. VII.
Summa Theologica, Ia, 6, 1 and 2.
For an objection to this sort of move, see Morris,Anselmian Explorations, pp. 32–33.
See Thomas Aquinas,Summa Contra Gentiles, trans J.F. Anderson (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1975), II, 23.
This principle is argued for in Philip Quinn, “God, Moral Perfection, and Possible Worlds” contained inGod: The Contemporary Discussion, ed. F. Sontag and M.D. Bryant (The Rose of Sharon Press, 1982), pp. 199–215.
See, for instance, George Schlesinger, “The Problem of Evil and the Problem of Suffering,”American Philosophical Quarterly 1 (1964): 244–247.
Divine Commands and Moral Requirements (Oxford: Clarendon, 1978), p. 161.
These sorts of arguments can be found in Jerry Walls, “Can God Save Anyone He Will?”Scottish Journal of Theology 38.2 (1985): 155–172.
For one such Molinist view see William L. Craig, “‘No Other Name’: A Middle Knowledge Perspective on the Exclusivity of Salvation Through Christ,”Faith and Philosophy 6.2 (1989): 172–188.
The City of God, p. 783.
The City of God, p. 783.
See, for instance, Charles Hartshorne,The Divine Relativity (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1978), pp. 20–21.
Hartshorne,The Divine Relativity, p. 20.
See William Wainwright,Philosophy of Religion (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1988), pp. 2–3. For a contrary view see Hartshorne,The Divine Relativity, pp. 22–24.
Basic Writings, pp. 18–19. This sort of response is also found in Calvin. SeeInstitutes of the Christian Religion, Bk. III, Ch. 23, 5–6.
John Hick is a contemporary proponent of this option. SeeDeath and Eternal Life (NY: Harper & Row, 1976), pp. 242–261.
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Versions of this paper were read at the 1991 Eastern American Philosophical Association with Philip Quinn as the commentator, and the 1992 Society for Philosophy of Religion meeting with Larry Lacy as commentator. I thank Bob Brown, Paul Tidman, Larry Lacy, and, especially, William Rowe and Phil Quinn for their helpful comments.
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Jordan, J. The problem of divine exclusivity. Int J Philos Relig 33, 89–101 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01314333
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01314333