Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nmvwc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-14T00:54:54.915Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Aquinas on divine impeccability, omnipotence, and free will

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2018

AGUSTÍN ECHAVARRÍA
AGUSTÍN ECHAVARRÍA*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Navarra, Pamplona, E-31009, Spain
*
e-mail: aechavarria@unav.es
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article analyses Aquinas's conception of divine impeccability, and replies to some contemporary objections to this view. The first three sections show that for Aquinas the proposition that expresses God's impeccability is necessary de re, since God's moral goodness is grounded in His ontological goodness. The fourth section presents the connection between God's will and God's power and explains the sense of Aquinas's claim that God cannot sin because He cannot will to sin. The last three sections address the objections based on the apparent incompatibility between omnipotence and impeccability, and between impeccability, free will, and praiseworthiness.

Type
Original Article
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 56 , Issue 2 , June 2020 , pp. 256 - 273
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bergmann, Michael & Cover, J. A. (2006) ‘Divine responsibility without divine freedom’, Faith and Philosophy, 23, 381–408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, Robert F. (1991) ‘God's ability to will moral evil’, Faith and Philosophy, 8, 3–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brümmer, Vincent (1984) ‘Divine impeccability’, Religious Studies, 20, 203–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carter, W. R. (1982) ‘Omnipotence and sin’, Analysis, 42, 102–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, Stephen T. (1983) Logic and the Nature of God (Hong Kong: Macmillan).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flint, Thomas P. & Freddosso, Alfred (1983) ‘Maximal power’, in Freddosso, Alfred (ed.) The Existence and Nature of God (Notre Dame IN: University of Notre Dame Press), 31–113.Google Scholar
García, Laura L. (1984) ‘A response to the modal problem of evil’, Faith and Philosophy, 1, 378–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
García, Laura L. (1987) ‘The essential moral perfection of God’, Religious Studies, 23, 137–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gellman, Jerome (1977) ‘Omnipotence and impeccability’, New Scholasticism, 51, 21–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grant, W. Matthews (2004) ‘Aquinas, divine simplicity, and divine freedom’, Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, 77, 129–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffman, Joshua (1979) ‘Can God do evil?’, Southern Journal of Philosophy, 17, 213–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howard-Snyder, Daniel (2008) ‘The puzzle of prayers of thanksgiving and praise’, in Nagasawa, Yujin & Wielenberg, Erik (eds) New Waves in Philosophy of Religion (New York: Palgrave Macmillan), 125–149.Google Scholar
Leftow, Brian (1989) ‘Necessary moral perfection’, Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, 70, 240–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leftow, Brian (2007) ‘Rowe, Aquinas and God's freedom’, Philosophical Books, 48, 195–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leftow, Brian (2012) ‘Aquinas on omnipotence’, in Stump, Eleonore & Davies, Brian (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Aquinas (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 187–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loke, Andrew (2010) ‘Divine omnipotence and moral perfection’, Religious Studies, 46, 525–538.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manis, R. Zachary (2011) ‘Could God do something evil? A Molinist solution to the problem of evil’, Faith and Philosophy, 28, 209–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mawson, T. J. (2002) ‘Omnipotence and moral perfection are compatible: a reply to Morriston’, Religious Studies, 38, 215–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, Thomas V. (1982) ‘Impeccability’, Analysis, 42, 106–112.Google Scholar
Morris, Thomas V. (1986) ‘Perfection and power’, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 20, 165–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morriston, Wes (1985) ‘Is God “significantly free”?’, Faith and Philosophy, 2, 257–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morriston, Wes (2001) ‘Omnipotence and necessary moral perfection: are they compatible?’, Religious Studies, 37, 143–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morriston, Wes (2003) ‘Are omnipotence and necessary moral perfection compatible? Reply to Mawson’, Religious Studies, 39, 441–449.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pike, Nelson (1969) ‘Omnipotence and God's ability to sin’, American Philosophical Quarterly, 6, 208–216.Google Scholar
Plantinga, Alvin (1974) The Nature of Necessity (London: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Reichenbach, Bruce R. (1980) ‘Why is God good?’, The Journal of Religion, 60, 51–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowe, William (2004) Can God Be Free? (Oxford: Clarendon Press).Google Scholar
Stump, Eleonore (2003) Aquinas (London: Routledge).Google Scholar
Stump, Eleonore (2010) Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering (Oxford: Oxford University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stump, Eleonore & Kretzmann, Norman (1985) ‘Absolute simplicity’, Faith and Philosophy, 2, 353–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, Aquinas (1924) The Summa Contra Gentiles, English Dominican Fathers (trs) (New York, Cincinnati, & Chicago: Benziger Brothers).Google Scholar
Thomas, Aquinas (1932) On the Power of God, translated by the English Dominican Fathers (London: Burn Oates & Washburne Ltd).Google Scholar
Thomas, Aquinas (1947) The Summa Theologica, Fathers of the English Dominican Province (trs) (London: Burn Oates & Washburne Ltd).Google Scholar
Thomas, Aquinas (1952) The Disputed Questions on Truth, Mulligan S.J, Robert W.. (trs) (Chicago IL: Henry Regnery Company).Google Scholar
Thomas, Aquinas (1993) On Evil, Oesterle, Jean (tr.) (Notre Dame IN: University of Notre Dame Press).Google Scholar
Thomas, Aquinas (2000) Opera Omnia, Alarcón, Enrique (ed.) (Pompaelone: Univertatis Studiorum Navarrensis), <www.corpusthomisticum.org>.Google Scholar
Timpe, Kevin & Pawl, Tim (2009) ‘Incompatibilism, sin, and free will in heaven’, Faith and Philosophy, 26, 396–417.Google Scholar
Wierenga, Edward R. (1989) The Nature of God (Ithaca & London: Cornell University Press).Google Scholar