Is embracing metaphysical determinism or free will a better response to suffering?
Metaphysical determinism argues that God divinely predetermines everything, including human suffering. Contrary to metaphysical determinism, free will or libertarianism argues that not everything is predetermined by God. Therefore, evil does not serve any divine purpose. Libertarianism argues that m...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Afrikaans |
| Published: |
AOSIS
2024-12-01
|
| Series: | HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/10219 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1841536652673024000 |
|---|---|
| author | Aku S. Antombikums |
| author_facet | Aku S. Antombikums |
| author_sort | Aku S. Antombikums |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Metaphysical determinism argues that God divinely predetermines everything, including human suffering. Contrary to metaphysical determinism, free will or libertarianism argues that not everything is predetermined by God. Therefore, evil does not serve any divine purpose. Libertarianism argues that metaphysical determinism is simply incoherent because it holds that God can predetermine an action and, at the same time, holds that He could stop such an action. This study seeks to find out which of these two views might be promising in responding to the problem of suffering. Contrary to these two positions, this study argues that suffering must be understood contextually. The above-stated responses do not always provide viable answers to the problem of suffering because they are often generalised and conceived from the God-eye view without considering the sufferers’ perspectives.
Contribution: Although there are a plethora of publications on metaphysical determinism and freewill, this study re-examined both and sheds a nuance for a further development of these two competing views. The article argues that none of these two responses offers the best response to the problem; rather, each has its strengths and weaknesses because they seem to focus on God rather than the sufferer. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0b1b5821fddd40aa8f5462c2fff46638 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0259-9422 2072-8050 |
| language | Afrikaans |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | AOSIS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-0b1b5821fddd40aa8f5462c2fff466382025-01-14T12:07:20ZafrAOSISHTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies0259-94222072-80502024-12-01801e1e610.4102/hts.v80i1.102196072Is embracing metaphysical determinism or free will a better response to suffering?Aku S. Antombikums0Department of Systematic and Historical Theology, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria, PretoriaMetaphysical determinism argues that God divinely predetermines everything, including human suffering. Contrary to metaphysical determinism, free will or libertarianism argues that not everything is predetermined by God. Therefore, evil does not serve any divine purpose. Libertarianism argues that metaphysical determinism is simply incoherent because it holds that God can predetermine an action and, at the same time, holds that He could stop such an action. This study seeks to find out which of these two views might be promising in responding to the problem of suffering. Contrary to these two positions, this study argues that suffering must be understood contextually. The above-stated responses do not always provide viable answers to the problem of suffering because they are often generalised and conceived from the God-eye view without considering the sufferers’ perspectives. Contribution: Although there are a plethora of publications on metaphysical determinism and freewill, this study re-examined both and sheds a nuance for a further development of these two competing views. The article argues that none of these two responses offers the best response to the problem; rather, each has its strengths and weaknesses because they seem to focus on God rather than the sufferer.https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/10219metaphysical determinismfreewill responsethe problem of evil and sufferingclassical theismopen theismnarrative theodicysoul-making theodicy and participation |
| spellingShingle | Aku S. Antombikums Is embracing metaphysical determinism or free will a better response to suffering? HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies metaphysical determinism freewill response the problem of evil and suffering classical theism open theism narrative theodicy soul-making theodicy and participation |
| title | Is embracing metaphysical determinism or free will a better response to suffering? |
| title_full | Is embracing metaphysical determinism or free will a better response to suffering? |
| title_fullStr | Is embracing metaphysical determinism or free will a better response to suffering? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is embracing metaphysical determinism or free will a better response to suffering? |
| title_short | Is embracing metaphysical determinism or free will a better response to suffering? |
| title_sort | is embracing metaphysical determinism or free will a better response to suffering |
| topic | metaphysical determinism freewill response the problem of evil and suffering classical theism open theism narrative theodicy soul-making theodicy and participation |
| url | https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/10219 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT akusantombikums isembracingmetaphysicaldeterminismorfreewillabetterresponsetosuffering |