On William Hasker’s Theodicy, the Doctrine of Continuous Creation and the Nature of Morality

Keywords: God, continuous creation, theodicy, evil

Abstract

In the article, I present the main assumptions of the natural-order theodicy and the free-will theodicy defended by William Hasker. Next, I pose the question of whether Hasker’s theodicies are compatible with the Christian doctrine of continuous creation accepted by Hasker himself. I consider several different ways of how the doctrine of continuous creation can be understood and the difficulties associated with them. Finally, I propose a modified conception of continuous creation and I claim that it is consistent with the main assumptions of William Hasker’s theodicies.

References

Darwin, Ch. 1954. The Origin of Species: A Facsimile of the First Edition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Freddoso, A. J. 1991. “God’s General Concurrence with Secondary Causes: Why Conservation Is Not Enough.” In Philosophical Perspectives, vol. 5, Philosophy of Religion, edited by J. E. Tomberlin, 553–85. Atascadero, CA: Ridgeview Publishing.

Hasker, William. 1999. The Emergent Self. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Hasker, W. 2004. Providence, Evil and the Openness of God. London–New York: Routledge.

Hasker, W. 2008. The Triumph of God over Evil. Theodicy for a World of Suffering. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Kvanvig, J. L., and McCann, H. J. 1988. “Divine Conservation and the Persistence of the World.” In Divine and Human Action, edited by T. V. Morris, 13–49. Ithaca, NY: Cornel University Press.

Loux, M. 2002. Metaphysics. A Contemporary Introduction. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge.

Łukasiewicz, Dariusz. 2014. Opatrzność Boża, wolność, przypadek. Studium z analitycznej filozofii religii. Poznań: W drodze.

Łukasiewicz, Dariusz. 2015. “Continuous Creation in the Probabilistic World of the Theology of Chance.” Analiza i Egzystencja, no. 31, 21–35.

Łukasiewicz, Dariusz. 2019. “William Hasker’s Open Theism and the Problem of Evil”. In If God exists… Human Freedom and Theistic Hypothesis, edited by Andrzej P. Stefańczyk and Roman Majeran. E-book. Lublin: Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL.

Łukasiewicz, Dariusz. 2020. “Divine Providence and Chance in the World.” Roczniki Filozoficzne 68 (3): 5–34.

Miller, Timothy D. 2007. Continuous Creation, Persistence, and Secondary Causation: An Essay on the Metaphysics of Theism. Doctoral dissertation. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma.

Roth, John. 1981. “A Theodicy of Protest.” In Encountering Evil, edited by Stephen T. Davis. Atlanta: John Knox Press.

Plantinga, Alvin. 1974. God, Freedom and Evil. Grand Rapids. MI: Eerdmans.

Phillips, D. Z. 2001. “Theism without Theodicy.” In Encountering Evil. Live Options in Theodicy. A New Edition, edited by Stephen T. Davis, 145–81. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press.

Quinn, P. 1983. “Divine Conservation, Continuous Creation, and Human Action.” In The Existence and Nature of God, edited by Alfred J. Freddoso, 55–79. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.

Published
2022-03-31
Section
Articles