Free Will, Moral Responsibility, and Reformed Theology - Analytic ...
Free Will, Moral Responsibility, and Reformed Theology - Analytic ...
Free Will, Moral Responsibility, and Reformed Theology - Analytic ...
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1. Introduction<br />
4<br />
Paul L. Manata © 2011<br />
The consequences <strong>Reformed</strong> theology has for God’s goodness, man’s free will<br />
<strong>and</strong> his moral responsibility are said to be the Achilles’ heel of <strong>Reformed</strong><br />
theology. According to many Christians, <strong>Reformed</strong> theology is the bête noire of<br />
the Christian tradition. This unfavorable assessment is due to the <strong>Reformed</strong><br />
teaching on God’s decree, providence, <strong>and</strong> omniscience as popularly summarized<br />
in <strong>Reformed</strong> creeds <strong>and</strong> confessions <strong>and</strong> expounded by <strong>Reformed</strong> theologians.<br />
This teaching is said to entail some unsavory results, primarily: (1) it turns men<br />
into mere puppets who lack free will, responsibility <strong>and</strong> culpability for their sins;<br />
<strong>and</strong> (2), this turns God into a moral monster <strong>and</strong> makes him the author of sin.<br />
This paper will look at the issue of man’s free will <strong>and</strong> moral responsibility in light<br />
of <strong>Reformed</strong> teaching on God’s decree, providence, <strong>and</strong> omniscience (I will refer<br />
to these <strong>Reformed</strong> Teachings as RT). Before I address the topic of the paper, we<br />
will look at some common reactions non-‐<strong>Reformed</strong> have to these teachings.<br />
1.1 Complaints <strong>and</strong> criticisms<br />
As a first approximation, RT states that anything that comes to pass does so only<br />
if God has decreed it; <strong>and</strong>, if God has decreed it then it must come to pass. That<br />
God governs <strong>and</strong> works all things toward their appointed ends. Lastly, that God<br />
knows all that could, would, or will come to pass simply by consulting his own<br />
nature, will, or decree. In light of these teachings <strong>and</strong> what they seem to imply<br />
about sin <strong>and</strong> men’s salvation, Christian philosopher Victor Reppert once<br />
quipped, “The closest I ever came to atheism was when I first encountered the<br />
biblical case for Calvinism.” 1 Arminian theologian Roger Olson tells us “The God<br />
1 See , last accessed 7/1/11.