"Now God can create free creatures, but He can't cause or determine them to do only what is right. For if He does so, then they aren't significantly free after all; they do not do what is right freely. To create creatures capable of moral good, therefore, He must create creatures capable of moral evil; and He can't give these creatures the freedom to perform evil and at the same time prevent them from doing so. As it turned out, sadly enough, some of the free creatures God created went wrong in the exercise of their freedom; this is the source of moral evil. The fact that free creatures sometimes go wrong, however, counts neither against God's omnipotence nor against His goodness; for He could have forestalled the occurrence of moral evil only by removing the possibility of moral good."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Philosophers from the United StatesChristian apologistsYale University alumniMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyTheologians from Michigan
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
{{cite book
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alvin_Plantinga
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Alvin Plantinga
9 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Alvin Plantinga →
Related Quotes
"Perhaps Paul very much likes the idea of being eaten, but when he sees a tiger, always runs off looking for a better …"
"To show that there are natural processes that produce religious belief does nothing, so far, to discredit it; perhaps…"
"At present and especially in academia, there is widespread doubt and agnosticism with respect to the very existence o…"
"Aquinas believes that human beings (even in our earthly condition here below) can have knowledge, scientific knowledg…"
"I fully realize that the dreaded f-word will be trotted out to stigmatize any model of this kind. Before responding, …"
"Well, I don't think there are any methodological conflicts either. As for those social conflicts, those aren't confli…"
"Like I say, you gotta have a PhD in engineering just to use your thermostat. And that seems over the top to me. [...]…"
"Alvin Plantinga is arguably the greatest philosopher of the last century."
"Scientific education is catholic; it embraces the whole field of human learning. No student can master all knowledge …"
"Honest investigation is but the application of common sense to the solution of the unknown. Science does not wait on …"