Can God’s will be the fundamental criterion of moral goodness? Polemics with Kai Nielsen’s thesis
Tomasz Józefowicz
Abstract
This article is polemics with the thesis of Kai Nielsen about the impossibility of God’s will being the fundamental criterion of morality in the life of the believer. It is shown, on the basis of biblical examples of epiphanies and their moral consequences in the lives of the believers that Nielsen’s thesis in based on simplified and incomplete account of religious experience, particularly the Christian experience of God as moral authority. It is suggested that Alvin Plantinga’s model of warranted Christian belief can be employed to defend the rationality of acknowledging God’s will as the basic standard of moral judgment.
Keywords:
religion, morality, will of God, the basic criterion of moral goodness, biblical epiphanies, warranted theistic belief, cognitive model of Alvin Plantinga, human freedom, moral responsibility
Józefowicz, T. (2014). Can God’s will be the fundamental criterion of moral goodness? Polemics with Kai Nielsen’s thesis. Theological Yearbook, 56(1), 103–120. Retrieved from https://ojs.chat.edu.pl/index.php/rt/article/view/43
polish
English