Excusing Sinners and Blaming God: A Calvinist Assessment of Determinism Moral Responsibility and Divine Involvement in Evil: 230 (Princeton Theological Monograph)

Calvinist determinism destroys moral responsibility and makes God the author of sin. These two accusations are not new and were arguably anticipated by Paul in Romans 9 but they remain today the most important objections offered against Calvinist/determinist views of human free will. This book is a philosophically rigorous and comprehensive defense of Calvinism against these two families of arguments. With respect to human moral responsibility it discusses whether determinism destroys free will turns humans into pets or puppets and involves or is analogous to coercion and manipulation. It responds to the consequence argument and direct argument for incompatibilism the principle of alternate possibilities the ought implies can maxim and related claims. With respect to the authorship of sin it discusses whether Calvinist determinism improperly involves God in evil. Does it mean that God sins or causes sin or wills sin in problematic ways? Does God intend our sin or (merely) permit sin? In each case the coherence of the Calvinist view is defended against its most potent objections to reject the claim that Calvinism is excusing sinners and blaming God. If God determines all things including the evil actions of his creatures doesnt it follow by irrefutable logic that God must be culpable for those evil actions rather than the creatures? Au contraire argues Calvinist philosopher Guillaume Bignon in this engaging yet rigorous work. Conversant with state-of-the-art literature on free will this is one of the best defenses of theological compatibilism available today. --James N. Anderson Associate Professor of Theology and Philosophy Reformed Theological Seminary It is often alleged that determinism or Calvinism or theological compatibilism (call it what you wish!) doesnt fit with moral responsibility. Bignon contests this thesis elegantly and forcefully. Here we have a philosophical defense of what is often called a Calvinist view of divine sovereignty showing that Calvinism is not only biblically grounded but philosophically defensible. --Thomas R. Schreiner James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Guillaume Bignon is a French analytical philosopher and computer scientist who works in the financial industry in New York. He is an executive committee member of Association Axiome a society of French-speaking Christian scholars.