The Perpetual Miracle Objection
When it comes to the problem of evil, in my book I mention the possibility of perpetual miracles from God that alleviate suffering among God's creatures. I call it the Perpetual Miracle Objection. David Hume didn't use this exact phrase when he objected that the ordering of the world by general natural laws "seems nowise necessary" for God, but it's the same concept.
I was wondering if there is an essay or chapter that I may have missed in my reading on the perpetual miracle objection. The only thing I've seen questioned is whether a conceptual possibility can be a metaphysical possibility (ala William P. Alston). I countered Alston's argument in my book by arguing that vegetarianism is indeed a metaphysical possibility since we find instances of this in the natural world. If all creatures were vegetarian this would save God's creatures from an immense amount of suffering, you see. And since God could do perpetual miracles to make his creatures vegetarians but didn't do this, then God is not perfectly good. I deal with other objections too, of course.
I'm just curious. I haven't seen in my reading someone who raises this problem the way I do with the exact phrase "perpetual miracle(s)." Have you? If not, then I have the right to name it what I just did.
First Posted in May 2009
I was wondering if there is an essay or chapter that I may have missed in my reading on the perpetual miracle objection. The only thing I've seen questioned is whether a conceptual possibility can be a metaphysical possibility (ala William P. Alston). I countered Alston's argument in my book by arguing that vegetarianism is indeed a metaphysical possibility since we find instances of this in the natural world. If all creatures were vegetarian this would save God's creatures from an immense amount of suffering, you see. And since God could do perpetual miracles to make his creatures vegetarians but didn't do this, then God is not perfectly good. I deal with other objections too, of course.
I'm just curious. I haven't seen in my reading someone who raises this problem the way I do with the exact phrase "perpetual miracle(s)." Have you? If not, then I have the right to name it what I just did.
First Posted in May 2009