What reason could God have for not doing good things?
Lebell suggests that the
greater good referred to in (I) is “making humans seek out the divine”. This seems fair enough, but covers quite a wide area so I’ll try and tease out some finer possibilities [if you want to know who’s ideas these are then, also, just ask]:
a) Reminds us of our dependence upon God and keeps us from idolatry
b) Teaches us God’s will. [I prayed for a Playstation and got nothing. I prayed for Smith to get beaten up and he wasn't. I prayed for my Aunt to get better and she did.]
c) Allows a personal relationship with God to develop. Great quote: “a personal relationship is not possible unless both partners adopt the attitude toward one another which is expressed in petition” (Vincent Brummer).
So all is looking well. We have theory (I) and we have three (a,b,c) greater goods that might justify holding back the good of S if it isn’t prayed for.
BUT – and now comes the challenge – a, b and c have flaws.
I’ve gone on too long to expound on the flaws at length so I will end with this…
What do you think of the chain of thought so far?
Which of (a, b or c) do you think explains petitionary prayer? [Could be all or none of course].
And some food for thought…
What conditions do you think need to pertain for the teaching argument to work?
Would an all-good, all-powerful God use PP to keep us from idolatry or would he do something else?
Is petition really essential to a personal relationship?
If people want to let this one die out, then that’s okay.
But if anyone feels fired up by these issues, then get back to me and we can have a chat about them.
All best,
4th