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Comment published on 20 September 2023, see Religions 2023, 14(9), 1205.
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Article

Is God’s Moral Perfection Reducible to His Love?

by
William Lane Craig
Department of Philosophy, Houston Christian University, Houston, TX 77074, USA
Religions 2023, 14(2), 140; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020140
Submission received: 30 November 2022 / Revised: 27 December 2022 / Accepted: 9 January 2023 / Published: 20 January 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue God and Ethics)

Abstract

Defenders of the identity thesis maintain that God’s moral perfection is reducible to and identical to His love. Unfortunately, this thesis overlooks the fact that, biblically, God‘s righteousness comprises both His love and justice. Moreover, divine justice is, in some significant measure, retributive in nature. This is especially evident in God’s eschatological punishment of the wicked, which can be justified only on retributive grounds. Such a retributive punishment cannot be attributed to love but is the just desert of the wicked.
Keywords: moral perfection; retributive justice; divine love; identity thesis; punishment; consequentialist justice moral perfection; retributive justice; divine love; identity thesis; punishment; consequentialist justice

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MDPI and ACS Style

Craig, W.L. Is God’s Moral Perfection Reducible to His Love? Religions 2023, 14, 140. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020140

AMA Style

Craig WL. Is God’s Moral Perfection Reducible to His Love? Religions. 2023; 14(2):140. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020140

Chicago/Turabian Style

Craig, William Lane. 2023. "Is God’s Moral Perfection Reducible to His Love?" Religions 14, no. 2: 140. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020140

APA Style

Craig, W. L. (2023). Is God’s Moral Perfection Reducible to His Love? Religions, 14(2), 140. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020140

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