William Lane Craig on how to create a Holocaust
What chain of circumstances led Adolf Hitler to choose not to become a painter, and instead choose to launch a genocidal campaign against Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals and various groups of disabled people?
William Lane Craig explains who chose that chain of circumstances that led Hitler to making that choice.
CRAIG
'In virtue of His knowledge of counterfactuals of creaturely freedom and His freedom to decree that certain circumstances exist and certain free creatures be placed in those circumstances, God is able to bring about indirectly that events occur which He knew would happen as a direct result of the particular decisions which those creatures would freely make in those circumstances'
CARR
Translation. According to William Lane Craig, his alleged God knew which buttons to press to get Hitler to kill Jews, and then God pressed those buttons.
William Lane Craig explains who chose that chain of circumstances that led Hitler to making that choice.
CRAIG
'In virtue of His knowledge of counterfactuals of creaturely freedom and His freedom to decree that certain circumstances exist and certain free creatures be placed in those circumstances, God is able to bring about indirectly that events occur which He knew would happen as a direct result of the particular decisions which those creatures would freely make in those circumstances'
CARR
Translation. According to William Lane Craig, his alleged God knew which buttons to press to get Hitler to kill Jews, and then God pressed those buttons.
posted by Steven Carr at 12:28 AM
4 Comments:
What puzzles me is, how does Craig know this? Another example of a theist knowing more about the unknowable than is possible to know.
Steven, what do you think WLC would say in response to your point?
I'd say that's fairly typical though have also read some theologians (Plantinga?/) arguing that Hitler, Stalin, and 20th century all happened as a type of punishment for the human race, and that G*d wanted Hitler and world wars to create an opportunity for humans to prove their honor, worth, valor, etc. by fighting Eevil (or apparent Eeevil, since G*d by definition creates/allows all Eeevil).
In other words, fundies, especially the Calvinist sort, got an.....Appetite for destruction.
J: Plantinga would argue that it is impossible for God to control people - that they have free will. From what I understand he doesn't argue for a WLC-style Molinism, but I could be wrong.
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