Love, freedom, and evil : does authentic love require free will? / / Thaddeus J. Williams.

• Superior document: Currents of encounter : studies on the contact between Christianity and other religions, beliefs, and cultures ; v. 41
• Author: Williams, Thaddeus J.
• Year of Publication: 2011
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Currents of encounter ; v. 41.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (204 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

The defining premise of the Relational Free Will Defense is the claim that authentic love requires free will. Many scholars, including Gregory Boyd and Vincent Brümmer, champion this claim. Best-selling books, such as Rob Bell’s Love Wins , echo that love “cannot be forced, manipulated, or coerced. It always leaves room for the other to decide.” The claim that love requires free will has even found expression in mainstream Hollywood films, including Frailty , Bruce Almighty , and The Adjustment Bureau . The analysis shows convincingly that the claim that authentic love requires free will, does not meet the criteria of consistency, compatibility with Scriptural sources, and the demands of concrete encounter with problems of moral evil.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- The Relational Free Will Defense -- The Axiom of Libertarian Love -- True Love: Is Freedom from the Heart Indubitable or Dubious? -- The Moral Imperative Argument: Does “Ought” Imply “Can”? -- The Grievous Resistance Argument: Does Divine Grief Imply Human Autonomy? -- The Relational Vision Argument: Can One Guarantee Another’s Love? -- Five Models of Divine Action in Human Love -- Heart Reformation and the Bible -- The Problems of Evil Revisited -- What a Difference One Word Makes -- Bibliography -- Index.