Sceptical theism, divine commands, and love

Journal article

Sceptical theists respond to the problem of evil by arguing that we should be sceptical of our abilities to understand God's plan and the justifying reasons for his actions. A major difficulty faced by sceptical theism is the problem of moral paralysis. Some sceptical theists have proposed a divine command response: theists can appeal to God's commands in acting, and this circumvents the need to exercise value judgement in moral deliberations. This article provides an objection to the divine command response by arguing that it renders love impossible and practically undermines the possibility of the theistic way of life. As a result, this article demonstrates a constraint on any potential solution to the problem of moral paralysis in sceptical theism: the access to values of loving relationship and human well-being, as well as their role to play in agents’ deliberative process, should be safeguarded.

Authors: Lee, H

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Journal: Religious Studies: An International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion
• Volume: 61
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 879-891
• Publication date: 2024-05-13
• Acceptance date: 2024-04-02
• DOI: 10.1017/s0034412524000222
• EISSN: 1469-901X
• ISSN: 0034-4125
• Language: English
• Keywords: sceptical theism; love; moral scepticism; divine commands