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6 - Is God an Arbitrary Tyrant?

Platonic Participation versus the Decree of Reprobation

from Part II - Rival Conceptions of God and Goodness:

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 May 2024

Samuel M. Kaldas
Affiliation:
The University of Sydney and The University of Notre Dame Australia
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Summary

For many anti-Calvinists, including the Cambridge Platonists, the Calvinist doctrine of double predestination entailed unacceptable conclusions about the character of God. Inspired by the fractious political climate, seventeenth-century English anti-Calvinists frequently accused the Calvinists of making God into an ‘arbitrary tyrant’, one who imposed his arbitrary will upon a hapless creation, unbound by any principles of justice or goodness. After considering the political and theological background from which this anti-tyrannical discourse emerges, this chapter examines the ways in which, in their attacks on the doctrine of double predestination, Benjamin Whichcote, Henry More, Ralph Cudworth and John Smith all appeal to an explicitly Platonic notion of God’s unwavering intention to communicate his goodness to creatures as far as they are able to receive it.

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The Cambridge Platonists and Early Modern Philosophy
Inventing the Philosophy of Religion
, pp. 141 - 175
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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  • Is God an Arbitrary Tyrant?
  • Samuel M. Kaldas, The University of Sydney and The University of Notre Dame Australia
  • Book: The Cambridge Platonists and Early Modern Philosophy
  • Online publication: 09 May 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009426930.009
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  • Is God an Arbitrary Tyrant?
  • Samuel M. Kaldas, The University of Sydney and The University of Notre Dame Australia
  • Book: The Cambridge Platonists and Early Modern Philosophy
  • Online publication: 09 May 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009426930.009
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Is God an Arbitrary Tyrant?
  • Samuel M. Kaldas, The University of Sydney and The University of Notre Dame Australia
  • Book: The Cambridge Platonists and Early Modern Philosophy
  • Online publication: 09 May 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009426930.009
Available formats
×