A. A. Howsepian argued in a recent article in this publication
that Mormons
are atheists. It is the purpose of this article to respond to Howsepian
by
showing: (1) Howsepian has oversimplified Mormon thought in general and
the views of individual Mormons in particular to the point of distortion
and
caricature; (2) Howsepian has not accurately assessed the options available
to Mormons; (3) a central argument in Howsepian's approach falls victim
to the basic logical fallacy of composition; and (4) the Anselmian criterion
that any being that can count as God necessarily must be the greatest
conceivable being (the ‘GCB criterion’) should either
be modified or understood in a sense that allows for potentiality within
God;
and (5) Mormon
beliefs can satisfy the GCB criterion if modified to provide that the GCB
must be unsurpassable by any being distinct from God but may be
self-surpassable in some respects.