Peter van Inwagen
Born
September 21, 1942
Genre
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Metaphysics
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published
1993
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37 editions
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Material Beings
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published
1990
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7 editions
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Metaphysics: The Big Questions
by
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published
1991
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5 editions
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An Essay on Free Will
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published
1983
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3 editions
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The Problem of Evil: The Gifford Lectures Delivered in the University of St. Andrews in 2003
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published
2006
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12 editions
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Ontology, Identity, and Modality: Essays in Metaphysics
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published
2001
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2 editions
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PERSONS:HUMAN AND DIVINE PAPER: Human and Divine
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published
2007
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4 editions
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God, Knowledge, and Mystery: Essays in Philosophical Theology (Cornell Studies in Political Economy (Paperback))
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published
1995
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4 editions
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Christian Faith and the Problem of Evil
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published
2004
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2 editions
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Existence: Essays in Ontology
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published
2014
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10 editions
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“At some point, for all eternity, there will be no more unmerited suffering: this present darkness, "the age of evil", will eventually be remembered as a brief flicker at the beginning of human history. Every evil done by the wicked to the innocent will have been avenged, and every tear will have been wiped away”
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“This much must be said, however: the plan has the following feature, and any plan with the object of restoring separated humanity to union with God would have to have this feature: its object is to bring it about that human beings once more love God. And, since love essentially involves free will, love is not something that can be imposed from the outside, by an act of sheer power.
Human beings must choose freely to be reunited with God and to love him, and this is something they are unable to do by their own efforts. They must therefore cooperate with God.
As is the case with many rescue operations, the rescuer and those whom he is rescuing must cooperate. For human beings to cooperate with God in this rescue operation, they must know that they need to be rescued. They must know what it means to be separated from him. And what it means to be separated from God is to live in a world of horrors. If God simply "canceled" all the horrors of this world by an endless series of miracles, he would thereby frustrate his own plan of reconciliation. If he did that, we should be content with our lot and should see no reason to cooperate with him.”
― The Problem of Evil: The Gifford Lectures Delivered in the University of St. Andrews in 2003
Human beings must choose freely to be reunited with God and to love him, and this is something they are unable to do by their own efforts. They must therefore cooperate with God.
As is the case with many rescue operations, the rescuer and those whom he is rescuing must cooperate. For human beings to cooperate with God in this rescue operation, they must know that they need to be rescued. They must know what it means to be separated from him. And what it means to be separated from God is to live in a world of horrors. If God simply "canceled" all the horrors of this world by an endless series of miracles, he would thereby frustrate his own plan of reconciliation. If he did that, we should be content with our lot and should see no reason to cooperate with him.”
― The Problem of Evil: The Gifford Lectures Delivered in the University of St. Andrews in 2003
“To get the xs to compose something, one need only bring them into contact; if the xs are in contact, they compose something; and if they are not in contact, they do not compose anything.”
― Material Beings
― Material Beings
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