One might object that God would deserve no gratitude from men if he cannot do otherwise than he does.. God is not acting under compulsion: his will is identical with the goodness that ne
Trang 1without there being anyone able to hear it One might object that God would deserve no gratitude from men if he cannot do otherwise than
he does But Abelard has an answer God is not acting under compulsion: his will is identical with the goodness that necessitates him to act as he does
Abelard’s discussion—here only brieXy summarized—is a remarkable example of dialectical brilliance, introducing or reinventing a number of distinctions of importance in many contexts of modal logic However, it can hardly be said to amount to a convincing analysis or defence of the concept of omnipotence, and it certainly did not satisfy his contemporaries,
in particular St Bernard One of the propositions condemned at Sens ran: God can act and refrain from acting only in the manner and at the time that he actually does act and refrain from acting, and in no other way (DB 374)
Grosseteste’s meticulous scholarship is shown in these marginal additions, in his handwriting, to the manuscript of a theological text.
G O D
297