An Essay on Divine Authority
Mark C. Murphy (Cornell University Press: August 2002), 224 pages.In the first book wholly concerned with divine authority, Mark C. Murphy explores the extent of God’s rule over created rational beings. The author challenges the view-widely supported by theists and nontheists alike-that if God exists, then humans must be bound by an obligation of obedience to this being. He demonstrates that this view, the "authority thesis," cannot be sustained by any of the arguments routinely advanced on its behalf, including those drawn from perfect being theology, metaethical theory, normative principles, and even Scripture and tradition. After exposing the inadequacies of the various arguments for the authority thesis, he develops his own solution to the problem of whether, and to what extent, God is authoritative. For Murphy, divine authority is a contingent matter: while created rational beings have decisive reason to subject themselves to the divine rule, they are under divine authority only insofar as they have chosen to allow God’s decisions to take the place of their own in their practical reasoning. The author formulates and defends his arguments for this view, and notes its implications for understanding the distinctiveness of Christian ethics. ~ Product Description
Table of Contents
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- Preface
- Introduction: The Problem of Divine Authority 1
- 1 What Divine Authority Is
- 1.1 Reasons and Practical Authority 8
- 1.2 Theses about Divine Authority 16
- 2 The Compliance Thesis
- 2.1 The Authority Thesis and the Compliance Thesis 20
- 2.2 The Argument for the Compliance Thesis 21
- 2.3 Implications of Speech-Acts and Sincerity 22
- 2.4 Commands and Decisive Reasons for Action 24
- 2.5 God’s Necessary Sincerity 29
- 3 Divine Authority and Divine Perfection
- 3.1 Divine Authority and Perfect-Being Theology 46
- 3.2 Omniscience 47
- 3.3 Moral Goodness 47
- 3.4 Omnipotence 48
- 3.5 Practical Authority as a Divine Perfection 58
- 4 Divine Command Metaethics and the Authority Thesis
- 4.1 Moral Philosophy as a Route to the Authority Thesis 70
- 4.2 Divine Command Metaethics (DCM) 71
- 4.3 Causal and Supervenience DCM Arguments for the Authority Thesis: Invalid 73
- 4.4 The Analysis DCM Argument for the Authority Thesis: Valid but Unsound 77
- 4.5 The Reduction DCM Argument for the Authority Thesis: Valid but Unsound 82
- 5 Moral Arguments for the Authority Thesis
- 5.1 Moral Principles and Divine Authority 93
- 5.2 Justice 94
- 5.3 Property 94
- 5.4 Gratitude 104
- 5.5 Coordination 120
- 5.6 Obedience to God as an Independent Moral Principle 126
- 6 The Authority Thesis and Orthodox Christianity
- 6.1 The Stronger and Strong Authority Theses 131
- 6.2 The Practical Stance toward God Endorsed by Christianity 134
- 6.3 God’s Kingship over Israel 137
- 6.4 Is an Authority Thesis an Affirmation of Scripture (or Tradition)? 140
- 6.5 The Presumption against Belief in Authority Relationships 147
- 7 A Solution to the Problem of Divine Authority
- 7.1 A More Modest Account of Divine Authority 151
- 7.2 Divine Authority, Loosely Speaking, Is Universal 152
- 7.3 Divine Authority, Strictly Speaking, Is Not Universal 153
- 7.4 Divine Authority Arises through Submission 153
- 7.5 Submission to Divine Authority Is Reasonable 168
- 7.6 Christian Ethics and Divine Authority 175
- 7.7 Divine Authority Is Actual 187
- Works Cited 189
- Index 195