BONUS|Slogans, PSR, Evil, & Predestination (Office hours) w/ Pat Flynn

Summary

What some popular atheist slogans and how can they be answered? What dilemma does the atheist face regarding the PSR and problem of evil? How big is the tent in Catholicism when it comes to the doctrine of predestination? Should we affirm accounts defended by Fr. Domingo Banez or Jacques Maritain? Why does Pat lean toward Maritain? Why does John lean toward Banez? What are the potential problems with the different views? In this New Year’s eve edition of Office Hours, Pat and John discuss these issues and more.

Guest Bio

Pat Flynn describes himself as a generalist who helps people get good at many things. He is a writer, philosopher, business coach, and fitness coach. He’s also a black belt and a Catholic. He writes at chroniclesofstrength.com and is the author of many books, including How to Be Better at (Almost) Everything and his recent eBook How to Think About God.

Topics

• What’s John’s book about and who will benefit from it?
• How should we tackle the slogans related to science?
• What if we burned all of the science and religious books?
• How does Pat formulate his dilemma for atheists regarding the Problem of Evil and the PSR?
• What if the atheist claims theists have brute facts too?
• What if the atheist says he’s merely doing an internal critique of the theistic worldview?
• How can Catholics think about the doctrine of predestination?
• Why does Pat prefer Maritain’s view?
• Why does John prefer the Banezian view?
• DISCLAIMER: John is not an expert on the topic of Predestination and defers to people like Dr. Taylor Patrick O’Neill and Dr. Steven A. Long to clarify and present the Banezian Thomistic position.

Resources (Books)

One Less God Than You: How to Answer the Slogans, Cliches, and Fallacies Atheists Use to Challenge Your Faith by John DeRosa

How to Think About God by Pat Flynn

Five Proofs of the Existence of God by Dr. Edward Feser

Free Will and God’s Universal Causality: The Dual Sources Account by W. Matthews Grant

The Reality of God and the Problem of Evil by Fr. Brian Davies O.P. 

Thomas Aquinas on God and Evil by Fr. Brian Davies O.P.

Grace, Predestination, and the Permission of Sin: A Thomistic Analysis by Dr. Taylor Patrick O’Neill

Predestination by Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange O.P.

Thomism and Predestination edited by Steven A. Long, Fr. Thomas Joseph White, and Roger Nutt

Resources (Blogs and Journal Articles)

Divine Simplicity, Contingent Truths, and Extrinsic Models of Divine Knowing by W. Matthews Grant (2012)

Evil and Omnipotence by J.L. Mackie (1955)

Divine Exemplarity, Virtue, and Theodicy in Aquinas by John Meinert (2018) – This is the paper John refers to during the show where Meinert clarifies how God can be said to have virtue in some sense, yet that this does not put him in the category of a moral agent that can be judged as behaving well or badly.

Jacques Maritain and Reginald Garrigou‐Lagrange on the Permission of Evil by Taylor Patrick O’Neill (2016)

God’s Impassibility and Knowledge of Sin (blog post) by Pat Flynn

Predestination Debate: A Response to Dr. O’Neill’s Critique of Maritain (blog post) by Pat Flynn

Resources (Podcast Episodes)

Pat Flynn Explains and Defends his Dilemma for Atheists: Accept the PSR or Forfeit the Problem of Evil (Gary Michuta’s Hands-on Apologetics Radio Show)

Is the God of the Bible an Evil Maniac? (Catholic Answers Focus)

Ep. #111 – How to Think about God w/ Pat Flynn

BONUS|Grace, Predestination, & Sin w/ Dr. O’Neill (Parts 1 and 2)

Ep. #121 – Divine Knowledge & Divine Simplicity w/ Christopher Tomaszewski

BONUS|Maritain, Physical Premotion, and Predestination w/ Dr. O’Neill

Pat Flynn’s Interview with Dr. Michael Torre (on Evil, Providence, and Human Freedom)

Pat Flynn’s Interview with Fr. Gregory Pine O.P. (on Mary and Predestination)