God and the Problem of Blameless Moral Ignorance

Ergo: An Open Access Journal of Philosophy 8 (2021)
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Abstract

A morally perfect God necessarily desires that all rational agents behave morally. An omnipotent and omniscient God has the power and knowledge to ensure that all rational agents have sufficient moral knowledge to do what morality requires. So, if God exists, there are no rational moral agents who lack sufficient moral knowledge to act morally. However, there has been a wide range of moral agents who, without blame, have lacked the moral knowledge to behave morally. Therefore, God does not exist. The preceding argument from non-blameable moral ignorance of our fundamental moral obligations is resistant to some of the standard theistic responses to the problem of evil and divine hiddenness. Moreover, some of the standard theistic responses to the traditional arguments for God’s non-existence lend support to the argument from blameless moral ignorance.

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reprint Elbert, Fred (2022) "God and the Problem of Blameless Moral Ignorance". Ergo: An Open Access Journal of Philosophy 8(n/a):

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Citations of this work

A Luzzattian World-Building Theodicy.Netanel Ron - forthcoming - Religious Studies.
Moral knowledge and epistemic limits: a theistic framework for understanding blameless ignorance.Hunter Kallay - 2025 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 98 (1):209-222.

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References found in this work

Hiddenness of God.Daniel Howard-Snyder & Adam Green - 2016 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Which God Ought We to Obey and Why?Alasdair MacIntyre - 1986 - Faith and Philosophy 3 (4):359-371.
Evil and the God of Love.J. L. Mackie - 2009 - Philosophical Books 7 (3):15-17.

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