“God as a Moral Agent (1)” by Abolghasem Fanaei

This article reports the first part of an extensive study on the nature of God's agency. The two main questions of this study are: (1) Is God a moral agent? (2) If so, is divine morality the same as human morality, or does divine morality differ wholly or partially from human morality? Regarding the first question, the author examines the following three rival theories: “God as an autocratic agent,” “God as a pragmatic agent,” and “God as a moral agent.” In this study, the idea of God as a moral agent will be argued for, and against the other two conceptions of the nature of God's agency. Regarding the second question, the author defends the theory that divine morality and human morality do not differ in terms of their “normative content,” although they have significant differences in other respects. The first part of this study, presented in this article, after outlining the generalities and introductory discussions, deals with the theory of “God as an autocratic agent” and examines and critiques some of the arguments that have been or could be made in favor of this conception of God's nature. The second and third parts of this study, which will be published as separate articles in future issues of this journal, will elaborate on the other two conceptions of the nature of God.

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This article reports the first part of extensive research on the ‎nature of God's agency. The two main questions of this research are:‎ ‎(1) Is God a moral agent?‎ ‎(2) If so, is divine morality the same as human morality or does it differ from human morality, either wholly or ‎partially?‎ Regarding the first question, the author examines three rival theories: ‎‎"God as an autocratic‎ agent", "God as a pragmatic agent" and "God as ‎a moral agent". In this research, the idea of God as a moral agent will ‎be argued for, and the other two conceptions of the nature of divine ‎agency will be argued against. Regarding the second question, the ‎author defends the theory that divine morality and human morality ‎have no difference in terms of their “normative content”, although ‎they have considerable differences in other respects.‎ The first part of this research, presented in this article, after stating ‎the preliminaries, deals with the theory of “God as an autocratic ‎agent” and critically examines some of the arguments made or that ‎could be made in favor of this conception of the nature of God. The ‎second and third parts of this research, which will be published as ‎separate articles in forthcoming issues of this journal, will elaborate ‎on the other two conceptions of the nature of divine agency.

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