LessonsGreek Philosophy in Arabic: Its Encounter with KalāmQuiz

قال الماتريدية: لا يجوز من الله ما يستقبحه العقل
The Māturīdī formulation denies attributing to God what reason judges repugnant.

In discussions of divine acts, possibility, actual occurrence, and rational permissibility need careful distinction. One approach may reject attributing an act to God because it is considered incompatible with perfection; another analyzes the relationship between rational judgment and revealed norms differently.

To interpret “God does not perform an evil act” adequately, the relevant sense of “evil” must be specified. One cannot automatically import changing human tastes and interests into claims about divine action.

A necessary discipline is to separate established creedal affirmations, the arguments advanced for them, and a school’s particular technical formulation.

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Divine acts and rational judgments

Greek Philosophy in Arabic: Its Encounter with Kalām

قال الماتريدية: لا يجوز من الله ما يستقبحه العقل
The Māturīdī formulation denies attributing to God what reason judges repugnant.

In discussions of divine acts, possibility, actual occurrence, and rational permissibility need careful distinction. One approach may reject attributing an act to God because it is considered incompatible with perfection; another analyzes the relationship between rational judgment and revealed norms differently.

To interpret “God does not perform an evil act” adequately, the relevant sense of “evil” must be specified. One cannot automatically import changing human tastes and interests into claims about divine action.

A necessary discipline is to separate established creedal affirmations, the arguments advanced for them, and a school’s particular technical formulation.