The Anthropomorphic God of James Sterba
The Anthropomorphic God of James Sterba

Summary/Abstract: In this paper, the author tries to give his second and more precise response to the argument of James Sterba. According to Sterba’s words, if a good God existed, he would prevent all the horrendous evil occurrences. This is because a good God, if existed, would be a rational agent and subject to moral requirements. Regarding the Thomistic notion of eternal law, Sterba says that God is not an abstract norm. Moreover, he says that, based on Thomism, God is exonerated from the responsibility for evil. As a result, wrongdoers are exonerated from such responsibility as well. The author of this paper argues that God, while being the eternal law, is still rational. It follows that God is the perfect moral agent. Finally, the actions of God and wrongdoers are logically incomparable. The author improves the contemporary interpretation of Thomas Aquinas on some points and, by that, responds to Sterba’s objections.

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