Free Will, Moral Responsibility, and Reformed Theology - Analytic ...

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Paul L. Manata © 2011
advance, what a person with libertarian freedom will do. In theological circles,
this position is known as Open Theism. But other libertarians, like philosopher
Dave Hunt, agree with this argument, and he is no Open Theist; he is, however, a
narrow source incompatibilist.
6.7 Incompatibilist Mountain and the Libertarian Dilemma
The above objections represents what libertarian Robert Kane has referred to as
“Incompatibilist Mountain and the Libertarian Dilemma.” He represents it with
this picture. 98
The Reformed exegesis and teachings, and compatibilist positions, claim the
ascent has been achieved; moreover, objections 6.1 and 6.2 argue that
determinism in fact obtains. Objections 6.3 – 6.6 show that the descent is
tortuous, that indeterminism actually threatens free will. Thus, it is not as if
Reformed Christians must always be on the defensive by seeking to show that
free will and moral responsibility are compatible with God’s determining decrees.
Moreover, Reformed Christians who opt for libertarianism (or something near
enough) must answer the ascent and descent objections. So, Reformed Christians
may go on the offensive and argue positively that libertarian free will is false and
also does not allow for free will or moral responsibility.
98 Robert Kane, A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will (Oxford University Press,
2005), p. 34.