The Creation Dilemma

I first learned of this book because I follow its author, Hayden Carroll, on YouTube through his channel: Let's Talk w/ Hayden Carroll. The book is available in both print and as an ebook.

Hayden raises some very provocative questions about the god of the Christian Trinity. The following is not so much a review as it is a precis of the book's challenge to the Trinity, and an alternative answer to that concept.

   When someone knowingly sets in motion a series of events that eventually lead to the ultimate harm of another, do we call them “good”? On the contrary, we seek justice and even punishment for the responsible guilty party. If this principle applies to human beings, it cannot suddenly disappear when we begin talking about God—unless the word “good” no longer holds any recognizable meaning at all.
   Carroll, Hayden. The Creation Dilemma: Does the Triune God Truly Will the Greatest Good of Every Person? (p. 11). Kindle Edition.

So, who's to blame?

The triune God is said to:

• Eternally know the final destiny of every person
• Be under no necessity to create any particular individual
• Freely bring each soul into existence from nothing
• Allow some of those souls to end in eternal loss
• And, at the same time, to will the greatest good of every moral subject without exception

   These claims are not marginal. They flow directly from the Greek and neo-platonic metaphysics adopted by the fourth century church. Because the three divine persons share one will and one knowledge, there is no internal division of responsibility. The Father does not create independently of the Son. The Son does not redeem independently of the Spirit. The Spirit does not apply grace independently of the Father. All divine acts are acts of the one triune God.
   Which means that creation, foreknowledge, permission, and final judgment are not distributed among separate agents. They are unified. The same God who knows the end is the God who initiates the beginning. The same God who wills redemption is the God who wills creation. The same God who judges is the God who brings into existence. There is no conceptual space within Trinitarian theology to isolate responsibility. The entire divine life stands behind every act.

   Carroll, Hayden. The Creation Dilemma: Does the Triune God Truly Will the Greatest Good of Every Person? (p. 67). Kindle Edition.

If God knowingly creates a person whom he knows will end up in hell, how can God be considered to be acting morally? It seems that he cannot be said to so acting. But here is Hayden's alternative answer:

   This invites us to imagine alternatives. What would a theological framework look like in which God is not the ultimate origin of personal existence? What if moral agency did not begin at the moment of creation? What if human beings were not brought into existence without their consent, but entered into moral risk knowingly? What if God did not generate souls from nothing, but worked with beings who already existed? What if creation were not the initiation of personhood, but the extension of opportunity? If even one of these possibilities were true, the entire moral landscape would change.

   In such a framework, God would no longer stand at the beginning of every personal tragedy. Responsibility for existence would not rest solely on divine choice. Moral risk would not be imposed unilaterally. Agency would not begin under conditions determined by anyone. God would be understood, not as the solitary originator of every life, but as the guide, redeemer, and teacher of beings who already possess moral identity.

   Carroll, Hayden. The Creation Dilemma: Does the Triune God Truly Will the Greatest Good of Every Person? (pp. 53-54). Kindle Edition.

And it continues...

   There is, in fact, a religious tradition that has addressed these questions directly. It begins not with creation from nothing, but with eternal persons. It begins not with imposed risk, but with informed consent. It begins not with God generating souls, but with God inviting them. This coherent theology exists within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
   Carroll, Hayden. The Creation Dilemma: Does the Triune God Truly Will the Greatest Good of Every Person? (p. 54). Kindle Edition.

This book is well worth reading!