Legacy of Carol P. Christ: WHAT DOES “GOD INTEND”?

This post was originally published on Oct. 29, 2012 

Indiana Republican candidate Richard Mourdock’s statement that pregnancies resulting from rape are “something God intended” not only shows an appalling lack of empathy and distain for the experiences of raped women, it also is bad theology.

The controversy ignited by Mourdock provides a good opportunity to discuss the theological mistake of “divine omnipotence” also known as the “zero fallacy.”  Mourdock’s belief that God intends the pregnancies of raped women is rooted in the notion that “whatever happens” is the will of God.

The theological category of “divine omnipotence” means that God is all-powerful.  It also means that God has all the power. From this it is said to follow that everything that happens must in some way be the will of God.  Such views are held not only by many devout believers, but also by everyone else who asserts that “there must be a reason” when bad things happen.

The notion that a good God is responsible for all the events that occur in the world is rendered questionable by every bad thing that happens–particularly by bad things that happen to good people. This was the question of Job, and there has never been a satisfactory answer to it. If God can intervene to stop the innocent from being harmed, why does he not do so?  God’s failure to stop rape suggests that either that God is not good, or that a good God chooses a really bad outcome, or that God is not the cause of everything that happens in the world.

Charles Hartshorne called the notion of divine omnipotence the “zero fallacy.” If God has all of the power, then God indeed must be the cause of everything that happens in the world. But if God has all of the power, then we have none, or zero power.  If all individuals other than God have zero power, in fact there is no world, but only the illusion of a world.  If God is the only actor, then God is the rapist, the rape victim, the child born of rape.  The world is a divine dance with not even an audience to watch it.

If on the other hand, God does not have all of the power, and individuals in the world have some power, then the power that God does not have must be sufficient to affect the course of events. If this is so, then rapists–not God–are responsible for rape. In that case we can and should attribute rape to the (misguided) wills of human beings.

If God did not “cause” the rape, then it follows that God also did not “cause” the fetus conceived as a result of rape.  If this is so, then it might follow that there is also no divine “intention” to tell a woman that she must bear a child conceived in rape.

Murdock’s retort that God does not cause rape but God does cause conception makes no sense. Either God causes the things that occur in the world or God does not.

The conclusion of this line of reasoning is that we human beings are responsible for the choices we make. The most appropriate person to make a choice that affects her own body is the woman herself.  This was the conclusion in Roe v. Wade. Real people in the real world really do have to make hard choices, because our world is created by a multiplicity of wills—not all of them intending the good of the whole.

Does this mean there is no God? Or does it simply mean that God’s power is not the power to determine all of the events that occur in the world?  Process-relational philosophy suggests that God’s power is a power of persuasion, not coercion.  In feminist terms, God’s power is power with, not power over.  In process-relational philosophy, the power of the Goddess is the power to inspire, influence, and persuade the other actors in the world to make choices that will lead to the greatest harmony and satisfaction of the greatest number of individuals in the world.  This truly is love divine, all loves excelling, the divine “intention” for the world.

Theology does make a difference in our lives.  This is why it is important for women to have the tools to understand and criticize theologies and the power to articulate thealogical alternatives.

Richard Mourdock thinks he has gained votes with his views on rape.  Let us show him and the Republican Party that distain for the experiences and judgments of women has no place in American politics.  The right to control our own bodies is not negotiable.

Author: Legacy of Carol P. Christ

We at FAR were fortunate to work along side Carol Christ for many years. She died from cancer in July, 2021. Her work continues through her non-profit foundation, the Ariadne Institute for the Study of Myth and Ritual and the Goddess Pilgrimage to Crete. To honor her legacy and to allow as many people as possible to read her thought-provoking and important blogs, we are pleased to offer this new column to highlight her work. We will be picking out special blogs for reposting, making note of their original publication date. View all posts by Legacy of Carol P. Christ