Divine Inculpability

God is the author of sin. God himself does evil and is to be blamed for every instance of it. These are claimed by many to be the logical conclusions of Reformed theology. Since it confesses the providence of God to be meticulous and determinative, then those claims must be true. However, Reformed theologians have consistently denied such conclusions as blasphemous. This book aims to show why and how the God of Reformed theology remains untainted by evil and sin.




Alongside its confession of God's meticulous providence and determinative concurrence, Reformed theology teaches a corollary doctrine of "divine inculpability." The doctrine teaches that God cannot incur any kind of moral guilt resulting from any of his acts and that God cannot be blamed for any wrongdoing by any of his creatures. Both Reformed systematic and historical theology have upheld and reserved a place for such a doctrine based on a faithful interpretation of Scripture that testifies to the blameless nature and acts of God and upon further philosophical reflection utilizing criminal law concepts, which yields neither blameworthy conduct nor malicious intent in God's agency within creation. Reformed theology rightly puts the blame for evil on creatures while proclaiming God inculpable.