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176Impeccability and perfect virtueReligious Studies 53 261-280. 2017.Whatever else a theory of impeccability assumes about the moral life of heavenly agents, it seems to imply something about the type of actions possible for such agents, along with the quality of their moral characters. Regarding these characters, there are many that have argued impeccable and heavenly agents must also be perfectly virtuous agents. Michael Slote has recently argued, however, that perfect virtue is impossible. Assuming Slote’s argument is successful, a theory of impeccability that…Read more
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7Heaven and moral perfectionDissertation, University of Birmingham. 2022.Traditionally, the Christian doctrine of heaven has implied that the human agents that exist there will be exceptionally moral. More than this, there appears to be a consensus that heavenly agents are so morally upright as to be considered morally perfect. However, there has been some kickback to this idea of moral perfection, and whether it is a possibility for contingently existing agents. The primary goal of this thesis is to defend the view that moral perfection in heaven is possible if unde…Read more
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32Perfecting agentsInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 93 (2): 83-105. 2022.The focus of this paper is the process of perfecting agents. There are two views that attempt to explain what perfecting an agent looks like, specifically in the context of temporal requirements. One view claims that it is part of Christian orthodoxy that those destined for heaven will be instantaneously changed upon death from imperfect agents to perfect ones. The other view says that it’s impossible to perform an instantaneous change if the agent wants to maintain their personal identity; an i…Read more
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14HeavenIn Yujin Nagasawa & Benjamin Matheson (eds.), Palgrave Handbook of the Afterlife. pp. 177-196. 2017.The intent of this essay is to examine what most would call an essential component to the theistic notion of a perfected agent in heaven: impeccability. In Part 1 I will attempt to softly defend the Christian dependence on the doctrine of impeccability, followed by an examination of what I believe to be the two basic moral conditions for impeccability: the deontic condition and the virtue condition. In Parts 2 and 3, I will examine the coherence of each of these conditions by proposing recently …Read more
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12Hugh J. McCann. Creation and the Sovereignty of God . Indiana University Press, 2012 (review)European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 8 (1): 260--266. 2016.Review of Creation and the Sovereignty of God
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96Character-development and heavenInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 76 (3): 319-330. 2014.Numerous philosophers in recent decades have argued that a partial explanation for how the blessed in heaven are impeccable while remaining free and responsible is that they have cultivated or developed such a virtuous character prior to heaven that once in heaven they are incapable of acting contrary to their virtuously cultivated characters. Further, because the agents are at least partially responsible for the construction of their characters, they can be considered free and responsible with …Read more
Luke Henderson
North Carolina Wesleyan University
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North Carolina Wesleyan UniversityRegular Faculty (Part-time)
University of Birmingham
PhD, 2022 (Part-time)
Youngsville, NC, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Action |
Philosophy of Religion |
Afterlife |
Virtue Ethics |
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Action |
Philosophy of Religion |
Afterlife |
Virtue Ethics |