The problem with taking divine power without a deity's consent is that they can shut you off if they so choose. It's the difference between asking and taking, but the deity still has final say.

Technically this goes for weave-based magic too. Mystra can snap her fingers and you can't access it anymore at any moment. She *doesn't* because she got her arm twisted by the other divine powers in the past to play nice. But theoretically other arcane weaves that didn't really get off the ground (Shadow weave, Demon Weave etc) would work in a similar manner.

As per my reply to Niara; You keep saying that it works the way you describe, that it changed in 5e, but your biggest piece of evidence is that the writing on the mechanics is written in an unclear manner And that somehow, it must mean that in absence of a firm, definitive statement, it must work the way you want it to, instead of the way it has historically been depicted as working, a way which is still not contradicted by the murky wording of 5e's sourcebooks. As has been pointed out many times by myself and other posters. Paladins still require holy symbols, still need to pray for spells, and still are expected to follow a singular deity and seek absolution from a priest or member of their order. There are exceptions, as I listed out. But those are just that-exceptions. It is a leap and a bound to jump from that to 'paladins don't need the involvement of a deity at all to receive divine power.

Anyways, my argument with Niara and my general dislike of the idea of nontheistic divine casters aside, the game really is in sore need of those deity options that were datamined back. And more paladin options in general. The idea that you can roll a Lolthsworn paladin-meaning one who worships the Spider Queen- and get stuck to the same goody-two-shoes moral code as every other paladin is really goofy. There needs to be an 'evil paladin' option besides oathbreaker.