1.7 - The nature or attributes of God Flashcards
Descartes on omnipotence
-god can do absolutely anything even that which is logically impossible
-the source of logic, has the power to suspend/replace logic whenever
-laws of maths only exist the way they do coz god created them
-god is capable of doing evil and not capable at the same time, we can’t see this as we are limited by human understanding
Criticisms of descartes view
-god can do anything but logical contradictions are not things
-not a lack of power/knowledge that stops it, they’re just nonsense
-god becomes a tyrant, capable of doing evil and turning on us
-humans cant rely on/understand god, a relationship with him is impossible
Problems for theodicy with descartes view
-theodicies put forward by christian thinkers suggest god cant act in any other way without depriving us of free will
-we must suffer in order for us to make free choices
-if god can suspend the laws of logic then the existence of evil becomes something god is able to change, this makes god not perfectly loving
Aquinas’ views on omnipotence
-god ‘can do everything that is absolutely possible’
-if something isnt logically possible it can’t be done even by god
-god can’t do anything that is inconsistent with his nature as this is also a contradiction, he is good so can’t do evil
Swinburne’s view on omnipotence
-god can do everything but ‘everything’ must be understood properly
-contradictory definitions are not ‘things’ so he cant do them
-this doesnt challenge gods omnipotence
Vardy’s views on omnipotence
-god created the universe in a way that he is necessarily limited
-if god acted differently the universe would not work as it does
-the universe is perfectly suited to free, rational beings
-he is still omnipotent as he limits his power himself
Macquarrie on limitations on omnipotence
-limitations on gods omnipotence are all self imposed
-he is not constrained by logic, the physical world or humans
Aquinas on omnipotence and religious language
-there will always be aspects of gods nature that we cant know
-for us to not fully understand gods omnipotence is expected
-when we think of power we think of human power which is different to gods power
Hartshorne on omnipotence
-total power means nothing can put up any resistance to it
-omnipotence means having total influence and effect, control over everything and nothing could do anything without gods allowance
-through free will beings are able to resist god meaning his power isnt total but its stronger than anyone else
What is omniscience
-god knows things that are unavailable to the human mind
-linked closely with the idea of wisdom
-god always knows the right thing to do, when to intervene, whats moral
Religions belief on free will/omniscience
-the belief that humans are morally responsible for some of their actions
-god doesnt compel people to choose, it is left to them to decide
-islam stresses life is a testing place where people choose right/wrong
-in christianity people are judged by god on moral decisions
Schleiermacher on free will/omniscience
-just because god has knowledge of our actions it doesnt mean we aren’t free to make choices, we would choose the same thing no matter what
Problems with Schleiermachers view
-gods knowledge is infallible, nothing he knows can end up false
-god knows the future rather than predicting it, means no real free will
-this means we cannot be held responsible for our moral choices
Problems with god creating us
-if god created every individual life and knew the future then he must have known the choices everyone will make, removing free will
-he can be held responsible for all evil that is done
-if god didnt know how we would turn out then it reduces his power
The view that god is eternal
-he is outside time and not bound by it
-god is the creator of time
-held by augustine, aquinas, anselm, boethius, schleiermacher
The view that god is everlasting
-god moves along our timeline but never begins or ends
-the past is the past for god aswell as us
-the future is unknown to both us and god
criticisms of the everlasting view
-if god was bound by time he would be much more limited, he would have to wait and see how events turn out before making a decision
-his qualities would be reduced to hardly all knowing/powerful
-doesn’t meet anselm’s view of ‘a being that than which nothing greater can be conceived’
criticisms of the eternal view
-limits free will, god already knows how things will play out
-difficult to reconcile the idea of a loving god with one who knows of natural disasters, terrorism, diseases and doesnt stop them
Augustine on god in time
-god made the world at a point in time so what was he doing all the time beforehand, why did he create the universe when he did
-the biblical account of creation points towards an eternal god
Aquinas on gods nature
-gods nature is always perfect, loving, unchanging
-his will is always the same because he knows what goodness is
-unchanging nature doesnt prevent him from having relationships
-people change, god remains the same, always a chance of a relationship
Boethius on gods omniscience
-if god knows the future he is wrong to reward/punish us for behaviour
-if god knows something will happen but its uncertain then he is mistaken
-if god knows something may happen then its not knowledge
-if god knows something for sure then it becomes inevitable
Boethius on gods view of humanity
-humans have pasts which are fixed and uncertain futures
-god does not have a past present or future
-he looks down upon us ‘as though from a lofty peak above them’
-he has perfect knowledge of our past present and futures
Anselm’s four dimensional view
-humans live in the present, god lives in a four dimensional world where the past and future exist in the same way as humans present
-time becomes the fourth dimension
-god is eternal and can exist in any place at any time
Swinburnes view on god in time
-a person has to be changeable in order to have relationships, a timeless god cannot love as he is not affected by anything
-god must exist within time in order to respond to us with love
-god doesnt have fixed purposes for all eternity, he interacts with people and changes his decisions based on his relationships with individuals
