3.5.2 God’s power in the process theodicy Flashcards
What deems the process theodicy ‘radical’?
it is a radical theodicy that suggests that God is not omnipotent; even more so, it is not a true theodicy since it forces a qualification (proof of God’s omnipotence) of God’s nature
How does the process theodicy divert from theism?
for those who do not feel compelled to preserve the classical theistic God with all his attributes, the approach usefully frees God from the responsibility of evil whilst allowing him to be involved with the world & human activity
What does the process theodicy say about reality and therefore what does it say about God?
- with the never-ending process of new happenings, it would mean that when the process produces harmony, there is good; & when the process produces discord, there is evil
- evil is, therefore, inevitable in the overall process
- from this point of view, God is ‘dipolar’: he has two ‘poles’, one mental & one physical -> the physical pole is the material world itself, which acts almost as God’s ‘body’
How does the process theodicy show how God is related to the universe?
- humans are free to ignore God
- in this degree, God suffers when evil happens because, like everything else, he is part of the universe
- philosopher A.N. Whitehead describes God as the “fellow sufferer who understands”
What views have scholars given on God’s power?
scholars Hartshorne & Griffin argued that while God possesses the greatest possible power, that power is not sufficient to bring about a world containing no instances of evil. This is because:
- a being of maximal power has no possible superior & therefore possesses power at the logical limit
- in a conceivable world there must be a number of beings that have power
- if there is a being that possesses the logical limit of power, any other beings would possess no power at all: this is not coherently conceivable
How is process theodicy different from Augustine’s & Irenaeus’ theodicies?
