ATRIBUTES OF GOD Flashcards
What does mackie think about Gods attributes and evil?
God cannot be both omnibenevolent and omnipotent to exist they must be on or the other
/what are the defences of God and evil that Mackie responds to?
1) Good can’t exist without evil; evil is a necessary counterpart to good.
2)The existence of evil is the only possible way to get certain important goods.
3)On balance, the universe is better with some evil in it than it would’ve been without it (the “aesthetic analogy”).
4)evil is due to misuse of human freewill
mackies response to the idea that good cant exist without evil
this isnt true
theres more evil than required/justifiable for goodness to exist
mackies response to the idea that god exists to get certain goods
god should be powerful enough for this not to be the case
mackies response to the aesthetic analogy
theres too much pain for progress
mackies response to freewill
why didnt god make a world were freely choosing Good is only the option
what are the attributes of God?
eternity, omnipotence, omnibenevolence, omniscient
examples of Gods omnipotence
- speaking things into existence in genesis
- his resurrection
- parting of the sea
paradox of Gods omnipotence
would god make a rock even he cant lift
Aquinas defenition of omnipotence
God can do anything that is possible within his nature and doesn’t contradict the laws of logic in which he has already created
Descartes definition of God?
voluntarism
God can do ANYTHING
2x4 doesnt equal 8
can do anything they please because they’re all powerful
rejected any other definitions because they limit God
Macquiree definition of God
Gods omnipotence has self-imposed limits in order to give humanity free will. He is so loving he limits himself to free us.
What is the theory of kenosis?
kenosis refers to the doctrine of Christ’s “self-emptying” in His incarnation
he laid aside the privileges that were His in heaven in order to form a relationship with humans
who did swinburne agree with?
aquinas
Swinburne- OMNIPOTENCE ?
coherence of theism - Gods omnipotence means he can do anything but anything needs to be properly understood
kennys omnipotence
agreed exactly with aquinas. divine omnipotence has its limits in which it can only reach the bounds it was created in
vardy quote
God is limited by the universe he chose to create
what are the two sides of Gods omnipotence?
limited vs unlimited
does the process theodicy argue Gods power is limited or unlimited?
limited
what does omniscience mean?
all-knowing
what schollars discuss Gods omniscience?
swinburne
botheius
schleiermacher
john sanders
what is providence?
Gods foreknowledge - knowing past, present and future all at once
what did boethius think about Gods omniscience?
- God experiences time different to humans, he experiences past, present and future in one moment all of the time.
- he must exist outside of time for this
- he has divine providence and doesnt experience the future so cannot know our actions
- time for God doesnt break into a continuim
- it is an indefintly persistent now. He is eternal and timeless.
what is omniscience for schleiermacher?
Gods omniscience comes from his care in creation. Gods benevolence means he put so much into his creation such that he can know them and unequivocally anticapate what we will do with our gift of free will
mathew bible ref that shows care in creation
‘Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered’
what is open theism?
Gods omniscience means that he knows the past and present exhaustivley but his future knowledge is indefinite, open.
what does open theism suggest about free will?
free will is limited because God has decicided possibilities for people.
for open theists how does open future effect God?
He is not shocked by peoples use of freewill becasue he has positive anticipation of what we will do with it.
what did swimburne think of Gods omniscience?
- God cannot know what is logically impossible to know
for swinerz what is logicall possible to know?
it is logical that the God who created the univserse knows everything that happens to it and he will know the end of time
for swinerz what is not logical for God to know?
It is not logical that he would know the future of humans because this limits free will, which goes against his benevolence
what ways does scripture suggest God is omniscient?
1- knows human actions
2- knows intentions
3- knows us personally
4- knows the world and its plan
john quote for omniscience
‘Lord thou knowest everything
mathew gospel - of Gods omniscience
Describes giving to the needy and how God will know what you do in seceret he does not have to experience them.
atemporal meaning
outside of time
immenent meaning
God is INvolved in the world
sempiternal meaning
God is inside time whilst being eternal
what scholars discuss Gods eternal nature
swinburne
boethius
augustine
anselm
who argued for god being inside of time
swinburne
who argued for God being outsude of time
Boethius
Augustine
Anselm
what is augustines argument for Gods eternity
- God must exist outside of time
- if he existed in time that would mean there was a point of creation
- and a point before creation in which he did nothing
- god does not do nothing and therefore he must have his own concept of time
God is untouched by time
what did anselm argue about God eternity
‘God is the greatest being that can be concieved of ‘
eternal is better than temporal, we cannot deny this, so he must be atemporal
what is anselms argument for eternity called?
four dimensionalist view
what is anselms concept of eternity?
- the present is no more real than anything else
- all of time is equally existant
- time is relative to the person percieving it
- God is not restrained by this time and can be in everything at once
- space and time are also in God
- we have free will because he doesnt experience time in the same way
what did anselm mean by God being impassible?
he is not capable of being effected by time since he is outside of it
what is swinburnes main argument for God being temporal?
God being temporal suits the scripture of the Bible
for swinburne what would it mean for god to be atemporal?
he is lifeless and horrible and caanot experience emotion or love
how does scripture suggests God is temporal?
- change from OT to NT in which God changes from vengeful to forgiving
- Eve and Adams perfect change
- jesus existed in time - SOME PARTS OF gOD ARE EFFECTED BY TIME - HOLY SPIRIT IS ALL AROUND US IN TIME
- Him warning Noah of the flood
anselm quote on omniscience?
supremley preceptive
cs lewis on omnipotence
God may do miracles but he will not do non-sense
aquinas view on God being atemporal
In the human world, change and time are inextricably linked e.g. humans born, grow old and die. If God exists within time, he would be constrained by the same laws which time inflicts upon the universe and would be susceptible to change. A perfect being cannot change.
what do process theologians think?
for a person to exist they must experience things and be effected by them as well influence things themselves
what do process theologians think about God?
God is involved in the world and has a realtionship with huamnity.
God experiences grief and joy with us and takes in them experiences anf influences the world.
This gives humans power so God cannot have all the power
for process theologians what rae the primoedial componnents of God
the immutable qualities such as his benevolence
what attributes do we study?
omniscience
benevolence
omnipotence
eternity
john quote for love
‘he who doesnt love does not know God because God is love’
john quote about Gods love and son
“for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life”
general arguments for God being omnibenevolent
1) he never leaves us (process theology)
2) He created a beautiful world for us to live in (Paley)
3) Scripture (calvin and luther)
4) he sent his son to die for our sins
5) he is a just judge (purgatory?)
why could boethius argue God is loving
- God it outside of time
- he knows everything
- but still gives us free will and doesn’t interfere with our actions , making him loving
- this gives him the power to be fair and loving in his judgements
why do some people question if God is omnibenevolent
1) because there is so much evil and suffering in the world
2) salvation - exclucivist view that only those who have faith will be saved
describe the passage from brothers of karamazov
- dostoevsky describes child abuse from a mother to her daughter
- the mother would hit her, leave her in the cold, smear her face in excrement
- then he asks us to question why an innocent child who cannot understand what is happening would be subject to such cruelty if there is a God
-‘ do you understand why this infamy must be and why it is permitted’
how does dostoevsky criticise Gods benevolence
- he asks how God can be benevolent when such evil exists
- he also points out that man couldnt have existed without original sin and the whol premise of christianity is evil
- points out the flaws of the aesthetic argument
- hr can reason with evil of elderly but doesnt see how the evil of the inoccent can be justified
dostoevsky quote
‘grown up people, they have eaten the apple, the devil take them all, but these litle ones’
A01 on the evidential problem of evil
This tackles the evidential problem, there is too much observable suffering in the world for a God to exist.
- Dostoevsky - The Brothers Karamazov and the evil towards innocent Children
- Bertrand Russel - ‘ no one can sit at the bedside of a dying child and still believe in God’
- JSM - evidence in the world suggests a malevolent creator instead
A01 on the logical problem of evil
This is about the juxtaposition between a benevolent and omnipotent God and evil. If god was benevolent evil wouldnt exist. If god was omnipotent he would stop evil.
- Epicurus brought this problem to light stating that ‘ is he neither able or willing, then why call him God’
- the inconsistent triad from mackie
Epicurus quote
‘is he neither able or willing, then why call him God’
what did richard dawkings argue
natural evil suggests God is even worse - God acts indifferent to suffering
- uses the example of wasp laying its eggs in a catipiller and taking over its brain until it starves to death
stephen fry on Greek God
greek God make more sense because they are more human and accept their sinfullness
the christian God is a sinless being who allows evil this is not likely
describes Gods existence for swinburne
- God exists in time
- ## God existed before creation (augustine) in a durationless, non-metric period
scripture of God not knowing the future
- the ten plagues of egypt
- God sends one plague to see if the Pharoah will release the jews
- he doesnt so sends another plague until the tenth
scipture of God being outside of time
jesus = hommosius = knew Judas would betray hime
what does everlasting mean?
has a beggining but no end
what does eternal mean?
no beggining and no end
for Boethius why might Go have a closer relationship with us?
- God experiences everyone and everything all of the time
- in human time we can only experience the present - it is without duration
- real duration is timelessness
- God can experience our past present and future all in the present moment making him build a closer relationship with us, he is with every part of us at once
- he has a greater emotive existence
for Boethius why might God be a just judge?
- because his existence is atemporal
- he has such a close relationship with u and experiences us all of the time meaning he knows us better than anyone and can make just decisions about us
who added to boetheius?
anselm
what does it mean for boethius to be a presentist?
he argues there is an absolute present moment
aquinas quote
‘as though from a loftly peak’
what does as though from a loftly peak mean
aquinas illustrated boethius argument that God sees time (past present and future) as if from a birds eye view and they are all below him
what did wiles argue?
god being timeless makes sense because if he existed in the world he would be partisan. picking who to love, which does not fit his benevolence.
aquinas and God as timeless?
- aquinas - God must be timeless because if he was not then he would be subject to the same change as humans which is impossible he is immutable
malachi
’ i the lord do not change’
issues with a timeless God
- changes classical theism and doesnt harness the relationships between christians and God
- process theology
- incentive for worship?
- Bonhoeffer and discrning his will
- God is in time - scripture and genesis 22 - abraham and his son Isaac
- God can change and responds to people
what did boethius mean by simple and ncessary conditionality?
He agreed that God knowing our future actions made our actions necessary – but only conditionally necessary. he illustrate this rthough the example of someone walking.
boethius walking example
If you see someone walking, it is necessary that they are walking. However, that necessity is conditional on their having chosen to walk. The walker might not have chosen to walk, and then it would not have become necessary that they are walking. This is very different from the normal sort of necessity – simple necessity – which means something cannot fail to exist or occur, regardless of whatever choices people make.
how does simply and necessary conditionality mean we still have free will whilst God is omniscient?
- Everything we have done in our past, are doing in our present, and will do in our future, are all observed in God’s ‘eternal present’.
- Everything we do is ‘present’ to God. Therefore, our future actions have the same kind of necessity that the person walking has; conditional necessity.
- God sees our future actions and in his present they thereby become necessary, but only on the condition that we chose them.
- there is no incompatibility between omniscience and free will because God sees the results of our free choices and THEN they become necessary.
anselm on the two types of simultaneity
All events are simultaneous in eternity because they are equally present to God. Within time, many events will be non-simultaneous with each other. Anselm’s point is that two events could be temporally non-simultaneous and yet eternally simultaneous.
God not omniscient in the Bible
Genesis 22, God asks Abraham to sarifice his son issacc as a means of testing his faith. When Abraham goes to do it God says for now I know your fiath.
who is named on the spec?
swinburne - everlasting argument
boethius - providence
anselm - four dimensionalist
swinnerz A01
claims God exists within time. Before the creation of the universe, God existed in a durationless non-metric time. Once the universe had been created then time began to unfold moment by moment – both for creation and for God. God thus knows what we have done in the past and what we are doing in the present. However, regarding the future, God only knows the logically possible choices we could make, not which choice we will actually make. This resolves the apparent conflict between omniscience with free will and subsequently with omnibenevolance because if God does not know what we are going to do next, there is no conflict with free will and thus omnibenevolence is not called into question in his punishing us for our actions. God is omniscient in that he knows everything which can be known.
