Attributes of God Flashcards
What does it mean for God to have simplicity?
He has no parts. He does not change. He is not physical.
Name some problems with God being wholly simple.
This means he is transcendent and therefore unknowable.
How can a simple God love his people?
God is not described as simple in the Bible.
Who said that God must be eternal because he cannot be contained?
Anselm
Aquinas said what about God being eternal and outside of time?
Time and change are inseparable.
God cannot change.
Therefore, God is outside of time.
What two other philosophers agreed that God is changeless and outside of time?
Boethius and Aquinas
Why might Christians agree that God is eternal?
The Bible says he always exists.
He is not a physical being.
God created the universe, so must be outside of it.
Time passing is imperfect. God is perfect.
What does it mean to say God is everlasting?
He has no beginning or end, yet experiences the passing of time.
Who said that the only way to understand God’s actions in the Bible is if they are in response to human behaviour? (e.g. ten plagues in Egypt)
Nicholas Wolterstorff
An eternal God has omniscience…
… unlimited knowledge, including all of the past, present and future.
An everlasting God has limited omniscience…
… knows all that it is logically possible to know.
What does Boethius say about the relationship between our actions and God’s omniscience?
He does not directly cause our actions, but because He knows them they are necessary. God lives in the eternally present, so he knows everything simultaneously.
According to Aquinas, what is the difference between humans’ view of the universe, and God’s view?
God’s view is theocentric.
Humans see a historical sequence.
“He who goes along the road does not see those who come after him; whereas he who sees the whole road from a height sees at once all those travelling upon it.” Who says this?
Aquinas.
God takes in all of history as a whole.
Hartshorne says that God has perfect knowledge of all that it is possible to know. What does this mean?
He knows past actualities, present realities, and future possibilities and probabilities.
Who said that God knows himself and all other things in “one eternal and most simple act”?
Calvin.
