Attributes of God - Omniscience

Question 1

What is Swinburne’s model of omniscience?

Answer 1

God knows past and present perfectly but can only predict future. God is in time.

Question 2

Why does Swinburne argue that God must be in time?

Answer 2

God must be changeable so in time to have relationships with people and respond to them. A loving God must respond to people. A loving God cannot be timeless.

Question 3

What does Swinburne say about a timeless God?

Answer 3

A timeless God is “a very lifeless thing”

Question 4

How does the Old Testament support Swinburne?

Answer 4

The God of the Old Testament is continuously interacting with humans and that interaction is not decided in advance. A timeless God cannot change his thinking.

Question 5

What are the strengths of Swinburne’s view?

Answer 5

Support from the Bible - maintains humans as free agents.

Question 6

What are the problems with Swinburne’s view?

Answer 6

God’s knowledge is perfect, so prediction is perfect so still knows the future.

Question 7

Explain Boethius’ model of God’s omniscience?

Answer 7

God has Divine Foreknowledge - God sees past, present and future simultaneously. He sees nothing ‘before’ it happens, or ‘after’ it happens.

Question 8

How does Boethius preserve human free will?

Answer 8

God’s knowledge is not causal, God knows because it has happened, he does not cause it to happen.

Question 9

What is Boethius’ concept of one simultaneous moment?

Answer 9

There is no past, present or future of what God is seeing, everything is happening at the same time - God sees us being born, going to school, getting married and dying all in the same moment - seeing past, present and future all at the same time.

Question 10

What is Boethius’ concept of an unchanging present?

Answer 10

God sees everything as present - there is no past or future.

Question 11

What does Boethius mean by God’s foreknowledge?

Answer 11

There is no such thing as future for God, God’s knowledge is very different to human’s knowledge, God does know the future, but he knows it as an unchanging present.

Question 12

How is God just in Boethius’ model?

Answer 12

God can reward and punish fairly because his knowledge isn’t causal, instead he merely sees the choices humans make and as a result he is justified in punishing them or rewarding them for their choices.

Question 13

What does Boethius mean by Simple necessity?

Answer 13

necessary because God is seeing it, only happens because of the laws of nature.

Question 14

What does Boethius mean by Conditional necessity?

Answer 14

Conditionally based on a choice - necessary because God is seeing it.

Question 15

Is God eternal in Boethius’ model?

Answer 15

God is eternal

Question 16

What are the strengths of Boethius’ view?

Answer 16

Maintains God’s justice, God still knows everything that happens in his unchanging present, Maintains God as timeless.

Question 17

What are the weaknesses of Boethius’ view?

Answer 17

God can’t act or intervene - timeless things can’t act because action involves change, and things out of time can’t change. God is passive - not a personal God. Rogers - If God is seeing something I have chosen to do in the future in his unchanging present, therefore, it is determined

Question 18

Explain St Anselm’s model.

Answer 18

No past or future - only time that is real is the present. Past, present and future are relative to where you are in time. God knows if its past, present or future and he is present in these times. God isn’t outside of time - God is time. God can differentiate between past, present and future, they exist equally within divine eternity.

Question 19

How does Anselm preserve free will?

Answer 19

God is present in choice, he doesn’t foresee the outcome, he sees the outcome as present - because of this he isn’t determining choice.

Question 20

What are the weaknesses with Anselm’s view?

Answer 20

Problem of evil - if God can act, why is there still evil?

Question 21

What does Boethius say about eternity?

Answer 21

“Eternity is the complete and perfect possession of unending life, all at once”

Question 22

What does Sorabji say about God’s omniscience?

Answer 22

God already knows what we will do. It is past to him and so we cannot be free and must do what God already knows.

Question 23

How does Craig respond to Sorabji?

Answer 23

Says that God sees the outcome of our free choices

Question 24

What is Schleiermacher’s view of God’s omniscience?

Answer 24

God’s knowledge of us is like that of a close friend - can make an educated prediction based on his knowledge of us on what we will do.

Question 25

What is Aquinas’ view of God’s omniscience?

Answer 25

As God created humans, he fashions each person in accordance with his plans. God is timeless and knows the present, past and future because he is not confined by time. If God knows that an event will happen, then it will happen because God knows it - God’s knowledge is causal.

Question 26

What is Vardy’s view of God’s omniscience?

Answer 26

Perhaps God does not know at all how we will turn out.

Question 27

What is Hughes’ view of God’s omniscience?

Answer 27

God is timeless and knows the present, past and future because he is not confined by time. Whatever happens, God knows that it happens because it happens. God has foreknowledge of the future; however, his knowledge is not causal. He sees the choices in His present.