Concept of God

Question 1

The Divine Attributes

Answer 1

omniscience 
omnipotence
(supremely good)
eternal
everlasting

Question 2

Omniscient

Answer 2

all-knowing

Term derived from Latin, God knows all there is to know or be known, possessing knowledge of all three divisions. Omniscience involves what God knows (knowing all the truths possible to know) and how God knows (propositional and direct knowledge)

Question 3

Omnipotent

Answer 3

all-powerful

Term derived from Latin, God has the power to do anything (within limits - can’t do the logically impossible)

Descartes believed God had no limits however, and could change laws of maths and logic

Question 4

Omnibenevolent (supremely good)

Answer 4

two types of perfection:

metaphysical sense of goodness - there is more than one way to be perfect (power, knowledge etc) and God is perfect in all ways.

moral sense of goodness - God’s will is always in accordance with moral values. God achieves optimal goodness, he cannot do what is morally wrong and a morally perfect being always desire to do good.

traditional theists - optimal goodness is wisdom, justice and love

Question 5

Everlasting

Answer 5

God continually acts in the world

this property is theological and concerned with God’s benign intervention in the world

Question 6

Eternal

Answer 6

God has no beginning or end, He exists outside of time

(more philosophical notion than everlasting, God exists outside of time as well as creating it, suggesting that if time were to end, God wouldn’t because God doesn’t rely on any other thing to exist)

Question 7

The Concept of God and Hume’s response

Answer 7

the concept of God (meaning an infinite, intelligent, wise good being) comes from extending beyond limits the qualities and wisdom we find in our own minds.

Hume - our concept of god is derived from our idea of human being modified by the imagination. To strengthen this - draw connections to The Devine Attributes and human qualities.

Question 8

The Euthyphro Dilemma

Plato *

Answer 8

1. Traditional theism asserts that there’s nothing greater than God.
2. Either:
   a) God wills what is good because it’s incumbent on God to will what is good
   b) What God wills is called ‘good’
3. If 2a) then premise one is false as there exists something greater than God (this being an independent standard of goodness)
4. If 2b) then God can will anything (i.e. what would be deemed evil and we have call evil good)
5. Traditional theism faces the horns of a dilemma

Question 9

The Euthyphro Dilemma

Plato

Answer 9

critique on omnibenevolent (and omnipotent)

i) God wills what is good because it’s incumbent on God to will what is good
ii) What God wills is called ‘good’

Question 10

The Paradox of the Stone

Answer 10

omnipotence critique
Can God create a stone too heavy for him to lift?

1. Either God can create a stone he cannot lift or he cannot create a stone he cannot lift.
2. If he can create a stone he cannot lift then he is not omnipotent.
3. If he can’t create a stone he cannot lift then he is not omnipotent.
4. Therefore, God is not omnipotent.

formal paradox - involves two logically inconsistent claims

Question 11

The Paradox of the Stone

Answer 11

omnipotence critique

Can God create a stone too heavy for him to lift?

Question 12

Omnipotence and Supreme Goodness Attack

Answer 12

concerns the coherence of omnipotent and omnibenevolent

1. To commit evil is to fail to be supremely good
2. If God is supremely good, then God cannot commit evil.
3. Therefore, if God is supremely good, there is something that God cannot do.
4. Therefore, God cannot be both supremely good and omnipotent.