Gods omnipotence - Nature or attributes of God Flashcards
Define omnipotence
Omnipotence: all powerful
Define both sides of the debate (Introduction)
Can God create a stone too heavy for him to lift (contradiction)/ inconsistent triad (Mackie) /
omniscience – illogical for God to both add to his knowledge (as able to do everything) and unable too add (as he already knows everything)
Section 1: theme one
Descartes – God can do everything even the illogical
Section 1: AO1
(Descartes)
Descartes – God can overcome everything even the logically impossible can make a square circle etc. as he is supremely perfect and thus can have no limitations at all
Section 1: AO2 FOR
(Descartes)
1) Supported biblically “Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37)
2) the laws of mathematics only exist in the way they do because God created them that way, and God can change them or override them whenever he likes.
-Argument overcomes problems with evil and questions of omniscience
3) God is perfect and flawed yet because God is omnipotent he overcomes this criticism
Section 1: AO2 AGAINST
(Descartes)
1) If God can suspend the laws of logic and still allow us to have free will then evil in the world could become something that God could change if he wanted -
2) Anselm - turns God into an unpredictable and arbitrary tyrant, how he might do anything- and therefore cannot be relied upon. If God is all-powerful then God has to be capable of doing evil and could become immoral if he wished. In revelation difficult to know if he is stating truth or falsity- difficult to distinguish between nonsense and sense in religion
3) Some would argue is a cop-out argument and too vague
Section 1: AO2 CONCLUSION
(Descartes)
Rational to assume that God can do the logically impossible if omnipotent as it solves problems of inconsistent triad and omniscience as God can do as he wishes. However, also becomes a contradiction to the monotheistic omnibenevolent God as he becomes unpredictable arbitrary and arguably doesn’t solve problem of evil and omnibenevolence.
Section 2: Theme
Aquinas – God can only do the logical possible
Section 2: AO1
(Aquinas)
God can only do the logically possible. God cannot sin as this would be a contradiction to his perfect nature. Problem of evil is more of a problem with out understanding (epistemic distance) then a problem with God
Section 2: AO2 FOR
(Aquinas)
1) Yet the conditional proposition that God could go against science if he chooses to he would not as this would contradict his omnibenevolence of creating an orderly world, which works in such a way that all humans are autonomous
2) Vardy God self-limited himself when he created the universe to give humans autonomy and free will (omnibenevolence)(omniscience)
- Still right to call God omnipotent as nothing limits his power except when he chooses
Section 2: AO2 AGAINST
(Aquinas)
1) Aquinas has just assumed our human understanding of logic is reliable which some such as Augustine would argue is wrong due to human corruption from the fall
2) Moreover, even if we understand the logic of a necessary being seeing as God created logic it is reasonable to assume that God can live outside of it
3) If there are things that God cannot do and he is limited by his own nature then he is not omnipotent
Section 2: AO2 CONCLUSION
(Aquinas)
Aquinas argument is strong as allows God to be omnibenevolent and still allow free will by not going against logic. However still doesn’t solve the problem that if God cannot do the logically impossible then he is limited by his own nature
Section 3: Theme
Geach – reworked the word omnipotence
Section 3: AO1
(Geach)
We have attributed the word omnipotence to God – the ability to do anything – yet suggests that we should instead attribute ‘almighty’ to God where he is the most powerful being ever created and is impossible of ever being surpassed but is not omnipotent
Section 3: AO1 FOR
(Geach)
1) Hartshorne: total power is not impressive as it suggests that nothing is able to put up any resistance not that the power is total. This would be like praising someone who came first in a race without any other competitors.
- ‘Almighty’ – God can overcome all resistance, not that God will meet no resistance
2) Mackie agrees when we speak of the power of God, we are using the analogy and should understand that God’s power is very different from our own – We are imposing our ideal of power onto God and have forgotten that it cannot be implied literally as God’s power is very different from our own
We are fallible beings and our imaginations are limited so it is no wonder that we hard to fathom the magnanimity of God’s power
