MoG - Concept and Nature of God

Question 1

Define omnipotence

Answer 1

Having perfect power; the ability to do anything it is possible to do

Question 2

What is the difference between Descartes and Aquinas definition of omnipotence?

Answer 2

Descartes: God can do anything, even that which is illogical or impossible
Aquinas: God can only do what is logically possible

Question 3

Define omniscience

Answer 3

Having perfect knowledge; to know everything that can possibly be known

Question 4

Define omnibenevolence

Answer 4

Being supremely good; to be perfectly morally good

Question 5

Define God as an eternal being

Answer 5

God exists outside of time, with no beginning or end since these concepts rely on time

Question 6

Define God as an everlasting being

Answer 6

God exists within time, with a beginning at the start of time and will continue to exist forever

Question 7

Which philosophers gave explanations for God as an eternal being?

Answer 7

• Boethius (circle analogy)
• Stump and Kretzmann (features of an eternal being)

Question 8

How did Boethius explain God as an eternal being?

Answer 8

Boethius compared time to a circle where human experience travels around the circle, while an eternal being at the centre experiences all points of the circle simultaneously

Question 9

How did Stump and Kretzmann explain God as an eternal being?

Answer 9

Stump and Kretzmann built on Boethius’ explanation, outlining 4 features of an eternal being:
- Life (psychological)
- Limitless (no beginning or end)
- Atemporal (outside of time)
- Experiences all at once (like Boethius)

Question 10

What are arguments for God as an everlasting being?

Answer 10

• God is thought to be alive
• God acts and causes things to happen, and actions are events and causation is linked to events, which are rooted in time

Question 11

What are the 3 arguments for the incoherence of the concept of god?

Answer 11

1. Paradox of the stone (omnipotence)
2. Euthyphro dilemma (omnipotence + omnibenevolence)
3. Compatibility of omniscience

Question 12

Outline the paradox of the stone

Answer 12

The paradox argues that the concept of an omnipotent being is self-contradictory

“Can God create a stone so heavy he cannot lift it?”
- If he can’t then he is not powerful enough to make the stone
- if he can then he is not powerful since he cannot lift it

Question 13

What is Maverodes’ first solution to the paradox of the stone?

Answer 13

A stone that an omnipotent being can’t lift is self-contradictory; omnipotence is the ability to do anything possible, therefore the paradox describes nothing

Question 14

What is the response to Maverodes’ first solution to the paradox of the stone?

Answer 14

The solution begs the question since the initial argument aims to challenge God’s omnipotence, whereas the response uses God’s omnipotence to argue the paradox is meaningless, which is circular and does not establish coherence of omnipotence

Question 15

What is Maverodes’ 2nd solution to the paradox of the stone?

Answer 15

If we allow that God can lift any stone, then God can’t create a stone he can’t lift, which means God can lift any stone he creates - the paradox doesn’t disprove omnipotence, but rather the existence of such a stone existing

Question 16

Define the Euthyphro dilemma

Answer 16

The dilemma asks whether morality is created by God or independent of God, challenging his omnipotence and omnibenevolence

Question 17

What are the implications of God creating morality?

Answer 17

If God creates morality, then God willing something is what makes it morally right, however this may leas to morality being arbitrary since God could say ‘murdering babies is good’ when we disagree (God is not omnibenevolent)

Question 18

What are the implications of morality being independent of God?

Answer 18

If morality is independent of God, then God is subject to morality, therefore God would not be the source of morality, therefore God is not omnipotent and the concept of God is incoherent

Question 19

Outline the solution to the Euthyphro dilemma that morality is not arbitrary

Answer 19

God creates morality and is still omnipotent, since God bases morality on other factors such as his love for humanity, which means that morality is not arbitrary

Question 20

What is a possible response to the criticism that morality is not arbitrary (criticism of the Euthyphro dilemma)

Answer 20

God’s love for humanity could still be an arbitrary factor to base morality on (love as a concept varies for people)

Question 21

Outline the solution to the Euthyphro dilemma that “God is good” is not a tautology

Answer 21

“God” and “goodness” are different (if God creates morality) but relate to the same concept, like “H2O” and “water”; “H2O is water” is a discovery, like how “God is good” is a discovery

Question 22

What is a possible response to the criticism that “God is good” is not a tautology (criticism of the Euthyphro dilemma)

Answer 22

H2O and water relate to the same thing, meanwhile ‘god’ and ‘good’ are not the same - they do not provide definitions for each other

Question 23

Outline the issue of omniscience and free will for the coherence of God

Answer 23

It raises the question of whether the concept of omniscience is compatible with free will:
- Since God is omniscient, he knows everything, including what I will do before I do it. However, if God knows what I will do before I do it, then it is not possible for me to do anything else (therefore I must not have free will since free will is the ability to do or not do something). So, God is omniscient and we lack free will, or we have free will and God is not omniscient

Question 24

What is the importance of humans having free will?

Answer 24

While we could abandon free will as a concept in favour of God being omniscient, free will is a great good that allows us to choose good or evil actions; if god is omnibenevolent, he would want our lives to be morally significant and meaningful - therefore God is either omniscient or omnibenevolent

Question 25

What are 3 possible responses to the issue of omniscience and free will for the coherence of God?

Answer 25

1. God is everlasting, and therefore he knows all that can be possibly known if he is observing time in a linear structure like us
2. God is an eternal being, so he experiences all times at once - he simply observes you having free will at multiple points in time without interference
3. God has counterfactual knowledge, so he can predict the possible outcomes if something were the case