Natire Of God Flashcards
How does Swinburne view the idea of god being outside of time
It isn’t biblical and was an idea put forward by Greeks Like Plato
Does Swinburne think God is immutable
No because love requires change and god needs to change so he can have relationships with people and respond to them with love
Criticism of this is that if Christians see that gods can change why can’t the Bible
What does Swinburne believe about the god portrayed by Anselm and Bothius
It is a very lifeless being
What does Swinburne propose god is
Everlasting
No beginning or end and is in time
God is eternal is sense he as existed at every moment in the past, exists now and will exist in future
How does Swinburne everlasting God solve the problem of Gods omniscience and human free will (God knows the future so it is fixed)
Swinburne defines omniscience as knowing everything logically possible to know
God is within time so future cannot be logically known
Gods knowledge in terms of future events only included a things that are predictable by laws of the world (e.g the sun will rise) and does not include human free choices
Therefore humans have free will, God can make choices and respond to prayers
Does Swinburne believe God is self limiting
Yes he does believe God is fully omniscient but self limits himself so that humans can have free will
God can reverse this at any point and restore his knowledge of the future
Strengths of Swinburne
Free will retained (future not known)
An everlasting god within time makes god feel more imminent with an understanding of our struggle
God can respond to prayer (if he was outside of time then the future has already happened for him so prayers are pointless) and the incarnation becomes possible
This understanding of God is more biblically accurate as God is seen to be interactive with humans and in time
Weakness of Swinburne and response
Supporters of Bothius / Anselm suggest it is illogical to believe a perfect being like God to be within time as time limits God and God can’t be restricted by anything
Response would be time isn’t limiting god but god is putting limits on himself to allow for free will
It puts limits on Gods omnipotence (a time bound God is less powerful then a timeless one) and his omniscience (God can’t know the future)
Same response as above
If god is within time and can change why does he only sometimes intervene to help but let millions of others die
What is the problem of free will ?
If god is omniscient he must know the future
Everything god knows in the future is now a necessary event as god cannot be wrong
Therefore we have no free will our actions from birth to death are set in stone before we are even born
For e.g. if god knows I will steal this Friday I am now without choice but to steal as Gid cannot be wrong
John Calvin solution to problem of free will
His doctrine of predestination states god has already decided whether everyone is going to heaven or hell
Problem is that it would be immoral for god to punish someone for behaving in a way predertimined for them
Friedrich schleiermacher’s answer to problem of free will
If I take my daughter out for a meal at a restraunt she has free choice of anything to eat
But I know exactly what she will pick
Not because I have predetermined it for her but because I know her so well
This can be applied at a greater scale to god
Boethius’ aim
To uphold Gods omniscience and human free will
What was Botheius’ new solution ?
Develops new concept of eternity
Humans exit in time and are finite ( they have a fixed past, an unravelling present and an uncertain future)
God is eternal and so exists outside of time
God views all of time simultaneously and so he sees our birth and death together, etc
Imagine it as god looking down on humans moving along their timeline
How does botheius’ solution solve the problem of free will
God doesn’t know what we will do in the future as there is none for him, everything is now
If a man goes on a walk, god only knows he is walking because he has chosen to do it
God is like a spectator at a race, he is a watcher not a causer
He concludes god doesn’t have foreknowledge but instead has providential knowledge, the knowledge to govern in a way to provide for human needs
Does Aquinas support botheius (give example)
Yes
He gives example to illustrate it :
Imagine your standing on top a tower on a hill
You have a birds eye view of the street below
The people on the street can only see in front of them and behind them
But god views eternity in one glance rather then a succession of events
