Nature and Attributes of God

Question 1

What is Omnipotence?

Answer 1

All-Powerful

Question 2

What is Omniescence?

Answer 2

All-Knowing

Question 3

What is Omnibenevolance?

Answer 3

All-Loving

Question 4

What distinction must be made between God’s relationship with time?

Answer 4

Timeless vs Everlasting

Question 5

What is Boeithius’ 4 dimensionalism?

Answer 5

God can see time as we see space

Question 6

What is Boethius’ famous quote about God’s time?

Answer 6

“The whole, simultaneous and perfect possession of unending life”

Question 7

What is Augustine’s criticism of Boethius?

Answer 7

What was God doing before he created the universe?

Question 8

What is Aquinas’ argument for God’s relationship with time?

Answer 8

We can not speak of God, and so we can not talk of his time - we speak in analogy

Question 9

What is Mascall’s pole?

Answer 9

We experience God in time, whereas he experiences time differently

Question 10

What is Aquinas’s quote about eternity?

Answer 10

“Eternity exits as a simultaneous whole and time does not”

Question 11

What is presentism?

Answer 11

The past and the present do not exist. The present is the only reality

Question 12

What is Anselm’s view on presentism?

Answer 12

Past and future is subjective, and it is based on perceiving it

Question 13

Why does Anselm see it that God does not cause our actions?

Answer 13

Time is in God and God is in time

Question 14

What does Kenny say of the Timeless view of God?

Answer 14

Seeing the rise and fall of Rome in one go is incoherent

Question 15

What is the issue with Love for a timeless God?

Answer 15

Love involves a two way process

Question 16

Why does tensed language of the bible not make God tensed?

Answer 16

It is how they expressed it. This does not mean god himself is tensed

Question 17

I) What is the issue with prayers for a tensed God

II) What is Aquinas’ rebuttal?

Answer 17

I) God can not react if he is timeless

II) Prayer should not be for requests

Question 18

What is an issue with Boethious’ assessment?

Answer 18

He may be defending a different godf

Question 19

What is the biggest benefit of an Everlasting God?

Answer 19

He can act in time

Question 20

What is the biggest flaw with the Everlasting God?

Answer 20

It either limits God or causes a conflict with free will

Question 21

Where does the quote “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms”

Answer 21

Deuteronomy 33:27

Question 22

What does Descartes say about God being able to do the logically impossible?

Answer 22

He is the source of Logic, so he can break it. Otherwise it is limited

Question 23

What does Mackie say about logical impossibilities?

Answer 23

“Only a form of words which fails to describe any state of affairs”

Question 24

What is Aquinas’ famous quote on omnipotence which relates to Mackie?

Answer 24

“Whatever involves a contradiction is not held by omnipotence, for it just cannot possibly make sense of being possible”

Question 25

What does Vardy say on free will and omnipotence?

Answer 25

God chooses to limit himself to preserve free will

Question 26

What does John Macquaire argue is the only way God is l limited?

Answer 26

Love