nature and attributes of God Flashcards
Main attributes in The 1907 Catholic Encyclopedia’s Atrributes of God.
- infinity.
- Immutability.
- Goodness.
- Omipotence.
- All-wise.
- Justice.
- Love.
Nicene Creed.
“I believe in one God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.”
Aquinas quote on God’s omnipotence.
“God could not make things which go against these principles.”
Aquinas’ claim of God’s omnipotence.
God can do what is logically possible.
Augustine’s quote on God’s omnipotence.
“He is called omnipotent because He does what He wills, not because he suffers what He does not will.”
Augustine’s claim of God’s omnipotence.
God does whatever He wants to do and so does not find difficulty in what He does not do, as He is choosing not to out of preference not out of inability.
Harry Frankfurts’ paraphrase of Descartes on God;s omnipotence.
“A being for whom the logically impossible is possible.”
Descartes’ claim on God’s omnipotence.
God can exceed the law of logic, so God is not bound to these laws.
Anthony Kenny’s claim on God’s omnipotence.
Extends to the boundaries of logic but not beyond it.
Issues in debate on Gods omniscience.
We need to know what it means to ‘know’ something and what is contained in the ‘everything’ is meant to know.
Issue in types of knowledge.
Whether God can have practical and theoretical knowledge.
Job 37:23.
“The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power.”
Jesus in Matthew 19.
“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Romans 1:20.
“For this invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature.”
Psalm 147:5.
“His understanding is infinite.”
1 John 3:20.
“For God is greater than our heart and knows all things.”
Psalm 147:4.
“He counts the number of the stars; he gives names to them all.”
Micheal Dummet on God’s omniscience.
“How God apprehends things must be how they are in themselves.”
Micheal Dummets’ claim of God’s omniscience.
He has no particular view or location, so His knowledge lies in everything as they intrinsically are.
Micheal Dummet’s quote on God not knowing things.
“If there is no answer, then there is nothing for Him to no.”
Issue of God’s “tense of timelessness” knowledge.
Some sentences are timeless-ly true and some are not, can that which is not true be known by God?
Who claims God’s knowledge is in the “tense of timelessness”.
Micheal Dummet.
Thomas Nagel’s book.
‘What’s it like to be a bat?’
John 15:13.
“Love one another as i have loved you.”
John 3:6.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son.”
1 John 4:16.
“God is love.”
Benevolence meaning.
Of Latin roots, meaning ‘well-wishing’.
Richard Swineburne quote on omnibenevolence.
“God is so constituted that he always does the morally best action…and no morally bad action.”
Brian Davis’ criticism of Swineburn.
Reductionist.
Brian Davis’ critical quote of Swineburn.
“God is good because he manages, in spite of alternatives open to Him, to be well behaved.”
Brian Davis’ quote on God’s omnibenevolence.
That God doing evil would “involve Him contradicting Himself, or going against His nature as the source of creaturley goodness.”
M.B. Wilkinson’s quote on God’s omnibenevolence.
“When he commends the right because it is right, this should, i think, be understood as commanding what our intelligence and imagination chooses as the good of humans.”
John Hick’s view of the afterlife.
Universalism.
Isiah 30:10.
“For the Lord is a God of justice.”
Deuteronomy 32:35.
“It is mine to avenge; i will repay.”
Communicative justice.
“Who has given a gift to Him, just to recieve a gift in return.” (Romans).
Distributive justice.
Where justice is specific and adapted to each person and situation.
Aquinas’ quote on God’s justice.
“Excersies justice, giving to each thing what is due to it.”
Anslem’s quote on justice.
“When you punish the wicked, it is just, since it is what they deserve.”
Dionysius on God’s justice.
“We are bound to see that God is truly just when we realise that He gives to all exisitng things what is proper to the condition of each.”
William Frankea on justice and equality.
Justice does not equate to equality but to equity.
Luke 6:36.
“Be merficul as your Father is merciful.”
James 2:3.
“Mercy triumphs over judgement.”
Matthew 5:7.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall recieve mercy.”
John Calvin’s claim on God’s justice and mercy.
That we are all in a fallen state and completely undeserving of grace, but that the elect are the ones who God shows His goodness to.
Pope Francis on God’s mercy.
“We are all sinners, but we are all forgiven.”
Vincent Brummer’s claim on God’s mercy.
That forgiveness is not condoning an action, but that the forgiver is absorbing the pain of loving the sinner.
