Nature Of God: Omnipotence Flashcards
how did Descartes described God in the Ontological argument?
What type of thinker was Descartes before he was known as a philosopher?
From this which examples from the previous slide do you think he focused on
Evaluation of Descartes
J.L Mackies argument
idea of logically impossible actions were ‘Only a form of words which fails to describe any
state of affairs. “ = there is nothing which is ‘logically
impossible’. Logical impossibilities do not exist
- not a lack of power or knowledge
- turns God into an arbitrary and unpredictable God who can do anything • wakes Et difficult to understand God I have a relationship with him.
- so A God can do anything such as prevent even and allow us free will-why doesn’t he?
What is Aquino’s view on God’s ability to do what is
logically
possible for a perfeci God to
Aquinas:
God has the power to do whatever it is logically possible for God to
Basically God cannot sin as this contradicts God’s all good nature. God cannot climb a tree as this contradicts God being incorporeal (having no body)
“Whatever involves a________ is not held by omnipotence, for it just cannot possibly make sense of being possible.”
“Whatever involves a contradiction is not held by omnipotence, for it just cannot possibly make sense of being possible.”
Basically God cannot sin as this contradicts God’s all good nature. God cannot climb a tree as this contradicts God being incorporeal (having no body)
What us swinburnes view on aquinas view on gods ommpotence
This view is supported by Swinburne who agrees that God’s omnipotence means God can do everything but we must first understand what ‘everything’ includes.
• Turning a square into a circle is not a ‘thing’ therefore God does not have to be able to do it because that ‘thing’ doesn’t
Self imposed: limitaciones
** peter vardy **
Gods omnipotence is limited.
God is not in control of the whole of history or able to move pieces like on a chess board
• God created the universe in such a way that his ability to act is limited
Universe is created to suit free, rational creatures therefore God limits his power over this = self imposed limitation
• God is still all powerful because only God can limit his own power.
Self imposed limitation
* * John Macquarie **
Similarly Macquarie argues that God is not constrained by logic, laws of nature and physics, nor the acts of free acting humans.
God merely chooses to limit his power out of love for humanity.
When speaking of God’s power, we do so as an analogy. God’s power is very different from our own, so we are comparing similar things: our power to God’s but these can never be the because God is infinit than
