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PRE - Paper 1 - Nature of God > omnipotence > Flashcards

omnipotence Flashcards

1
Q

main issues

A
  • if illogical possibilities are possible for God, makes our world meaningless
  • not all powerful = Biblical accounts impossible
  • application of God’s omnipotence has to be defined
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2
Q

scholars

A
  • Descartes
  • Aquinas
  • Vardy
  • Hartshorne
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3
Q

what separates the scholars understanding of omnipotence?

A
  • the varying definitions of omnipotence
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4
Q

Descartes

A
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5
Q

Descartes definition of omnipotence

A
  • total omnipotence means God can do absolutely anything even things which seem logically impossible or self-contradictory to us
  • we must accept that God defines all human understating
  • ‘god must be that than which nothing greater could be conceived’
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6
Q

support for totally omnipotence understanding

A
  • term God means - possess all perfections to their absolute maximum
  • supported by scripture: miracles and Jesus incarnation
  • if God is limited, he is not God: ‘God is totally omnipotent’ is an a-priori statement its true because it has to be
  • total omnipotence is necessary for human salvation: Jesus’ resurrection logically impossible and essential for salvation
  • logical contradictions: due to humans lack of understanding not Gods lack of ability
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7
Q

why is total omnipotence so important

A
  • denying God has total power, same as denying the very nature of what God is
  • rules of mathematics, laws of nature etc are laws that exist in our world and don’t apply to God = God can do the logically impossible
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8
Q

examples of logically impossible things

A
  • circle square
  • 2 + 2 = 7
  • Virgin Mother
  • miracles
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9
Q

why God’s ability to have total omnipotence coherent

A
  • God is transcendent, supreme perfection = no limitations

- God is source of logic therefore can suspend or alter logic

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10
Q

criticisms of total omnipotence

A
  • logical contradictions are not ‘things’
  • humans would be unable to have a relationship with a totally omnipotent God
  • undermines Christian theodicies and reenforces the problem of evil
  • not supported by the Bible
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11
Q

logical contradiction are not ‘things’ - Descartes

A
  • not about logical inconsistencies or God’s lack of power
  • logical contradictions simply are not ‘things’
    ex - more than 100% or square circle
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12
Q

why would humans not be able to have a relationship with a totally omnipotent God?

A
  • by God’s ability to do logically impossible things changes the attributes of God, makes him unpredictable, arbitrary and tyrannical
  • with total omnipotence God is comparable to doing evil and be unforgiving
  • total omnipotence makes it difficult for humans to related to/ form a relationship
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13
Q

how does total omnipotence undermine Christian theodicies and reinforces the problem of evil?

A
  • undermines Irenaean: why did God create a world where suffering wasn’t necessary for human development
  • undermines Augustine: God allows free will which results in evil - why didn’t he create humans who were free but more able to resist temptation
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14
Q

which pieces of scripture don’t support total omnipotence

A

Numbers 23:19 and Hebrews 6:18 show what God is incapable of doing - cannot lie

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15
Q

Thomas Aquinas’ definition of omnipotence

A
  • omnipotence means that God can do anything that is within his own nature and anything that is logically possible
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16
Q

aquinas’ ideas on omnipotence

A
  • he can do all that doesn’t provide contradiction
  • logical inconsistencies are just that
  • God cannot do what’s inconsistent with his nature: God is incorporeal therefore has no human capabilities. Ex - swim, breathe
  • God is perfectly good therefore cannot deceive or do evil
17
Q

support for aquinas

A

Swinburne:

  • means God can do everything but everything has to be understood
  • God can do and create all ‘things’ but nit self contradictory things as they don’t exist
  • not a challenge to God’s omnipotence and overcomes the omnipotence paradox
18
Q

challenges to aquinas’ and Swinburne’s idea of omnipotence

A
  • diminishes God’s power
  • religion is based on illogical inconsistencies: miracles, Jesus
  • no physical presence = unable to affect the physical world - their ideas reilies upon fitting God into our laws = constrained by our logic
  • makes Christian definition of omnipotence meaningless - if being able to do all that’s within your nature makes all people can be omnipotent
  • all within nature should mean no evil - God creates or allows evil
  • incoherent with scripture that states: ‘is there nothing the lord cannot do?’
19
Q

Peter Vardy’s definition of omnipotence

A
  • omnipotence means that God’s limitations are self-imposed and God limits his own power in order to allow us a rational universe
20
Q

Vardy’s ideas on omnipotence

A
  • radically reconsider what we mean God is omnipotent
  • it is wrong to suggest that everything happened due to Gods will
  • God created the universe and purposely limits his ability/ power
  • if God altered logic then things wouldn’t be able to exist in the way they do
  • self-imposed limitation = still omnipotence as nothing limits his power except himself
21
Q

support for Vardy

A

John Macquarrie:

  • choses to limit his own power out of love for us
  • self-emptying - removing all divine attributes to incarnate as Jesus to make encounter with humanity possible
22
Q

challenges to Vardy’s ideas

A
  • limited view of God power, limited God isn’t Christian God
  • why would God create a world and the laws to ensure function that means he has to limit himself
  • Anthony Flew - God had ‘died a death of a thousand qualifications’ meaning that Christians modify their view of God continually every time they’re faced with a problem
23
Q

Charles Hartshores definition of omnipotence

A
  • omnipotence means that God is surpassingly great rather than powerful
24
Q

Hartshore’s view on omnipotence

A
  • can do things to the greatest possibility
  • God’s power cannot be surpassed by any other being
  • God has total power

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