omnipotence Flashcards
omnipotence
god has unlimited power
luke 1:37 “for with god nothing shall be impossible”
weakness
omnipotence paradox
if an omnipotent being has power to create a stone that he cannot lift, how can god be omnipotent?
Descartes’ voluntarism
-God’s has power to do anything, even the logically impossible.
-eg mathematical, geometric, logical and moral truths
-because of God’s ‘immensity’ “nothing at all can exist which does not depend on Him.” This includes maths and logic.
- logic is a human limitation
descartes dates?
1596-1650
descrates quotes
descrates criticism
Voluntarism is incoherent
-By attributing to God the power to do the logically impossible, voluntaristic omnipotence seems to destroy logical necessity.
-if he can do logically impossible it then=possible
descrates crticism
Descartes’ theory of omnipotence undermines theodicies
-Responses to the problem of evil seem to be undermined
-reasons given why God allows evil is it’s not logically possible for God to eliminate evil without contradicting his divine justice (Augustine), taking away our free will (Augustine & Plantinga) or opportunities for growth from evil (Irenaeus & Hick).
-However, if God can do the logically impossible, then it seems he could eliminate evil without removing our free will or opportunities for growth
so why hasnt he?
the doctorine of kenosis
-self emptying
-god deliberatley emptied himself of some of his divine attributes before coming to earth, in order to make jesus counter w/jumanity
jl mackie
-gods OP + perfect goodness r consistent w/ his failing to avail himself of possibility of actualizing a morally perfect world
-god can actualize a morally perfect world only if god does actualize a morally perfect world
jl mackie dates
1917-1981
aquinas
-ability to do any logically possible thing
-God’s power is founded on God’s infinite divine nature which “possesses within itself the perfection of all being”.
-only bring about things consistent with the perfection of being
-cannot create something which both exists and does not exist because it is not consistent with being
aquinas dates
1225-1274
aquinas quotes
“that which implies being and non-being at the same time” cannot be brought about by God “not because of any defect in the power of God, but because it has not the nature of a feasible or possible thing.”
-“it is better to say that such things cannot be done, than that God cannot do them.”
aquinas criticsm
The paradox of the stone
-some logically possible action which God cannot do
-god make a stone to heavy to lift, he cant lift it
Mavrodes defends Aquinas
-the stone is logically self-contradictory if we notice the full context
-stone in question is not just a heavy stone, but a stone ‘too heavy for an omnipotent being to lift’.
-According to the definition of an omnipotent being, they can lift any stone.
so stone that=to heavy for omnipotent being to lift =logically impossible, similar to 4-sided triangle.
-Aquinas would argue that God cannot create this stone because it is logically impossible.
-Aquinas’ definition of omnipotence remains valid
self imposed limitation
-a third way of resolving issues regarding omnipotence. It suggests that the only limits on God’s power are limits God chose. God still has the power to do anything he chooses as God is only limited by God’s own choice.
sil
peter vardy
-its limited
-god not in control of whole history/able to move piece like chess
-he created world in such a way that his ability to act is limited
-world suits free rational creatures- god limits power over this
-still powerful as only he can limit his power
sil
john macquarrie
-gods not constrained by logic, laws of nature+ physics, nor the acts of free acting humans
-he choose to limit his own power out of love 4 humanity
-made by christian theologians
-god became man in jesus+ emptied himself of some abilities
Voluntarist critique of self-imposed limitation
-he must choose to not interfere with our free will or the logic of the universe. His power is constrained, though only due to his choice because of his goals.
-no need for God to self-limit even to bring about what he wants (a loving relationship with us)
-try to solve a prob that isnt even one
