✅PHILOSOPHY: Nature And Attributes Of God Flashcards
What is boethius’ book called
“Consolation of philosophy, book V”
What is Anslems book called
De Concordia
What is swinburnes book called
The coherence of theism part II
What is Varys book called
The puzzle of God
What is Macquarries book called
Principles of Christian theology
What topics are covered in this topic
Omnipotence, omnibenevolence, omniscience, eternity and free will
What is omnipotence
Divine powers and self imposed limitation
What is omniscience
Divine knowledge and its interaction with temporary existence and free will
What is benevolence
Divine love and just judgement of human actions
Which scholar is important in omnibenevolence
Boethius arguing for divine forknowdge, eternity and free willy
What is eternity
Divine eternity and action in time, including anselms 4 dimensionalist approach and boethius
What is free will
Extent to which human free will reasonably coexists with these attributes
What is divine action
The view /belief that god directly intervened in the world
What does chalmers smith say that’s supports God is amazing
“Immortal, invisible God only wise.,”
What does psalms say about the creator
You search out my path ., even before a word is one my tongue
In the beginning lord, you load down foundations of the earth
Hebrews
What does Christian creeds think about Gods power
All power. Only the most powerful thing, and the source of all existence “I believe in god the father almighty creator of heaven and earth”
What does Descartes think about omnipotence
yes, God can do anything. god has power to do actions which are logically impossible or self contradictory. 1+1=5 God could do. god could have created world with wholly different arithmetic. god could change the laws of physics.
What does Swinburne think about omnipotence
God is limited to the logically possible. Descartes is crazy. Most theists insist on limiting Gods powers to logically possible. “Can’t make a square circle” since there is no task being described by the phase making a round square.
What did Aquinas say about round squares
“It is better to say that some things cannot be done, trainer than God cannot do them”
What does Aquinas think about omnipotence
God cannot sin. Impossible forgod to do so. Sinning isn’t a rational action. Failure to do what is right. It’s a kind of error.
God is perfect and therefore can’t make a mistake
A sin is a mistake (in morality)
Therefore God cannot sin
What is kenosis
Claim that God. By becoming Jesus had to humble himself or being less than omnipotent.
Why did God limit his powers?
Deliberately limits them. Self limitation due to Jesus. Make himself vulnerable and eventually die on the cross
What does Peter vardy say about omnipotence
God is not in control of the whole human history like pieces on a chess board. Wrong to suggest everything happens because of the will of god.
What does Charles hartshorne say about omnipotence
After creation. God is limited in the sense that he creates other things which have powers that are their own. Creation means god has created other centres of power. “These other centres of power are not god”
Therefore god has imposed limits on himself by creating things that aren’t god.
Why does Charles hartshorne thinkGod can’t be all powerful?
Total power isn’t impressive. Like winning in a race with no competitors. Important to recognise that through free will some people will put up resistance to god. Therefore gods power is not over them, but is GREATER. TTENGCBC.
Who disagrees with hartshorne
Many theists. Unhappy with ideaGod imposed limits to his omnipotence. Aquinas wants to say that gods creating of something that isn’t got makes no difference in god power. He’s just as powerful as beofre creation.
What does Aquinas think of god powers beofre and after creation
Just as powerful. Primary causes and secondary causes. god is the first cause of everything. This means tree continues to exist and perform activities since god gives it the power to do so. (Like the battery). If god was the stop powers, tree wouldn’t even exist. But doesn’t imply tree doesn’t do anything. Tree has own powers- secondary powers. God through primary causation confers secondary causation on trees and creation as a whole
What is an analogy to explain Aquinas primary and secondary causes?
Someone seeing wood using a saw. The person is the primary cause of the wood being saw. Without the person sawing the wood, the wood would not be cut. But is it true that the saw does nothing? The person uses the saw as a secondary cause to cut the wood.
What does psalms say about gods omniscience
You have searched me and you know me
What had the Hebrews said about gods omniscience
Nothing in all creation is hidden from gods sight.
What does acts say about gods omniscience
You lots who knows the hearts of all men..
What does Jeremiah say about gods omniscience
Beofre I formed you in the womb I knew you.. I appointed you as a prophet
What is unlimited omniscience
Refers to gods unlimited knowledge, including all history, past, present and future. Gods OUTSIDE time and has knowledge of the whole of time from beginning to end.
What is limited omniscience
Being limited to what is logically possible to know. Or god chooses to limit what he knows to allow humans free will.gods knowledge changes over time. Fits with god being everlasting. But time passes for god
What does Kant think of omniscience
Problem with omniscience. Without freedom there can be no moral choices. We have to have geniuine options available to us to choose between. Not just an illusion. And if omniscience determines our choices, God cannot justifiably punish us.
What does boethius think of God
God is eternal and timeless. God is changeless and doesn’t exist in time. Not a physical life. Doesn’t involved change and doesn’t involve experiencing life as a series of events.
What is the problem boethius frames?
If god infallibly knows what I will do tomorrow, then, the future must be fixed. It if what I will do tonorrow is fixed, then I cannot be free since I cannot do anything else but what I do
What is boethius solution problem In short
Human thoughts and actions have no freedom because the divine mind in foreseeing all things without being led astray by falseness bunds human thoughts and actions to a single manner of occurrence
What is the answer to boethius problem
Need to consider the nature of gods eternity for this will make clear to us both the nature of god and his matter of knowing. Eternity, then, is the complete, simultaneous and perfect possession of everlasting life.
What is boethius’ plan of action to find a solution for god timelessness
Contrasts our relationship with time with God. Is god limited to time? No, god doesn’t have to wait until tomorrow. Perfect way possession of the whole time.
Boethius solution to time- walker analogy
If you see someone in the present moment doing something, then, you can know with certainty what they are doing. It is inevitable that what they are doing is necessary. If gods knowledge is he same as us, our future is fixed. If god is in time with is, the future would be fixed since otherwise how could he Infalliably know?
But gods knowledge isn’t like our knowledge. God knows what you will do tonorrow but by prediction but he sees you do it all at once
Boethius answer in a nutshell
Actions must be fixed.
He cannot infallibly know that something will probably happen. Therefore the future must be fixed for god to know it. This means there can be no free will since everything is fixed.
Boethius solution is to argue gods knowledge isn’t like Ours me god is present to the events of tonorrow. Therefore he witnesses free will actions in His present. Witnessing a free action and therefore knowing it with certainly doesn’t require the action to be fused or inevitable
How does kenny criticise boethius
Idea that all of time is equally present to Hod is incoherent. How can ua god who is outside time have knowledge of what is happening in time? Compromises the immutability of God
How does Einstein criticise boethius
Theory of relativity. Suggests time is not the unchaining thing we think it is. We treat time like a process, but it may just be an illusion
How does DZ Phillips argue against boethius
Takes this further arguing that boethius emphasises the otherness of god over his benevolence. Of god knew about hitler, but does nothing, what does this say about his justice or benevolence.
Swinburnes argument of limited omniscience
Surrports the view god is everlasting. Argues boethius idea of events occurring simultaneously to God cannot be made sense of. Suggests that belief in an everlasting god fits more safisfactory with god in the bible
Swinburnes quote about limited omniscience
Is there a god?:
I cannot see anything that anything can be meant by saying that god knows the evens of 1995 unless it means he existed in 1995, hence I prefer god being eternal rather than timeless
What does Nicholas wolterstorff day about limited omniscience
Only way to understand some of gods actions as indicated in the bible is to understand them as free actions in response to human beings behaviour, suggesting that Gods actions involved time passing
Swinburne and wolterstorff theory in short
god can require new knowledge as time passes. Thus events do history occur, God gains new knowledge. God can know what is logically possible. So if future hasn’t happened, there is no future to be known. And gods omniscience is not limited because it’s impossible to know what doesn’t exist. Perfect eg knowledge of what has occurred and what is occurring
Alvin plantinga on omnipotence
May not have omnipotence as a necessary quality. May. Goose to limit powers to preserve human will.
LIMITS HIS POWERS
Kenny on omnipotence
He is not within a body. Therefore must change his definition. Narrower omnipotence. Possess all logically possible powers, for a being with attributes of god
NOT LOGICALLY POSSIBLE
Descartes on omnipotence
Argues god can do anything. Including logically impossible.
ANYTHINF
What does Geech think of omnipotence
Comes from Latin word “omnipotens” New Testament was in Greek. Best understood as a capacity of power. Power over everything rather than power to do everything.
Mavrodes on omnipotence
Responds to savages stone. God, be definition, is a being of unlimited power, this he can’t self contradict. Logically impossible
LOGICALLY IMPOSSIBLE
“To create a stone that God cannot life”
George mavrodes
William of Ockham on omnipotence
2 powers of God-
absolute power of God, options available beofre g committed himself to particular cause of action
And ordained power of god, refers to options currently available new world is made
John Macquarie on omnipotence
God limits his own power for our benefit
LIMITS HIS POWER
When we speak of gods powers we speak in analogy. Gods power is very different to our own.