The nature and attributes of God Flashcards
The nature and attributes of God - Omnipotence
> All-powerful
Shown in the Bible (creation stories, book of Job, miracle stories)
Does omnipotence mean that God can do absolutely anything including the logically impossible? or does it have other meanings?
The nature and attributes of God - Descartes’ view of omnipotence
> God must be omnipotent in the sense of being able to do even the logically impossible because God has all the perfections so therefore no limitations at all
God can create a stone too heavy too heavy for himself to lift
The nature and attributes of God - Criticisms of Descartes’ view of omnipotence
> Most scholars disagree- things like a stone too heavy for God to lift are not things at all. God can’t do the logically impossible simply because it’s nonsense
A God who could do absolutely anything would have to do things that go against his loving nature
Descartes’ view of a God who can do the logically impossible makes it difficult to find an unacceptable theodicy
The nature and attributes of God - Aquinas’ view of omnipotence
> God’s omnipotence means God can do everything that is within his nature and doesn’t imply a contradiction
God cannot be cruel or fail or be unwise
The nature and attributes of God - Criticisms of Aquinas’ view of omnipotence
> If there are things that God cannot do and he is limited by his own nature, then he cannot be omnipotent
The nature and attributes of God - Swinburne’s view of omnipotence
> God can do everything but logical impossibilities are not things
Square circles are not things and neither are stones too heavy for God to lift or knots that God cannot untie. They could never exist.
God can do everything possible
The nature and attributes of God - Vardy’s view of omnipotence
> God deliberately limits his own power
God created the world in such a way that his own power would have to be limited as a result
Does not reduce or undermine God because God chose to do this in order to create a world suitable for free and rational humans
The letter to the Philippians in the Bible suggests the same idea - as Jesus, God limited his own power in order to be accessible
Kenosis
The nature and attributes of God - Other ideas about omnipotence
> Is omnipotence compatible with Gods other attributes?
Does omnipotence make sense as a concept?
Perhaps it is a problem of religious language
Whitehead and Hartshorne argue that a totally omnipotent God would not be as impressive as a God who met resistance
The nature and attributes of God - Omniscience
> All-knowing
Raises issues about God’s relationship with time and with human free will
If God knows without absolute certainty and is never mistaken then God’s knowledge of people’s future actions could be seen to ‘fix’ these actions and remove freedom of choice
Schleiermacher - God knows us as good friends know us, he can know what we will do without forcing our choices (Gods knowledge is not like this because he never guesses or makes mistakes)
The nature and attributes of God - Relationship between God and time
> Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas argue that God is eternal in a timeless way
Others such as Swinburne argue that God is everlasting in a way that moves along the same timeline as we do. This gives us genuine free will and allows us to have a relationship with God
Boethius questioned whether an omniscient God could justifiably reward and punish. He concluded that God can see time from ‘a loft peak’ and can observe us making free choices while being outside of time himself
Anselm took a four-dimensional approach to God’s relationship with time. Past, present, and future all ‘exist’ because God created them. We are restricted but have free will, God isn’t restricted
The nature and attributes of God - Criticisms of the view that God is eternal
> If God is timeless then he does not change so does not respond to people’s behaviour
God knows everything for all time so our freedom is restricted
God cannot interact with the universe in a meaningful way at a particular time
God is not omniscient because, as he is eternal and outside time, he doesn’t know what day it is
The nature and attributes of God - Criticisms of the view that God is everlasting
> Makes God seem less impressive because God is restricted by time
Outs limits on God’s omniscience as he cannot know the future with certainty
Raises questions of what God was doing before he created the universe
The nature and attributes of God - Omnibenevolence
> all-good and all-loving
Bible is clear that the nature of God is love.
Genesis - Everything is ‘very good’
Bible is only interested in moral goodness unlike Plato
When God chose Israel as his people he set them a standard to follow
When God is angry it is because of the way they treat each other
God’s goodness is exemplified in the person of Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross
Love is seen as an attribute of God and also as the creation of God, God is found wherever love is found
The nature and attributes of God - Possible criticisms of the idea of God as omnibenevolent
> The God of the Bible (Esp old testament) is not particularly good (asks Abraham to sacrifice his son as a test, gets jealous and angry, regretted the flood in the story of Noah - can make mistakes)
Problem of evil - Can a God of omnipotence can also be all-loving when there is evidence of evil in the world (inconsistent triad)
Incompatible with other attributes of God (omnibenevolent = cannot do evil, omnipotent = can do anything)
