The Nature and Concept of God Flashcards
How does the concept of God differ from other concepts studied?
- Social and historical importance of God. There have been armies bearing what are taken to be the sign or words of God, and it is all too common for blood to spilt in the name of God,
- The concept of God can also seem highly abstract, detached, and perhaps even incoherent,
What are the two traditional ways in which theologians have characterised possible sources of knowledge of God?
- Revealed theology based on faith,
- Natural theology based on reasons.
What is revealed theology?
A source of knowledge of God based on spiritual experiences and texts.
What is natural theology?
A source of knowledge of God involving the demonstration and justification of religious claims based on reason, experiment, and observation.
What is negative theology?
Negative theology maintains that we cannot coherently state any positive fact about God; rather, all we can do is say what God is not.
What work by St. Thomas Aquinas is studied?
The Summa Theologica
What is Aquinas first, of four, objection to the view that God is omnipotent?
Objection 1: It seems that God is not omnipotent. For movement and passiveness belong to everything. But this is impossible with God, for He is immovable, as was said above (1:2:3). If God cannot move or be acted upon, then there is something He cannot do. Therefore, He is not omnipotent.
What is Aquinas second, of four, objection to the view that God is omnipotent?
Objection 2: Further, sin is an act of some kind. But God cannot sin, nor ‘deny Himself’ as it is said in 2 Timothy 2:13. Therefore He is not omnipotent.
‘If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.’
Aquinas’ response to objection 1?
God is said to be omnipotent in respect to His active power, not to passive power. Whence the fact that He is immovable or impassible is not repugnant to His omnipotence.
Active power = the ability to act or cause things to happen,
Passive power = the ability to be acted upon or changed by something else.
Aquinas’ response to objection 2?
- Sin is a failure or defect in action - it is falling short of perfection,
- Omnipotence means the ability to do all things perfectly,
- Therefore, the ability to sin would contradict omnipotence,
- God cannot sin precisely because he is omnipotent and perfect.
Addressing Aristotle:
1. A conditional impossibility - if we say, ‘God can do evil if He wills,’ this is technically a true statement, but meaningless because God will never will evil (just as saying, ‘if a man were a donkey, he would have four feet’ is technically true but based on an impossible condtion),
2. Actions that seem evil to us but would be good if God did them - Some things may appear evil from a human perspective, but if done by God, they would be part of his divine justice and therefore good. For example, destroying a city may seem evil, but if God does it as an act of justice, it is ultimately good,
3. A mistaken pagan understanding - Aristotle might have been speaking according to pagan beliefs, where gods like Jupiter or Mercury were thought to be capable of evil because they were deified men, not truly divine.
Of four, what is Aquinas third objection to the view that God is omnipotent?
Objection 3: Further, it is said of God that He manifests His omnipotence ‘especially by sparing and having mercy’. Therefore, the greatest act possible to the divine power is to spare and have mercy. There are things much greater, however, than sparing and having mercy; for example, to create another world, and the like. Therefore, God is not omnipotent.
Aquinas’ response to objection 3?
- God’s omnipotence is especially shown in mercy - His supreme power is revealed in His ability to freely forgive sins,
- Only a supreme being can forgive sins freely - A being bound by a higher law cannot do this; only God, who has no superior, can pardon sins by His own will,
- Mercy leads to ultimate good - By sparing and showing mercy, God directs people towards the participation in infinite good, which is the highest effect of divine power,
- Divine mercy is the foundation of all God’s works - Everything given to creatures is a gift from God’s mercy, making it the starting point of all divine action,
- Omnipotence is seen in the origin of all good things - Since all goodness originates from God, His mercy and generosity in granting existence and grace demonstrate His absolute power.
Of four, what is Aquinas fourth objection to the view that God is omnipotent?
Objection 4:
1. Biblical Claim – 1 Corinthians 1:20 says God makes worldly wisdom seem foolish. A gloss explains that God reveals as possible what humans see as impossible.
2. Limits of Human Wisdom – Human reason judges possibility based on natural causes, but if God determines possibility, human judgements are unreliable.
3. Omnipotence & Possibility – If God is all-powerful, then nothing is truly impossible. Everything must be possible through Him.
4. Problem of Necessity – Necessity means something must exist and cannot not exist. But if nothing is impossible, necessity is undermined.
5. Contradiction – Removing impossibility removes necessity, but necessity is evident in reality (e.g. natural laws). Since necessity cannot be removed, omnipotence (as defined) must be false.
6. Conclusion – Omnipotence leads to contradictions, so God cannot be omnipotent under this reasoning.
Aquinas’ response to objection 4?
P1. The ‘absolute possible’ is defined by its own nature, not by lower or higher causes. However, possibility in relation to a power depends on its proximate cause,
P2. Actions exclusive to God, such as creation and justification, are only possible through divine power, while actions within nature’s capacity are possible through inferior causes,
C1. Therefore, possibility must be understood in reference to the appropriate cause - either divine or natural - rather than judged universally,
P3. The nature of the proximate cause determines whether an effect is necessary or contingent. If a cause necessarily produces an effect, the effect is necessary; otherwise, it remains contingent,
P4. The wisdom of the world is considered foolish because it assumes that what is impossible for nature is impossible for God,
C2. Therefore, God’s omnipotence does not eliminate impossibility and necessity within created things but rather operates beyond natural limitations without contradiction.
What does Aquinas take ‘divine omnipotence’ to mean?
The quality of God that ‘God can do all things’, which he takes to mean that ‘God can do all things that are possible’.
What two types of possibility does Aquinas distinguish?
- Absolute, or logical, conceptual possibility. In example, an equilateral triangle is possible, whereas a square circle is not possible in any sense,
- Possible relative to an agent. In example, it is possible for me to write this flashcard, as it is within my power as an agent. It is not, however, within my power to create a cosmos, or to change matter into energy by thinking about it.
What definition of possibility does Aquinas argue with must define God’s power in terms of?
- Cannot define the power of God in terms of (2), as we would essentially be saying God can do what it is in his power to do.
- Therefore, must proceed according to (1), and define the power of God in terms of logical possibility.
Based on the types of possibility what can omnipotence be seen as?
A) The power to do anything,
B) The power to do anything which is logically possible,
C) God can do anything which is logically possible, and which does not contradict his perfection.
What are the issues with omnipotence definition A?
- Aquinas’ counterexamples of passivity/movement, sin, mercy, and wisdom.
- Theologians, including Aquinas, argue there are things God cannot do. In example, he cannot alter what has already happened, or force us to choose something freely (paradoxical). Some theologians have also argued that God cannot alter the laws of logic or mathematics, i.e. he cannot do what is contradictory,
What are the issues with omnipotence definition B?
- Note again the sin example. For to sin seems a logical possibility. Therefore, it would seem that (B) is not sufficient,
- Aquinas refers to sin as a deficiency, a form of lack of power. But this isn’t part of the definition of sin. Sins are deficiencies by human reckoning.
What argument is made to reach omnipotence definition C?
If sin is a deficiency, then this insufficiency does not simply rely on omnipotence as a characteristic of God, but also omnibenevolence, holding that God is incapable of doing evil or wrong. Omnipotence, omnibenevolence, and omniscience may all be considered as belonging to God in virtue of his perfection, i.e. these are all necessary, essential, constitutive attributes of his perfection, therefore of God as perfect. We could, thus propose definition C.
What is Norman Kretzmann’s argument against the idea of God’s omniscience?
- God isn’t subject to change (immutability),
- God knows everything (omniscience),
- A being that knows everything, also knows everything in time,
- A being that knows things in time is subject to change,
- And, therefore, God is subject to change - which contradicts premise 1.
What is an example that could be used to justify point 4 of Kretzmann’s argument against omniscience?
Suppose that I know that my table is blue. Then suppose that someone paints it red in the night. I wake up and see that it is blue the next morning. It could be maintained that my knowledge has changed and has done so in time. If God knows everything that I know, then its knowledge has changed in time also.
God knew the table was blue, knew that the change would happen, yet still now knows that the table is red not blue.
What counter definition of omniscience is given to Kretzmann’s argument?
God knows everything which it is logically possible for God to know and which doesn’t limit his knowledge.
If we maintain this, we could argue that God knows everything that it is logically possible for God to know and does not know anything which could imply change.
