The Nature of God

Question 1

simple god

Answer 1

• not changable - does not have parts of charecteristics
• st augustine said god is unchangable - cannot loose or gain any charecteristics
• st thomas aquinas said god signifies being
• simple god:
  1) god is god
  2) god is unchanging - god is perfect so cannot change
  3) god is immaterial - does not have a body

Question 2

in what ways can god be eternal

Answer 2

1) outside of time - timeless

2) no beginning or end - everlasting

Question 3

timeless god

Answer 3

boethius:

• does not exist in time
• no past present or future
• all time present at the same time /simultaneously
• does not learn new things
• time does not pass

st thomas aquinas:

• must exist outside of time because time has beginning and end
• time for god does not move successively

Question 4

everlasting god

Answer 4

• no beginning or end, always has been and always will
• richard swimburne supports the view that god is everlasting - events occuring simultaneously cannot be made sense of and more like god in the bible
• nicholas wolterstorff- everlasting like picture we gain of god from the bible - story of ten plagues in exodus

Question 5

how can gods omnipotence be viewed??

Answer 5

1) omnipotence concerns gods power to do anything including the logically impossible
2) omnipotence concerns gods ability to do what is logically possible for a perfect god to do

Question 6

logically impossible omnipotence

Answer 6

rene descartes - god can change the fundamental laws of physics - miracles

Question 7

logically possible for a perfect god omnipotence

Answer 7

aquinas - god is not limitted by physical existence

- can god climb a tree - not a logical question as god is not physical

Question 8

omniscient god

Answer 8

1) omniscience
- out of time, has knowlege of all time from begining to end
- fits with idea of god be eternal

2) limited omniscience
- gods knowlege is limited to what it is logically possible to know / god chooses to limit what he knows to allow humans free will
- fits with idea of god being everlasting

Question 9

omnibenevolent god

Answer 9

can be viewed in two ways

1) god is perfect
- possesses perfect goodness
- impossible for god to will evil

2) he has a desire for perfection
- while god is perfect he is still capable of doing evil, makes a choice to be good
- abiding by a moral system

Question 10

3 ways god as creator is viewed

Answer 10

1) creation ex nihilo - out of nothing
2) creation ex materia - creation from pre existing material
3) creation ex deo - creation out of god

Question 11

creation ex nihilo

Answer 11

• created the world out of nuttin
• no pre existing materials
• “in the begining there was nothing”
• most common belief

Question 12

creation ex materia

Answer 12

• created out of pre existing material

* aristotle: universe always existed but god created order

Question 13

creation ex deo

Answer 13

• created the world from himself

* god shares in our existence through our experience of it

Question 14

transcendent god

Answer 14

• above and independent from
• god is both the unknown and the unknowable
• plato - god is so pure and perfect that he transcended all of our ideas and concepts
• if go is timeless he must be transcendent (oh rlly??)
• aquinas - describes god as “unmoved mover, uncaused cause, necessary being”

Question 15

immanent god

Answer 15

• exists within the universe
• in old testement he is immanent
• christians often ‘feel’ god within them
• aquinas - says god is sustaining cause
• aristotle (platos student) god exists seperately from the world but sustains the world (immanent and transcendent)

Question 16

revelation in philosohpy

Answer 16

two different ways in which people understand the idea of revelation from god:

1) revealed theology
2) natural theology

Question 17

revealed theology

Answer 17

• when god directly reveals himself to his people
• holy books, miracles, religious experiences
• ie, god as jesus - fully human yet fully divine

Question 18

natural theology

Answer 18

• god is based on the observation of nature

* god is unknowable except through nature (deists)

Question 19

propositional revelation

Answer 19

• god reveals truths about his nature to people
• propositional suggests they are statements of fact
• ie - 10 commandments
• not open to question - facts laid down by god

Question 20

non propositional revelation

Answer 20

• god does not reveal facts or truths to people
• he acts in human history and you can see him in the world like a beautiful natural scene
• william paley - human eye proof of god
• bible witnesses and record how god has been recorded in the past

Question 21

criticisms of an eternal (timeless) god

Answer 21

• anthony kenny - doesnt make logical sense like viewing an entire film at once. richard swinburne agreed
• how can god be timeless and act in his creation - the bible events show god is personal and acts in time - isrealites and freedom from slavery
• how can god be timeless and love his people/respond to them??? - love is 2 way

Question 22

response to criticisms of an eternal (timeless) god???

Answer 22

• time does not affect god
• god is not a person - he can do what he wants - personal in bible but analogical and symbolic
• gods love is displayed through the creation - timeless god can still show love

Question 23

criticism and response to criticism of an eternal (everlasting) god

Answer 23

C) brian davies - an everlasting god will be constantly surprised by his creation - this does not fit with the idea that god is omnipotent and omniscient
R) god has immanent omnipotence- does not know future so we have free will

C) an everlasting god is subject to change - perfection does not allow for change - god is changeless - change must happen if you experience time - god must not be perfect if he changes
R) richard swimburne says the only thing that changes for god is his omniscience - as time goes on he knows everything that is possible for us to know with us still having free will

Question 24

challenge to gods omniscience, omnipotence and omnibenevolnce and respone to the challenge

Answer 24

C) problem of evil - why does god not prevent evil if he has the power to do it and knows its happening and if he is benevolent he would want to stop evil. he cannot be all 3. david hume says this is proof god does not exist
R) evil is not from god - humans have free will - we are not robots
R2) story of Job

C) omniscience and freedom - if god knows what im going to do i dont have free will
R) god is everlasting not eternal - he doesnt know the future

C) moral and natural evil - why does god allow this?
R) he sees the bigger picture that we cannot understand - demonstrates that he does understand suffering through sacrificing his only son jesus

Question 25

challenge to god as creator

Answer 25

• if god created everything he created evil - why? - not perfect?
• david hume - gods creation is not perfect
• what created god ? - uncaused cause is hard to believe -ex nihilo- incoherent that something can be created out of nothing

Question 26

arguments for and against an immanent god

Answer 26

A) cannot verify the apparent miracles in the bible - or gods presence in the bible
F) the number of scriptures and apparent miracles show that god is immanent in the world - eg lourdes / fatima

A) coherence of triune god- trinity - 3 beings but 1 being - 3 oranges cannot be 1 orange
F) the trinity from a RC viewpoint is evidence of gods immanence - god reveals himself through his son and through holy spirit

Question 27

arguments for and against a transcendent god

Answer 27

A) judio-christian theology advocates a person and loving relationship with god - two way - cannot be transcendent

F) if god created the universe he must be outside it

A) if he is above and beyond our understanding how can we know anything about him or know if he exists

F) “you are from below, i am from above, you are of this world, i am not of this world”

william james - surpasses our understanding and description - too great or extreme to be described in words

Question 28

criticisms and response to criticisms of natural theology

Answer 28

C) how can we verify revealed theology? - there is no proof of the propositional revelations - logical positivists say the propositions are entirely meaningless - no way of establishing proof
R) - experience is the best form of verification - william james says experience is the final arbitare of truth

C) liberal interpretations of scriptures - are the scriptures merely symbolic - genesis? - if we adopt a liberal reading of the bible can we accept it as a propositional revelation
R) many christians think the bible should be taken literally - some of it is the direct word of god - kant: if a statement is analytic then it is true by definiton - god is perfect - the bible is the word of god - by definition it is the truth because god is perfect so kant be wrong

C) different revelations among religions - often conflicting - cant all be true - which are correct?????

C) propositional revelations of god may not be recorded accurately - humans may have made mistakes - is it reliable???