The Nature or Attributes of God Flashcards
Omnipotent
all-powerful
Omniscient
all-knowing
Omnibenevolent
all-loving and all-good
Eternal
timeless, atemporal, being outside the constraints of time
Everlasting
sempiternal, lasting forever on the same timeline as humanity
Free Will
the ability to make independent choices between real options
Existentialism
a way of thinking that emphasises personal freedom of choice
Immutable
incapable of changing or being affected
What is the Omnipotence Paradox?
the notion of total power is a total contradiction. Logically impossible, e.g. ‘Can God create a stone so heavy you can’t lift?’
Quote to support the idea that God has the power to want something into existence
‘Let there be light’ (Genesis 1:3)
Define Descartes position on omnipotence
God can do anything, including what is logically impossible
What, according to Aquinas, can God do?
‘Everything that does not imply a contradiction’
How does God’s omniscience clash with free will and human moral responsibility?
If God has infallible knowledge of the future, our actions are pre-determined. Therefore, we are not free.
How does Schleiemacher understand God’s omniscience?
Analogous to knowledge of intimate people - knowledge of what someone will do, does not effect ability to decide
If God is atemporal, what other ‘perfection’ is associated?
that God is immutable
Why are there problems with petitionary prayer if God is atemporal?
- Is there any point in praying if God already knows what he will do and the future is fixed?
- God cannot be affected by people
Name an issue with God as sempiternal?
- God is limited, there are unforeseen circumstances.
- Knowledge and power are limited.
- We can conceive of a more perfect being
Why does Augustine think it is nonsensical to think of God as eternal?
Raises questions about what God was doing ‘before’ he created the world, and/or why did he pick that moment?
How did Aquinas argue God could be immutable and still love?
- God is different.
- God’s nature is unchanging, but his creation changes, so this allows for the dynamic relationship
What conflicts did Boethius see with God’s omniscience?
Whether it was right for God to praise or blame people if they did not have moral freedom, and if they were constrained by what God knew
How did Boethius picture God’s experience of time?
Moves along our timelines, ‘as though from a lofty peak above’
What issue does Swinburne find when considering the links between time and love?
The ability to respond is essential for love, so God has to be within time to respond and therefore love
How did Jurgen Moltmann show that God understands suffering, and is not outside time or is immutable?
- Christ came to earth and suffered.
- Involved in the pains of human existence (crucified God)
Who believes calling God a ‘mystery’ is just lazy?
Richard Dawkins
How can it be argued that Anselm and Boethius do not solve the problem of God’s omniscience and free will?
- No beforehand for God, but still beforehand for us.
- The future is still fixed if God knows what it will be.
- God himself is not free
How does Swinburne deal with the issue of human free will and omniscience?
- Future unclear for God, not fixed.
- God is omniscient in the sense of knowing everything can be known - but the future is not known
Who believed that theistic belief ‘die a death of a thousand qualifications when challenged’?
Flew
Aquinas on Omnipotence
- God can do anything that is logically possible.
- The squared circle question is nonsense because the concept of a squared circle makes no sense
Descartes on Omnipotence
- God can do absolutely anything (logical and impossible)
- God is a ‘supremely perfect being’
- God’s existence is prior to the laws of logic, so God is not bound by them
Vardy and Macquarrie on Omnipotence
- Both thought that God created the universe but limited his power to interfere
- Macquarrie refers to the idea of ‘kenosis’ which means ‘self-emptying’, to explain how God empties his powers to allow humans greater free will
- Self-imposed limitation done out of his love for the world
Hartshorne on Omnipotence
- Better to describe God as ‘unsurpassably great’ rather than totally powerful
- Argues that absolute omnipotence as described by Descartes would not be a perfect quality
- If nothing could put up resistance to God it would be like winning a competition with no competitors
Strengths of Aquinas on Omnipotence
It makes no sense to accuse God of being less than omnipotent because he can’t do the logically impossible
Weaknesses of Aquinas on Omnipotence
- Can conceive a greater being than one that can only do the logically possible; one that can do the logically impossible
- It doesn’t match up with Anselm’s definition of God
Strengths of Descartes on Omnipotence
- This theory might protect God’s omnipotence the best
- This theory coincides with Anselm’s definition of God, which was ‘a being that which nothing greater can be conceived’
Strengths of Vardy and Maquarrie on Omnipotence
- Theory fits in with the idea of incarnation of God in the form of Jesus.
- God became flesh out of love for his creation
Weaknesses of Descartes on Omnipotence
- This approach might lead people to think God is random and tyrannical
- If God can do absolutely anything he can allow us free will
