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Yr 13 - Religious Studies > The Nature or Attributes of God > Flashcards

The Nature or Attributes of God Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
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1
Q

Omnipotent

A

all-powerful

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2
Q

Omniscient

A

all-knowing

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3
Q

Omnibenevolent

A

all-loving and all-good

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4
Q

Eternal

A

timeless, atemporal, being outside the constraints of time

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5
Q

Everlasting

A

sempiternal, lasting forever on the same timeline as humanity

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6
Q

Free Will

A

the ability to make independent choices between real options

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7
Q

Existentialism

A

a way of thinking that emphasises personal freedom of choice

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8
Q

Immutable

A

incapable of changing or being affected

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9
Q

What is the Omnipotence Paradox?

A

the notion of total power is a total contradiction. Logically impossible, e.g. ‘Can God create a stone so heavy you can’t lift?’

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10
Q

Quote to support the idea that God has the power to want something into existence

A

‘Let there be light’ (Genesis 1:3)

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11
Q

Define Descartes position on omnipotence

A

God can do anything, including what is logically impossible

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12
Q

What, according to Aquinas, can God do?

A

‘Everything that does not imply a contradiction’

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13
Q

How does God’s omniscience clash with free will and human moral responsibility?

A

If God has infallible knowledge of the future, our actions are pre-determined. Therefore, we are not free.

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14
Q

How does Schleiemacher understand God’s omniscience?

A

Analogous to knowledge of intimate people - knowledge of what someone will do, does not effect ability to decide

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15
Q

If God is atemporal, what other ‘perfection’ is associated?

A

that God is immutable

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16
Q

Why are there problems with petitionary prayer if God is atemporal?

A
  • 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
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17
Q

Name an issue with God as sempiternal?

A
  • God is limited, there are unforeseen circumstances.
  • Knowledge and power are limited.
  • We can conceive of a more perfect being
18
Q

Why does Augustine think it is nonsensical to think of God as eternal?

A

Raises questions about what God was doing ‘before’ he created the world, and/or why did he pick that moment?

19
Q

How did Aquinas argue God could be immutable and still love?

A
  • God is different.
  • God’s nature is unchanging, but his creation changes, so this allows for the dynamic relationship
20
Q

What conflicts did Boethius see with God’s omniscience?

A

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

21
Q

How did Boethius picture God’s experience of time?

A

Moves along our timelines, ‘as though from a lofty peak above’

22
Q

What issue does Swinburne find when considering the links between time and love?

A

The ability to respond is essential for love, so God has to be within time to respond and therefore love

23
Q

How did Jurgen Moltmann show that God understands suffering, and is not outside time or is immutable?

A
  • Christ came to earth and suffered.
  • Involved in the pains of human existence (crucified God)
24
Q

Who believes calling God a ‘mystery’ is just lazy?

A

Richard Dawkins

25
Q

How can it be argued that Anselm and Boethius do not solve the problem of God’s omniscience and free will?

A
  • 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
26
Q

How does Swinburne deal with the issue of human free will and omniscience?

A
  • Future unclear for God, not fixed.
  • God is omniscient in the sense of knowing everything can be known - but the future is not known
27
Q

Who believed that theistic belief ‘die a death of a thousand qualifications when challenged’?

A

Flew

28
Q

Aquinas on Omnipotence

A
  • God can do anything that is logically possible.
  • The squared circle question is nonsense because the concept of a squared circle makes no sense
29
Q

Descartes on Omnipotence

A
  • 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
30
Q

Vardy and Macquarrie on Omnipotence

A
  • 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
31
Q

Hartshorne on Omnipotence

A
  • 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
32
Q

Strengths of Aquinas on Omnipotence

A

It makes no sense to accuse God of being less than omnipotent because he can’t do the logically impossible

32
Q

Weaknesses of Aquinas on Omnipotence

A
  • 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
32
Q

Strengths of Descartes on Omnipotence

A
  • 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’
32
Q

Strengths of Vardy and Maquarrie on Omnipotence

A
  • Theory fits in with the idea of incarnation of God in the form of Jesus.
  • God became flesh out of love for his creation
32
Q

Weaknesses of Descartes on Omnipotence

A
  • This approach might lead people to think God is random and tyrannical
  • If God can do absolutely anything he can allow us free will
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Yr 13 - Religious Studies (5 decks)

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