1 nature of god Flashcards
(18 cards)
Hosea
- Hosea’s marriage to unfaithful Gomer symbolizes God’s covenant with idolatrous Israel.
- Gomer’s infidelity mirrors Israel’s sin; Hosea’s faithfulness reflects God’s omnibenevolent love.
- Hosea redeems Gomer, paralleling God’s redemptive, forgiving love for undeserving Israel.
- God’s omnibenevolence involves mercy and justice: punishment (exile) aims for restoration.
- Hosea’s suffering shows the cost of divine love, enduring pain yet seeking Israel’s good.
Psalm 62:12
“and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”
Psalm 63:3
“because you love is better than life”
how is god’s love expressed (suffering )
through judgement and forgiveness; his punishment of sin is because of his love
Amos 3:2
“you only have i chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins”
= god’s love of israel etc is the reason he imparts suffering
agape general yap
Love is equated with god, god is not just the prime example of a loving being, God is the source of love
demonstrated by his love in becoming incarnate and letting people see him despite suffering
challenge to god’s omnibenevolence (PoE)
Hume and JS Mill highlight the contradiction as both natural and man-made evil still exists. even the innocent are made to suffer. reference Rowe
aquinas on love
we need to remember when speaking about the love of god, we are using analogy
talking of a love that is somewhat like ours but infinitely greater. we only understand a small proportion === we don’t know why he acts in this way but have faith its out of love
Moltmann on omnibenevolence
The Crucified God, he is a process theologian
- god does not sit outside of time being perfect and immutable. he is involved with us and shares the pains of human existence to the extent of suffering death (incarnation)
problems with god’s omnibenevolence - god of the old testament
- plagues
-slow deaht of child of David and Bathsheba - Saul and the Amalekites, commanded to crush, kill, destroy
- Jephthah and human sacrifice
BUT God’s punishment is deserved and constitutes righteous indignation. god sent prophets to warn those of punishment for disobedience
problems with god’s omnibenevolence - Evil
- natural and moral evil = inconsistent triad
- Ninian Smart’s “utopian thesis” = if god could do the logically impossible (Descartes) then he could have created humankind to have free will but to always choose good.
BUT
Hick “automaton” argument and Vardy’s King and the peasant girl analogy
and for those eg swinburne, doing the logically impossible isn’t even a thing.
problems with god’s omnibenevolence - hell
eternal punishment is retributive not restorative or reformative.
BUT
Phillip Edgecumbe Hughes argues that hell is not a place of eternal torture but a state of non-existence (and distance from god -Aquinas). salvation grants us conditional immortality alongside god
CD Lewis “the gates of hell are locked from the inside.” we have chosen our fate, not god
problems with god’s omnibenevolence - an atemporal god
theologians eg anselm and aquinas argue a wholly simple, perfect god exists atemporally. if god exists in this way, how can he form a loving, close relationship with us.
BUT
Aquinas’ “wholly simple” god is more aristotelian than christian.
Swinburne rejects an atemporal god, as supported by actions such as King Hezekiah praying to god and getting years added onto his life.
problems with god’s omnibenevolence - miracles
why does god help some and not others eg water to wine at cana but not hiroshima
Maurice Wiles recognises this and argues the only miracle is creation. he rejects an interventionist god as not worthy of worship so he therefore rejects miracles
Genesis 1:3 (omnipotence)
creation of the world was ex nihilo
“the world was formless and empty”
Amos 5:8 (omnipotence)
“the one who made pleiades and orion”
Matthew 19:23 (omnipotence)
“for all things are possible with god”
John 11:1 (omnipotence)
jesus resurrects lazarus
Luke 24 (omnipotence)
the resurrection
