1.7 - The nature or attributes of God

Question 1

Descartes on omnipotence

Answer 1

-god can do absolutely anything even that which is logically impossible
-the source of logic, has the power to suspend/replace logic whenever
-laws of maths only exist the way they do coz god created them
-god is capable of doing evil and not capable at the same time, we can’t see this as we are limited by human understanding

Question 2

Criticisms of descartes view

Answer 2

-god can do anything but logical contradictions are not things
-not a lack of power/knowledge that stops it, they’re just nonsense
-god becomes a tyrant, capable of doing evil and turning on us
-humans cant rely on/understand god, a relationship with him is impossible

Question 3

Problems for theodicy with descartes view

Answer 3

-theodicies put forward by christian thinkers suggest god cant act in any other way without depriving us of free will
-we must suffer in order for us to make free choices
-if god can suspend the laws of logic then the existence of evil becomes something god is able to change, this makes god not perfectly loving

Question 4

Aquinas’ views on omnipotence

Answer 4

-god ‘can do everything that is absolutely possible’
-if something isnt logically possible it can’t be done even by god
-god can’t do anything that is inconsistent with his nature as this is also a contradiction, he is good so can’t do evil

Question 5

Swinburne’s view on omnipotence

Answer 5

-god can do everything but ‘everything’ must be understood properly
-contradictory definitions are not ‘things’ so he cant do them
-this doesnt challenge gods omnipotence

Question 6

Vardy’s views on omnipotence

Answer 6

-god created the universe in a way that he is necessarily limited
-if god acted differently the universe would not work as it does
-the universe is perfectly suited to free, rational beings
-he is still omnipotent as he limits his power himself

Question 7

Macquarrie on limitations on omnipotence

Answer 7

-limitations on gods omnipotence are all self imposed
-he is not constrained by logic, the physical world or humans

Question 8

Aquinas on omnipotence and religious language

Answer 8

-there will always be aspects of gods nature that we cant know
-for us to not fully understand gods omnipotence is expected
-when we think of power we think of human power which is different to gods power

Question 9

Hartshorne on omnipotence

Answer 9

-total power means nothing can put up any resistance to it
-omnipotence means having total influence and effect, control over everything and nothing could do anything without gods allowance
-through free will beings are able to resist god meaning his power isnt total but its stronger than anyone else

Question 10

What is omniscience

Answer 10

-god knows things that are unavailable to the human mind
-linked closely with the idea of wisdom
-god always knows the right thing to do, when to intervene, whats moral

Question 11

Religions belief on free will/omniscience

Answer 11

-the belief that humans are morally responsible for some of their actions
-god doesnt compel people to choose, it is left to them to decide
-islam stresses life is a testing place where people choose right/wrong
-in christianity people are judged by god on moral decisions

Question 12

Schleiermacher on free will/omniscience

Answer 12

-just because god has knowledge of our actions it doesnt mean we aren’t free to make choices, we would choose the same thing no matter what

Question 13

Problems with Schleiermachers view

Answer 13

-gods knowledge is infallible, nothing he knows can end up false
-god knows the future rather than predicting it, means no real free will
-this means we cannot be held responsible for our moral choices

Question 14

Problems with god creating us

Answer 14

-if god created every individual life and knew the future then he must have known the choices everyone will make, removing free will
-he can be held responsible for all evil that is done
-if god didnt know how we would turn out then it reduces his power

Question 15

The view that god is eternal

Answer 15

-he is outside time and not bound by it
-god is the creator of time
-held by augustine, aquinas, anselm, boethius, schleiermacher

Question 16

The view that god is everlasting

Answer 16

-god moves along our timeline but never begins or ends
-the past is the past for god aswell as us
-the future is unknown to both us and god

Question 17

criticisms of the everlasting view

Answer 17

-if god was bound by time he would be much more limited, he would have to wait and see how events turn out before making a decision
-his qualities would be reduced to hardly all knowing/powerful
-doesn’t meet anselm’s view of ‘a being that than which nothing greater can be conceived’

Question 18

criticisms of the eternal view

Answer 18

-limits free will, god already knows how things will play out
-difficult to reconcile the idea of a loving god with one who knows of natural disasters, terrorism, diseases and doesnt stop them

Question 19

Augustine on god in time

Answer 19

-god made the world at a point in time so what was he doing all the time beforehand, why did he create the universe when he did
-the biblical account of creation points towards an eternal god

Question 20

Aquinas on gods nature

Answer 20

-gods nature is always perfect, loving, unchanging
-his will is always the same because he knows what goodness is
-unchanging nature doesnt prevent him from having relationships
-people change, god remains the same, always a chance of a relationship

Question 21

Boethius on gods omniscience

Answer 21

-if god knows the future he is wrong to reward/punish us for behaviour
-if god knows something will happen but its uncertain then he is mistaken
-if god knows something may happen then its not knowledge
-if god knows something for sure then it becomes inevitable

Question 22

Boethius on gods view of humanity

Answer 22

-humans have pasts which are fixed and uncertain futures
-god does not have a past present or future
-he looks down upon us ‘as though from a lofty peak above them’
-he has perfect knowledge of our past present and futures

Question 23

Anselm’s four dimensional view

Answer 23

-humans live in the present, god lives in a four dimensional world where the past and future exist in the same way as humans present
-time becomes the fourth dimension
-god is eternal and can exist in any place at any time

Question 24

Swinburnes view on god in time

Answer 24

-a person has to be changeable in order to have relationships, a timeless god cannot love as he is not affected by anything
-god must exist within time in order to respond to us with love
-god doesnt have fixed purposes for all eternity, he interacts with people and changes his decisions based on his relationships with individuals