Attributes of God Flashcards
1
Q
What are the traditional characteristics of God from classical theism?
A
omnipotence Omniscience Eternity Simplicity Omni-Benevolence
2
Q
What view does Descartes put forward on God’s omnipotence?
A
God can do anything even the logically impossible . In this view God is not limited by the laws of logic as he created those laws and could abolish them if he wished to do so.
3
Q
How does Descartes reach this idea of God’s omnipotence?
A
In his ontological argument he says that God has all perfections (including perfect power). When Descartes explored what it meant for God to be perfectly powerful he therefore cam to the conclusion that God can do absolutely everything, including the logically impossible.
4
Q
Why does Aquinas disagree with Descartes view of God’s omnipotence?
A
Aquinas argued that logically impossible actions, such as 2+2=5, are not actions at all. They are not ‘proper things’ that one can or cannot do.
5
Q
Why did CS Lewis disagree with Descartes view of God’s omnipotence?
A
He agreed with Aquinas, observing that “meaningless combinations of words do not suddenly acquire a meaning because we prefix to them two other words: ‘God can’ (The problem of evil)
6
Q
Why did Vardy disagree with Descartes view of God’s omnipotence?
A
He argued that logic and the laws of contradiction mark the limits of what it makes sense to say. For example, it is meaningless to talk of square circles.
7
Q
Why do many argue that God’s omnipotence means he can do anything, even the logically impossible?
A
Many argue that it is incorrect to suggest that God can sin, lie or engage in immoral behaviour (conflicts with his Omni benevolence.)
8
Q
Why does Vardy claim that the idea that God’s omnipotence means he can do anything, even the logically impossible conflicts with his Omni benevolence?
A
“The view that God could do the logically impossible is incoherent and, if it were true, would show that God would not be worth worshipping. Such a God could lie and deceive, God could swear to reward the virtuous and then condemn them to everlasting torment.’
9
Q
Where does the Bible contradict the idea that God’s omnipotence allows him to do anything, even the logically impossible?
A
Hebrews 6:18 states that it is impossible for God to lie. There are those two things, then, that cannot change, and about which God cannot lie.”
10
Q
Why does Descartes view on God’s omnipotence create problems for theodicy?
A
If Descartes is correct and God is capable of suspending the laws of logic to allow us to have free will without the consequent evil, then the existence of evil in the world becomes something that God could change if he wanted, but he just chooses to inflict on us even though there is no justification for it.
11
Q
What is a theodicy?
A
An attempt to justify God’s existence in the face of evil.
12
Q
What do the theodicies which have been put forward by Christian thinkers suggest?
A
That God could not act in any other way than the way he does, without depriving us of free will. Suffering is the price we pay to make free choices and be autonomous moral agents.
13
Q
What did Thomas Aquinas say God is completely omnipotent in?
A
Being in charge of the whole world, creating it and keeping it in existence.
14
Q
What does Thomas Aquinas say God’s omnipotence means?
A
God is omnipotent because he can do everything that is absolutely possible”; qualified by saying that “everything that does not imply a contradiction is among those possibilities in respect of which God is called omnipotent.” Therefore, God can do anything which is not inconsistent with his nature.
15
Q
What are the two main view on God’s omnipotence?
A
- God can do anything, even the logically impossible
2. God can do anything that is logically possible for a perfect God to do.
16
Q
What does Richard Swinburne claim omnipotence means?
A
“Omnipotence denotes ‘an ability to bring about any (logically possible) state of affairs’. Therefore, he argues this excludes both logical contradictions and that which God could not do without contradicting God’s own nature as God, e.g. to make a thing equal to himself.
17
Q
Why does Richard Swinburne argue against the idea that God’s omnipotence allows him to do the logically impossible?
A
“A logically impossible action is not an action…it is no objection to A’s omnipotence that he cannot make a square circle.”
18
Q
Why does Anthony Kenny agree with defining God’s omnipotence as God can do anything that is logically possible for a perfect God to do?
A
In view of God’s goodness, and the fact that he is not a being that possesses a body, it seems that this definition may be more appropriate.
19
Q
How does Anthony Kenny define God’s omnipotence?
A
“A narrower omnipotence, consisting in the possession of all logically possible powers which it is logically possible for a being with the attributes of God to have. “ (The God of Philosophers)
20
Q
What does Alvin Plantinga say about God’s omnipotence?
A
He argued that an omnipotent being may not have omnipotence as a necessary quality. He may choose to limit his powers in certain circumstances in order to preserve human free will.
21
Q
Why does Peter Vardy say that God’s omnipotence is necessarily limited?
A
To suit the existence of free, rational beings. This limitation is self-imposed as this is how he chose to create the universe.
22
Q
What quote did Vardy give about God limiting his own omnipotence?
A
“God is limited by the universe he chose to create. This limitation does not however lessen God in any significant way. It is rather a recognition of God’s wish to create a universe in which human beings can be brought into a loving relationship with him. “ (Puzzle of evil)
23
Q
What does John Macquarrie say about God’s omnipotence?
A
Like Vardy and Aquinas before him, Macquarrie also emphasises that any limits on God’s omnipotence are self-imposed. God chooses to limit his power out of love for humanity.
24
Q
What is the problem with the idea that God’s omnipotence means that God can do anything that is logically possible for a perfect God to do?
A
One cannot say that God can do everything that is logically possible, nor can one say that God can do everything that is possible for God to do while at the same time maintaining his omnipotence. To make a claim of omnipotence assumes God may do everything, yet to go on to clarify this definition of omnipotence removes such an attribute- a clarification creates a sense of semi-omnipotence, a contradiction in itself.
25
What are the two ways that you can view God as eternal?
1. Timeless
| 2. Everlasting
26
What is the view of God as eternal and timeless?
The belief that God stands outside of time and that all time is equally present to him in an 'eternal present.' All of time is immediately visible and are 'now' as far as God is concerned.
27
What quote does St. Augustine have on God as eternal and timeless?
"Thy years neither come nor go; whereas ours both come and go."
28
How did St Augustine view God as eternal?
He argued that God was outside of time- he is atemporal. Whilst we experience time in a linear dimension- the only real experience we have of time is the present, as the past is a memory and the future is an expectation. God, on the other hand is the creator of time and can see all of things in one go (non-linear)
29
What does Boethius say about God as eternal?
He argues that God takes in the past, present and future in a single glance, including our free choices. God simply sees things as present things which for us are in the future (therefore it is not foreknowledge). God knows but does not cause.
30
What does Anselm say about God as eternal?
Anselm argument for God is that he is the greatest thing that could exist, and has all the greatest-making properties (including existence.) Anselm believed that timelessness is among the great-marking or perfection-making properties of God.
31
What analogy did Aquinas write to explain how God can be timeless and humans can still have free will?
"He who goes along the road does not see those who come after him; whereas he who sees the whole road from a height sees all at once those travelling on it."
32
What does Aquinas analogy about God as eternal mean?
The person who travels along the road is only able to see it from their own particular viewpoint, whereas God is situated above the road and can see where the person has been, where we are, and where we are going. The traveller makes free choices, but God only sees those choices he does not cause them.
33
What is the strength of God as eternal and timeless in terms of him not being limited?
If God were bound by time, then he would be much more limited. He would not the outcome of his actions, and his plans might be disrupted by unforeseen circumstances. However, in this view time is something created by God rather than something to which God is subject.
34
What is the strength of God as eternal and timeless in terms of him being immutable?
If God is timeless, it is easier to affirm the traditional belief in the immutability of God. If God is in time, then God may be subject to change. Some philosophers and theologians believe that immutability is a necessary attribute of God.
35
What are the challenges against God as eternal and timeless in terms of scripture?
The idea of time not applying to God seems to contradict the plain reading of scripture. The Bible speaks of God promising and remembering, suggesting he has a past, present and future. Also the doctrine of incarnation provides a strong objection to divine timelessness.
36
What are the arguments for God as eternal and timeless despite scripture?
Supporters of this view that God is timeless argue we ought to understand these texts metaphorically or analogically.
37
What are the challenges of God as eternal and timeless in terms of religious language?
If God is outside of time, he is beyond our understanding. We can only talk about Good using analogy, myth, symbols or the via negative and even then, perhaps we can have no actual understanding of what it is we are talking about.
38
What are the challenges of God as eternal and timeless with the idea of a God actively involved in the world?
God would seem too far logically removed to be active in the world, but then how could we account for the answering of prayers and miracles or even religious experience if God is not actively involved in the world?
39
What does Boethius present in The Consolations of Philosophy?
The difficulty of eternity and foreknowledge and the conflict with human free will as a dialogue between himself and Lady Philosophy. "There seems to be a hopeless conflict between divine foreknowledge of all things and human free will"
40
What does Boethius observe that a omniscient God is a challenge to free will?
He observes that what the omniscient God foresees in the future must happen. Whether it happens because he sees it or he sees it because it will happen is irrelevant. God may not directly cause our actions but, in seeeing them, they become necessary and we cannot do otherwise.
41
What problems does God's omniscient and foreknowledge cause according to Boethius?
1. It is pointless or unjust to reward the good and punish the wicked, as all actions are predestined to happen.
2. If evil events are foreseen but no prevented, does this not make God responsible? (problem of evil)
3. There seems little point to prayer as the outcome will not change.
42
What solution did Boethius put forward to an omniscient God conflicting with human free will?
In the Consolation of Philosophy, Lady Philosophy states that God's foreknowledge is not the cause of future events happening. It is the free will of human beings that causes these things. God surveys the whole of time in the eternal present. All of what we call time (past, present, future) is 'now' to God. Boethius understood the word 'eternal' to mean timeless, rather than everlasting. He argued that if God is eternal, he cannot be subject to time; to be eternal is to be outside of past, present and future. Therefore, this divine foreknowledge does not change the nature of properties of things, it simply sees things present before they will later turn out to be in what we regard as the future "He sees all things in his eternal present as you see some things in your temporal present."
43
How is Boethius influenced by Plato's views? (quote)
"we should follow Plato in saying that God is indeed eternal but the world is perpetual. The world is subject to change, motion and time but God is completely different in all respects. "
44
What are the problems raised by God's omniscience?
1. Does God truly have knowledge?
2. Free will?
3. If future events are set, that are all actions contingent present events?
45
What is meant by the problem of whether God can truly have knowledge if he is omniscient?
If God is simply, than He cannot gain new knowledge from experience, he just has knowledge. But, if God cannot learn from experience is it meaningful to talk about God having knowledge as he gain knowledge through our experiences?
46
Why does Thomas Aquinas suggest that it is meaningful to talk about an omniscient God having knowledge?
He says that God does have knowledge, because knowledge is not physical, even though we gain knowledge through our bodies. Therefore, if knowledge is non-physical it means a God who is immaterial can still have knowledge.
47
What does Thomas Aquinas suggest about God's knowledge?
He goes on to the say that what God knows is 'self-knowledge', and as he is the creator, he knows by self-knowledge what he creates and thus God knows about creation. In this view his knowledge is not like human knowledge gained through the senses.
48
Why does God's omniscience cause problems for human free will?
If God is eternal and timeless, then he takes in all of history at a "single glance" (Boethius), so he knows the decision i will make before I have made it. As God is omniscient and his knowledge is prefect, whatever he foreknows will happen and has to happen and cannot be any different. This undermines claims that human beings have free will.
49
How does John Locke define free will?
As the ability to do other in a situation. The ability to choose a different path.
50
What does Richard Sorabji say about God's omniscience and free will? (quote)
"If God's infallible knowledge of our doing exists in advance, than we are too late so to act that God will have had a different judgement"
51
What is meant by the problem that if God is onmiscient and future events are set, are all actions contingent present events?
If God has knowledge of future actions of human beings it would suggest that future events that we make are contingent on present events and choices are actually necessary. If the future is necessary there "is no free choice as the future has already been set."
52
What is the traditional definition of God of classical theism?
Simplicity, Omni-benevolence, Eternity, Omniscience, Omnipotence
53
What does it mean if you view God's eternity as him being timeless?
It is the belief that God stands outside to time and that all time is equally present to him. Although everything that we experience as human beings occurs in time, this is not necessarily the case with God. God is outside of time and sees all events in an 'eternal present'.
54
What does St Augustine say about God's eternity meaning he is timeless? (quote)
"Thy years neither come nor go; whereas ours both come and go."
55
What did Augustine argue about the definition of God as eternal?
(That he is timeless)argued that God was outside time- he is atemporal. We experience time in a linear dimension- the only real experience we have of time is the present moment. The past is a memory and the future is an expectation. God, on the other hand is the creator of time and can see all of time in one go. His experience of time is non-linear.
56
What did Boethius argue about the definition of God as eternal?
(That he is timeless). He argued that God takes in the past, present and future in a single glance, including our free choices. He has no foreknowledge, but simply sees things as present things which for us are in the future. God therefore knows but does not cause.
57
Why did Anselm argue that God as eternal meant he was timeless?
He believed that timelessness is among the greatest-making or perfection-making properties of God. In his ontological argument, God is "that than which nothing greater can be conceived", and processes all the greatest-making properties. That he exists in reality is greater than that which exists in thought, therefore he exists. But timelessness is also a greatest-making qualitiy, so he must be timeless.
58
What did Aquinas say about God as eternal meaning he is timeless? (quote)
"He who goes along the road does not see those who come after him; whereas he who sees the whole road from a height sees all at once those travelling on it."
59
What example did Aquinas give to argue that God as eternal means timeless and doesn't affect free will?
He built on the ideas of both Augustine and Boethius. He compared it to the person who travels along the road, who is only able to see it from their own particular viewpoint. However, God is situated above the road and can see where the person has been, where they are, and where they are going. The traveller makes free choices, but God only sees those choices, he does not cause them.
60
What are the strenghts of viewing God as timeless? .
1. It shows that God is not limited y time, as instead it is something created by God rather than something to which He is subject to.
2. If he were subject to time, he would not know what the outcomes of his actions might be; there might be times where God's plans were disrupted because of unforeseen circumstances.
3. If God is timeless it is easier to affirm the traditional belief in the immutability of God, which some have argued is a necessary attribute of God.
4. If God is in time, the he may be subject to change.
61
What is meant by God has simplicity?
He does not consist of parts, he is unchanging or immutable.
62
What is the problem of viewing God as timeless in view of scripture?
The idea of time not applying to God seems to contradict the plain reading of scripture. The Bible speaks for God promising and remembering. However, supporters of the view God is timeless argue that we ought to understand these texts metaphorically or analogically.
63
What is the problem of viewing God as timeless in relation to religious language?
If God is outside time, he is beyond our understanding. We can only talk about God using analogy, myth, symbols or the via negativa. Even then, perhaps we can have no actual understanding of what it is we are talking about.
64
What is the problem of viewing God as timeless in relation to religious experience?
THe idea of God being personal and active within the world is harder to fit with a timeless God- God would seem to far logically removed. How could we then account for the answering of prayers, and miracles or religious experiences? Moreover, the doctrin of incarnation provides a strong objection to divine timelessness.
65
What does it mean if we say that God is omniscient?
Most people understand it to mean that God knows everything; there is nothing that he cannot know. Moreover, God has no false beliefs and cannot be mistaken. God's knowledge would therefore include things which are unavailable to the human mind.
66
What are the questions raised with saying that God is omniscient?
1. If God knows everything does this include events in the future as well as those in the past?
2. Does God know in advance all moral decisions that people will make in their life?
3. If God knows all future events are they in fact predetermined?
4. If God is omniscient did humans actually have free will?
67
What possible solution did Friedrich Schleiermacher give to the problem of whether God's omniscience restricts our freedom?
He drew the analogy of the knowledge that close friends have of each other's behaviour, to conclude that God could be omniscient while still allowing people toa ct freely: "In the same way, we estimate the intimacy between two persons by the foreknowledge one has of the actions of the other, without supposing that in either case, the one or the other's freedom is thereby endangered. So even the divine foreknowledge cannot endanger freedom." He claims that God's knowledge of our actions is rather like the knowledge very close friends have of each other's future behaviour.
68
What is the problem with Friedrich Schleiermacher's solution to the problem of whether God's omniscience restricts our freedom?
The knowledge friends have of each other is a reliable guess, whilst God knowledge is said to be infallible. So God cannot be wrong, whereas friends can. So, does that make our actions inevitable? Is freedom to choose only apparent?
69
What does Kant claim cannot happen without freedom?
He argued that without freedom, there can be no moral choices.
70
How might God's omniscience affect our sense of moral responsibility?
If freedom to act morally were only apparent, we would not be able to be held morally responsible for our actions when we could not have behaved in any other way. So, if God's omniscience determines our choices, then God cannot justifiably punish us when we do wrong, nor reward us when we are good.
71
How could God's omniscience potentially make God responsible for evil?
If God not only knows the future with certainty, but knew when he made us exactly what we would choose at every point of our lives, perhaps God can be held responsible for all kinds of evil, including so-called moral evil. Moreover, God might know in advance each person's religious choices; perhaps God knows, before we are born whether we will end up in heaven or hell, so that there is nothing we can do about it. However, if he did not know what we would do, it would suggest that God can be surprised, or make choices which turn out to be unwise, and that his capabilities are limited.
72
How would God being timeless affect his omniscience?
If God is timeless, and can see the whole picture, then his omniscience is eternal. He knows the present, past and the future because he is not confined by these temporal limits.
73
How would God being everlasting affect his omniscience?
If God is everlasting, and moves on the same timeline that we do, then he knows the past and present, but cannot know the future, except that he understands us so perfectly and knows our conditioning so well, and knows all that contributory factors to our decision making, so that he will know what we will choose to do so far as is logically possible, but our choice remains free.
74
Why was Boethius worried about the problem of God's omniscience?
Because it seemed on the surface that if God knows the future, then he is wrong to reward us or punish us for our behaviour; and yet the Bible does teach about divine reward and punishment very clearly.
75
What different possibilities to the problem of God's omniscience does Boethius consider in The Consolation of Philosophy?
How can God foreknow that these things will happen, if they are uncertain? If God knows something will happen, when in fact it is uncertain, then God's knowledge is mistaken, and that cannot possibly be. However, if God knows that something might happen, and that it might not, then it can hardly be called 'knowledge' at all, and it puts God in the position of being no wiser than we are. But if God firmly knows things, then they become inevitable. So reward and punishment become unfair.
76
What does Boethius say about reward and punishment in relation to God's omniscience? (quote)
"That which is now judged most equitable, the punishment of the wicked and the reward of the good, will be seen to be the most unjust of all; for men are driven to good or evil not by their own free will but by the fixed necessity of what is to be."
77
What conclusion does Boethius reach about the problem of God's omniscience?
He reaches the conclusion that he had made a mistake- he is forgetting that God can see things in a different way from the way in which we see them. Humans exist within time. They have pasts which are fixed once they have happened, they have a present which is gone in an instant, and future which are uncertain. Because the future is uncertain, humans have genuine free will. However, God does not have the same constraints. He does not have a past, present and future; all events occur simultaneously for GOd, in his eternal present. So he has perfect knowledge of what we will freely choose. He does not know our moral choices in advance, because there is no such thing as ' in advance' for God.
78
What does Beothius say about God's omniscience? (quote)
"His knowledge, too, transcends all temporal change and abides in the immediacy of his presence." God can look down on us, moving along our timeless "as though from a lofty peak above them."
79
How does Beothius conclusion about God's omniscience help to resolve the problem of evil?
As God does not know things in advance of them happening, it makes no sense to talk of what God should have known in the past or what God will know in the future. God does not know what we will do in the future, because there is no future for God, so we have genuine free choice and can therefore be rewarded or punished justly.
80
What does Pannenberg say about human knowledge compared to God's knowledge? (quote)
"Our experience of awareness and knowledge...can give us only a feeble hint of what is meant when we speak of God's knowledge."
81
What is a serious problem with ascribing omniscience to God in relation to human knowledge?
From the necessary difference of kind and degree between 'knowledge' as ascribed to God and human knowledge. TO speak of knowledge of everything is totally beyond analogy with human experience. Moreover, another problem arises from whether 'knowledge' necessarily affects the agent or one who knows.
82
What does Boethius say about the possibility of God having foreknowledge? (quote)
If God has foreknowledge, which can't possibly be wrong, then "there is no freedom...the divine mind, foreseeing without error, binds..to actual occurrence." Lady philosophy replies "foreknowledge is not the cause of any necessity for future events."
83
What does Boethius say foreknowledge might better be called?
Providence
84
What does Thomas Aquinas say about God's knowledge? (quote)
"God has knowledge" and has it "in the perfect way"
85
Why does Aquinas argue that there is free will alongside an omniscient God?
Aquinas also argues that what God knows in eternity is known not in temporal terms as past, or future, but in terms of the wholeness of eternity.
86
What does Swinburne say about omnipotence? (quote)
Omnipotence denotes "not...the ability to do anything, but (roughly)...the ability to do anything logically possible."
87
What does Swinburne say about omnisceince? (quote)
He notes omniscience "not as knowledge of everything true but (very roughly) as knowledge of everything true which it is logically possible to know"
88
What does Swinburne argue about God's omniscience in relation to free will?
He sees omniscience as knowledge of everything true which it is logically possible to know, which in practice, includes all those future events that are predictable by exact physical or causal necessity or by divine decree or promise, but not those events concerning which God chooses to permit created agents to make free choices of will. Swinburne argues, that God may will to preserve room to make free choices of God's own, which will lie outside the limits of divine omniscience. God chooses to leave room for God's own changes of plan. Moreover, he often makes conditional promises, which there would be no need for if God already knew how men would act.
89
What does Keith ward say about omniscience? (quote)
"An omniscient being, if it is temporal, can know for certain whatever in the future it determines...but not absolutely everything. If this is a limit on omniscience, it is logically unavailable for any temporal being."
90
What does Paul Helm say about omniscience? (quote)
"Only timeless eternity prevents the degeneracy of divine omniscience and divine immutability into the idea of a God who changes with the changing world and who is surprised by what he discovered...divine timeless eternity does not commit one to logical determinism,"
91
What does Luis de Molina argue about God's omniscience in relation to middle knowledge?
Molina postulated that divine omniscience included within its scope knowledge of how contingent created beings would respond under different circumstances. God knows what human persons will freely choose to do. If God knows how a person would freely act through God's 'middle knowledge', God may create such a person with a range of choices or options in place, and yet also have knowledge of future events would would (both necessarily and conditionally) occur.
92
What is the problem with the omniscience of God in terms of how knowledge is obtained?
Some argue that God is restricted in terms of lack of sensory experiences. As human beings we gain knowledge through our senses. If God does not have a body with senses such as ours, can God have knowledge of tastes, smells and sounds?
93
How can we respond to the problem with the omniscience of God in terms of how knowledge is obtained?
One response is to separate knowledge from sensation. To taste or smell something is not knowledge, it is merely a pleasant or unpleasant sensation. God knows all that we know, and more, about experiences but does not have the accompanying sensation of pleasure of pain.
94
What is middle knowledge?
This consists of knowledge of what would happen if certain choices were made or if certain things happened differently. This would involve a whole range of scenarios, involving not just you but everyone.
95
What does Luis de Molina claim about God's 'middle knowledge'?
That through God's 'middle knowledge' God knows what human beings would freely choose to do under different circumstances
96
What is the problem with God's omniscience and middle knowledge?
The issue is whether there is such a thing as middle knowledge for God. Are the thousands of 'what ifs' in our life genuine facts or not? Some may question whether this is really knowledge at all.
97
What is the problem with God's omniscience and freedom of choice?
If God does know the future with perfect knowledge than he knows all the choices that people will make, this suggests that we are not free to choose otherwise. A God who knows the future with perfect knowledge implies that humans do not have freedom of choice. Therefore, all our actions are wholly determined.
98
What quote does Richard Sorabji say about God's omniscience and free will?
"If God's infallible knowledge of our doing exists in advance, then we are too late so to act that God will have had a different judgement.
99
What is the problem of the omniscience of God in relation to the problem of evil?
If God not only knows the future with certainty but knew when he made us, exactly what we would choose at every point in our lives, perhaps God can be held responsible for all kinds of evil, including 'moral evil'. Thinkers such as Anthony Flew John Mackie have argued that, given God could have foreseen the consequences or creation, it ought to have been possible to create free creatures who always choose to do the right thing.
100
What is the problem of the omniscience of God in relation to moral responsibility?
If we are not free to make moral choices, we cannot be held responsible for these wholly determined apparent choices. A genuine freedom of choice is considered by ethicists to be essential as a basis for morality. Kant, for example, argued that without freedom, there can be no moral choices. Therefore, God would not be justified in rewarding or punishing us for our actions.
101
What is the problem of the omniscience of God in relation to heaven and hell?
God might know, in advance each person's religious choices. Perhaps God knows from the beginning of time which of us will have faith and which will doubt or disbelieve. Perhaps therefore, God knows, even before we are born, whether we will end up in heaven or hell, so that there is nothing we can do about it.
102
How does St Augustine response to God's omniscience in relation to free will?
He argued that God was outside time- he is atemporal. We experience time in a linear dimension- the only real experience we have of time is the present moment. The past is memory and the future is an expectation. God, on the other hand is the creator of time and can see all of time in one go, in a non-linear fashion. So he sees all events at once and so the future is known to God but it is not known to God as the 'future' as that is a human linear perspective of time.
103
What quote did Augustine write about God as eternal and omniscience?
"Thy years neither come nor go; whereas ours both come and go"
104
How did Aquinas respond to God's omniscience in relation to free will?
He built on the ideas of both Augustine and Boethius. He used the parable of a traveler along a road; the traveler is only able to see the road from their own particular viewpoint, however God is situated above the road and can see where the person has been, where we are, and where we are going. The traveler makes free choices, but God only sees those choices, he does not cause them.
105
What quote did Aquinas write to explain God as eternal and omniscient?
"He who goes along the road does not see those who come after him; whereas he who sees the whole road from a height sees all at once those travelling on it."
106
How does John Calvin respond to God's omniscience and human free will?
He preserves omniscience but concedes freewill. He claims that God knows the outcome of every single human action from the beginning of time and has predestined some people to go to heaven and others to go to hell.
107
What quote does John Calvin write about God's omniscience?
"When we attribute foreknowledge to God, we mean that all things have ever been and perpetually remain before his eyes so that to his knowledge nothing is future or past but all things are present...he holds and sees them as if actually placed before him"
108
What is the issue with John Calvin's view on God's omniscience and predestination?
- Without free will there can be no moral responsibility
- Is it therefore unjust to punish and reward (Heaven/hell)?
- Christianity/Judaism/Islam- believe humans are morally responsible
- Would this make God responsible for moral evil?
109
How does Schleiermacher respond to God's omniscience and free will?
He drew the analogy of the knowledge that close friends have of each others' behaviour to conclude that God could be omniscient while still allowing people to act freely.
110
What quote does Schleirermacher use to explain his analogy about God's omniscience?
"In the same way we estimate the intimacy between two persons by the foreknowledge one has of the actions of another, without supposing that in either case, the one or the other's freedom is thereby endangered. So even the divine foreknowledge cannot endanger freedom."
111
What is the problem with Schleiermacher's solution to God's omniscience and free will?
-The problem with this idea is that unlike the knowledge that friends have of each other, which is only an informed and reliable guess which could be wrong, God's knowledge is infallible, which arguably makes the outcome inevitable.
112
What quote that G.E.M. Anscombe say about Middle Knowledge?
They suggested that it is not clear if there is anything to be known about the future; "There is no such thing as how someone would have spent his life if he had not died as a child."
113
How does the Bible describe God's omniscience?n
God is aware of king David secretly arranging for Beersheba's husband Uriah the Hittite to be killed in battle as David desires Beersheba (2 Samuel), is desribed as knowing people through and through (Psalm 139: 1-4) and before birth (Jeremiah 1).
114
What is Anslem's quite about God's omniscience?
"You are supremely perceptive."
115
What are the two general definitions of omniscience?
1. Omniscience: God's unlimited knowledge including all of history. God is atemporal and has knowledge of the whole of time.
2. Limited Omniscience: God's knowledge is limited to what it is logically possible to know or God chooses to limit what he knows to allow humans free will. God's knowledge changes over time, since God acquires new knowledge.
116
What is meant be simplicity?
This means that God is whole and is not made up of parts and cannot be added to or divided. He is immutable to change.
117
What is the difficulty with God's omniscience if God is non-physical and simple?
This means that God does not gain new knowledge in the way humans do through experience and learning, instead he just has knowledge. Therefore, if God cannot learn from experience, is it meaningful to talk about God having knowledge as we gain knowledge through our experiences gained through our senses and interpreted by our brains?
118
What did Thomas Aquinas suggest about the nature of God's knowledge?
He has suggested that God has knowledge because knowledge is not physical. He argued that although humans acquire knowledge through their bodies it is not a physical thing, so an immaterial God can still have knowledge. Moreover, he suggests that what God knows is 'self-knowledge;. God is the creator and God knows by self-knowledge what he creates and thus God knows about creation.
119
How would an everlasting view of God change the concept of his omniscience?
If God is everlasting, then God can acquire new knowledge as time passes for God. Thus, it can be claimed that God can know what it is logically possible to know, so if the future has not yet happened, there is no future to be known and God's omniscience is not limited because it is impossible to know what does not of has not existed yet.
120
Why would God's knowledge of future events possibly limit our free will?
It would suggest that future events that we think are contingent on present events and choices are actually not contingent but necessary. If the future is necessary there is no free choice as the future is already set and follows on from the present.
121
Why did Boethius argue God's omniscience does not threaten human free will?
He argued that God has no foreknowledge as God is eternal. Hence God does not know the future, God just knows everything including all history as in a "single glance". FOr Boethius, God knows everything that is true but God, being eternal, does not know things at a particular time or in a particular temporal order through history- God simply knows eternally.
122
Why would Boethius argue that God does not have foreknowledge?
He could argue that God knows the 'results' of humans' free actions, so it is not proper to talk of God having 'foreknowledge of human actions, as he is outside time.
123
Why does Anthony Kenny criticise Boethius' approach to God's omniscience?
He questioned whether it is meaningful to talk of all events being "simultaneously present to God" as stated by Boethius, since the nature of simultaneity is that the two or more simultaneous objects occur at the same time in the same way. This would suggest, according to Kenny that all of history is occuring at the same time which is illogical.
124
What quote does Anthony Kenny say in criticism of Boethius' approach to God's omniscience?
"The great fire of Rome is simultaneous with the whole of eternity. Therefore, while I type these words, Nero fiddles heartlessly on."
125
What is theocentric?
It refers to something being centred on God or from the perspective of God, rather than human beings.
126
How did Thomas Aquinas view God's omniscience and eternal?
He built on the thinking of Boethius, and suggested that God takes in all of history as a whole. God has a bird's-eye perspective on the whole of history and creation that is theocentric, whereas humans' perspective on history is different because we see events as part of a historical sequence involving past, present and future. This implies a form of soft determinism, with humans retaining the ability to make free choices.
127
What quote does Pannenberg say about God's knowledge compared to ours?
"Our experiences of awareness and knowledge...can give us only a feeble hint of what is meant when we speak of God's knowledge."
128
What does Boethius initially acknowledge about God's omniscience? (Pt 1)
He claims that he has become initially 'confused' and it seems difficult both to assert "God foreknows all things" and at the same time assert "there is free will". God's foreknowledge cannot allow a flexibility which might permit to possibility of mistaken foreknowledge, for this would not be foreknowledge. Yet, if this is so "there is no freedom...the divine mind, foreseeing without error, binds...to actual occurrence."
129
What does Boethius conclude about God's omniscience on further reflection? (pt 2)
'Wisdom' (or 'Lady Philosophy') provides a counter-reply. "Foreknowledge is not the cause of any necessity for future events". The free decisions of agents will these occurences. There reason why there is no conflict arises from the different viewpoints of God who is eternal, and of human reflection, which conceives of a temporal future, which it seeks to impose on the God who is unconditioned by time.
130
What final conclusion does Boethius reach about God's omniscience? (pt 3)
In the eternal realm, God's knowledge surveys the whole of created reality in an 'eternal present'. Hence Boethius suggests that "foreknowledge" might better be called "providence". Thus within the contingent, temporal world order, actions and events are willed freely. However, the very same act or event "when it is related to divine knowledge is necessary". In summary, neither God nor God's foreknowledge exists in time.
131
What is Swinburne's quote on his account of omniscience?
"not as knowledge of everything true but (very roughly) as knowledge of everything true which it is logically possible to know."
132
How does Swinburne view God's omniscience?
In practice, his definition includes all those future events that are predictable by exact physical or causal necessity or by divine decree or promise, ut not those events concerning which God chooses to permit created agents to make free choices of will.
133
What does Swinburne argue God does to enable omniscient and free will?
Swinburne argues that God may will to limit his divine omniscience in order to preserve room to make free choices of God's own. God chooses to leave room for God's own changes of plan. Similarly, "God often makes, as well as absolute promises...conditional promises...yet there would be no need for a conditional promise if God already knew how men would act."
134
What quote does Keith Ward use to describe omniscience?
"An omniscient being, if it is temporal, can know for certain whatever in the future it determines...but not absolutely everything. If this is a limit on omniscience, it is logically unavailable for any temporal being."
135
What quote does Paul Helm use on his view of God's omniscience and free will?
He argues that "only timeless eternity prevents the degeneracy of divine omniscience and divine immutability into the idea of a God who changes with the changing world and who is surprised by what he discovered...Divine timeless eternity does not commit one to logical determinism."
136
What quote does Augustine say about God's omniscience and free will?
"Why do you think our free will is opposed to God's foreknowledge?...If you knew in advance that such and such a man would sin, there would be no necessity for him to sin."
137
What might be argued about the attributes of God as atemporal?
A God who is locked into the 'timeless' realm 'above' or beyond created time may seem closer to Plato than to the dynamic, purposive, active God of the Hebrew scriptures and Christian Old Testament, even if Helm addresses some of these issues.
138
What are the ways of viewing God as eternal?
1. Eternal and timeless (atemporal)
2. Eternal and Everlasting
3. Process Theology
139
What is it meant when we say God is eternal and timeless?
It is the idea that God exists outside time, and can see the past, the present and the future, all with perfect knowledge. So, time is something that is bound up in creation and created things but does not affect God.
140
How does the idea of God as eternal and timeless link with Greek thought?
Ideas such as change and motion (Heraclitus' Rover, Plato and Aristotle) are all part of the world of appearances. The forms are eternal and unchanging. Plato thought that time was the moving image of eternity.
141
What are the strengths of viewing God as eternal and timeless?
It shows that God is not limited. Instead, time is something created by God rather than something to which God is subject. This therefore is a view that enables God to be immutable, which is argued by some thinkers to be a necessary attribute of God.
142
What are the weaknesses of viewing God as eternal and timeless?
The idea of time not applying to God seems to contradict the plain reading of scripture (Richard Swinburne and Oscar Cullman also says this). The Bible speaks of God promising and remembering. Also, the idea of a timeless God is hard to fit with a personal and active God, and can not account for the answering of prayers, miracles or even religious experience.
143
What is meant by the view of God as eternal and everlasting?
To describe God as eternal is to say that God moves through time with us. He has always existed and will always exist.
144
What quote does Richard Swinburne use to explain God as eternal and everlasting?
"...There was no time at which he did not exist...He is backwardly eternal. He also exists at any other nameable time...will go on existing forever...he is forwardly eternal."
145
What quote does Richard Swinburne use to argue that God is eternal and everlasting?
"If God had thus fixed his intentions 'from all eternity' he would be a very lifeless thing; not a person who reacts to men with sympathy or anger, pardon of chastening because he chooses to be there and then. Yet...the God of the Old Testament, in which Judaism, Islam and Christianity have their roots, is a God in continual interaction with men, moved by men as they speak to him.
146
What does Oscar Cullman argue about God as eternal?
They argue that on the basis of textual analysis of the Bible that eternal should be understood as everlasting and not timeless. The most logical translation of eternal is to mean "endless duration" not outside of time.
147
What is a major criticism of the view of God as eternal and everlasting?
If God is everlasting it is difficult to see how God could be in time and not be affected to some extent by creation and therefore, change. After all, we are changed by our interactions with others as time progresses. This contradicts the view of an immutable God.
148
Why does Swinburne argue that a perfect being does not have to be changeless?
He argues that it was Plato who planted that idea in Western minds that a world of unchanging and unchangeable concepts was inevitably more perfect than the changing world, but we do not have to accept Plato's ideas. Swinburne argues that in the Bible, God's intentions do not remain fixed for all eternity. God interacts with people, and God's decision about what will happen may change, because of his ongoing relationship with individuals. A biblical example may be the story of King Hezekiah's illness, where God was planning to end his life, but changed his mind in response to the king's prayer.
149
What is process theology?
This says that God moves through time within creation but is affected by interaction thus limiting his omnipotence. They reject the idea that God lives in timeless eternity or sees all time equally actual and present. They understand time as real for God as it is for us, but God is everlasting and will not grow old or die, and there are some aspects of God that are unchangeable, such as his benevolence or omniscience. He is understood as sharing in every event in the world, and has always acted creatively in the world. Freedom is an inherent part of the world, and God cannot overrule it.
150
What does D Z Philips argue about God as eternal?
He suggested that eternity is not related to the notion of temporal time but expressive a qualitative nature. God cannot be comprehended, and arguing that he is eternal is simply an attempt to convey this.
151
What would the view of God as eternal and everlasting suggest about his omniscience?
God knows all the events in the past and present, and the factors that will determine the future, but he cannot know the future, as it is genuinely open to both us and to God. He does know each individual exceptionally well and can predict what will happen in the future but this is not the same as knowledge.
152
What does Richard Swinburne claim that God's omniscience means?
That God knows all that it is logically possible to know- and he goes on to say that this does not include the future. It is logically impossible, given human freedom for God to know the future.
153
What is meant by everlasting?
The belief that God moves through time along with creation but has no beginning or end (He has always existed and will always exist)
154
Why does Richard Swinburne argue that God is eternal and everlasting?
He writes that a view of a timeless God contradicts the Bible. If God is a loving God he would interact with his creation, and thus would act within time.
155
Why does Nicholas Wolterstorff argue that God is eternal and everlasting?
He claims that the Biblical view of God requires him to act freely in response to the actions of humans so he must act within time. Additionally, if the incarnation is to have any sense, he has to be seen as everlasting.
156
What are the weaknesses of viewing eternal and everlasting?
1. Is a God within time limited just as we are and so cannot be omnipotent?
2. Can we make sense of a God who is temporal without being spatial?
3. This would challenge the idea of the immutability of God, many argued to be a necessary characteristics.
4. Passages in the Bible suggest he is changeless- "I, the Lord, do not change" (Malachi 3:6)
157
Why does Anthony Kenny challenges Boethius' ideas?
He questioned whether it is meaningful to talk of all events being 'simultaneously present to God' as stated by Boethius, since this would imply that all of history is occuring at the same time.
158
Why does Richard Swinburne criticise Boethius' ideas?
Like Anthony Kenny, he stated that he could not "make much sense" of talk of all events being simultaneously present to God.
159
How does Paul Helm argue against Swinburne and Kenny's challenges to Boethius' ideas?
He suggested that talk of God being eternal does not involve the reductio ad absurdum suggested by Kenny and Swinburne because he argues that the eternal God is timeless and acts eternally; history is not happening simultaneously, but God acts outside of time, so can view all of history in one moment, we we will experience past present and future. God's knowledge is simultaneous, not actual time.
160
What quote does Paul Helm use to argue against Swinburne and Kenny's challenges to Boethius' ideas?
"God considered as timeless, cannot have temporal relations with any of his creation. He is timeless in the sense of being time free. This at once provides an answer to the reductio ad absurdum brought by philosophers such as Kenny and Swinburne by denying that what any of us is now doing is taking place at the same time as anything God is doing"
161
What is a reductio ad absurdum?
A method of proving the falsity of a premise by showing that its logical consequence or conclusion is absurd or contradictory.
162
How do some respond to the challenge that Boethius' ideas contradict the plain reading of scripture?
They would argue that we ought to understand these texts metaphorically or analogically. God is not a person. Language that suggests God is acting personally in the Bible reflects the experience of the people's encounters with God using personal language.
163
How do some respond to the challenge the Boethius' ideas contradict the idea of a personal and active God?
Some argue that God is loving because God changelessly sustains creation for people. Secondly, God changelessly wills good for people. In response to the answering of prayers, Aquinas argues that prayer is the act of being aware of God's activity in the world, either directly (primary agency) or through others (secondary agency), Whilst Maurice Wiles argues that the universe is part of God's ongoing creative activity; God is always acting- there is no selective response by God since this would imply God is partial and Capricious.
164
What view of God's omnipotence did Descartes put forth?
God can do anything, even the logically impossible. In this view God is not limited by the laws of logic as he created those laws and could abolish them if he wanted to do so.
165
Why did Aquinas argue against the view that God's omnipotence means he can do anything even the logically impossible?
Aquinas argued that logically impossible actions, such as 2+2=5 are not actions at all. They are not "proper things" that one can or cannot do.
166
What quote did CS Lewis use to argue against the view that God's omnipotence means he can do anything even the logically impossible?
He observed that "meaningless combinations of words do not suddenly acquire a meaning because we prefix to them two other words: 'God can'.
167
Why does Vardy argue against the view that God's omnipotence means he can do anything even the logically impossible?
He argues that logic and the laws of contradiction mark the limits of what it makes sense to say. For example, it is meaningless to talk of square circles.
168
What quote does Vardy use to argue against the view that God's omnipotence means he can do anything even the logically impossible?
"The view that God could do the logically impossible is incoherent and, if it were true, would show that God would not be worth worshipping. Such a God could lie and deceive, God could swear to reward the virtuous and then condemn them to everlasting torment"
169
What is the problem of the view that God's omnipotence means he can do anything even the logically impossible in regards to his omnibenvolence?
Many argue that it is incorrect to suggest that God can sin, lie or engage in immoral behaviour.
170
What is the problem of the view that God's omnipotence means he can do anything even the logically impossible in regards to the problem of evil?
Theodicies suggest that suffering is the price we pay to make free choices and be autonomous moral agents. However, if Descartes is correct and God is capable of suspending the laws of logic to allow us to have free will without the consequent evil, then the existence of evil in the world becomes something that God could change if he wanted, but he just chooses to inflict on us even though there is no justification for it.
171
What is an alternative way to Descartes' of viewing God's omnipotence?
God can do anything that is logically possible for a perfect God to do.
172
Why does Aquinas argue that God's omnipotence means he can do anything that is logically possible for a perfect God to do?
He argued that God is completely omnipotent in being in charge of the whole world, creating it and keeping it in existence. He is omnipotent because "He can do everything that is absolutely possible" and "everything that does not imply a contradiction is among those possibilities in regards of which God is called omnipotent." THerefore, God cannot do anything which is inconsistent with his nature, because that would imply a contradiction.
173
What quotes does Richard Swinburne use to argue that God's omnipotence means he can do anything that is logically possible for a perfect God to do?
"A logically impossible action is not an action...it is no objection to A's omnipotence that he cannot make a square circle." Instead "Omnipotence denotes 'an ability to bring about any (logically possible) state of affairs". This, he argues excluded both logical contradictions and actions that contradict God's own nature.
174
What does Peter Vardy argue about God's omnipotence?
He says that God's omnipotence is necessarily limited to suit the existence of free, rational beings. This limitation is self-imposed as this is how he chose to create the universe.
175
What quote does Peter Vardy use to explain God's omnipotence?
"God is limited by the universe he choose to create...this limitation does not however lesson God in any significant way. It is rather a recognition of God's wish to create a universe in which human beings can be brought into a loving relationship with him"
176
What does John Macquarrie argue about God's omnipotence?
Like Vardy and Aquinas before him, Macquarrie also emphasizes that any limits on God's omnipotence are self-imposed. God chooses to limit his power out of love for humanity.
177
What is the problem with arguing that God's omnipotence means he can do anything that is logically possible?
One cannot say that God can do everything that is logically possible, nor can one say that God can do everything that is possible for God to do while at the same time maintaining his omnipotence. To make a claim of omnipotence assumes God may do everything, yet to go on to clarify this definition of omnipotence removes such an attribute- this creates a sense of semi-omnipotence, a contradiction in itself.
178
What would Anselm's ontological argument suggest about God's omnibenevolence?
According to the ontological argument God is "That than which nothing greater can be conceived" and Aquinas says "He lacks no excellence." Only a perfect being can then be worthy of worship and perfection consists of omnibenevolence (Perfect Goodness) along with omnipotence and omniscience.
179
What is the problem with God's omnibenevolence and objective moral good?
It goes back to the Euthyprho dilemma. If something is good because God wills it, the idea of morality becomes arbitrary and subjective, whilst if God wills something because it is good, then it would seem to limit God, as morality becomes independent on him, and he can no longer be seen as the highest reality and the foundation of morality.
180
What is the Euthyphro dilemma?
Is something good because God wills it, or does God will something because it is good.
181
How does Thomas Aquinas respond to the euthyphro dilemma (omnibenevolence)?
He argued that the euthyphro dilemma was not a real problem for Christianity. God commands things because they are good; but he knows what to command with perfect knowledge, because his nature is entirely good. So God would never command something like murder or cruelty.
182
What is the problem with God's omnibenevolence in regard to moral action?
If God necessarily only does good things then it would seem that when he does something moral he could not have done otherwise. So is it really a moral action? Moral actions are usually seen as the result of free choice, and it would seem that God's goodness is of lesser value if he has to do good and is not freely choosing to do good actions.
183
How can you respond to the problem with God's omnibenevolence in regard to moral action?
It is possible, as per Descartes approach, to define God's omnipotence as the possibility to do everything, even the logically impossible, making him able to commit evil, but freely choosing not to.
184
What is the problem with God's omnibenevolence and religious language?
Some philosophers have suggested that we cannot talk directly about what it means for God to be good as he is too far removed from us and we therefore are unable to fully understand the meaning of a 'benevolent God'. The via negativa for example would accept that we cannot make positive statements, such as God is good.
185
How can you respond to the problem of God's omnibenevolence and religious language?
It is possible to argue that we can understand it through the analogy of attribution and the analogy of proportion as developed by Aquinas. Also, Ramsey's idea of models and qualifiers; so when we speak of God we use 'models', such as 'righteous' and 'loving', and to ensure that we do not limit God and that we recognise that his attributes are unlike our own, we need to use qualifiers such as "everlasting" or "perfectly"
186
What is the problem of God's omnibenvolence in regard to whether his actions are partisan and arbitrary?
Maurice Wiles argued that if we take an interventionist view of miracles then God's actions seem arbitrary and partisan. This raises questions about God's omnipotence and omnibenevolence as he seems not to intervene in all cases to prevent evil happening.
187
How have some responded to the criticism of God's omnibenevolence as his actions are partisan?
The important assumption that underlies any discussion of God being biases, is the idea that God's actions fit in with human ideas of rationality, which may not be the case. Many religious believers view God's actions as a mystery, that is beyond human ability to fully understand. This point is made various times in scripture.
188
How have some responded to the criticism of God's omnibenevolence as his actions are arbitrary?
Rudolph Bultmann for example regarded the stories of miracles in the New Testament as symbolic. This helps some of the difficulties regarding the problem of evil as God does not literally intervene in people's lives in an arbitrary manner, which would raise issues of fairness.
189
What is the problem with God's omnibenevolence in regards to whether his actions are immoral or not?
Dawkins gives several examples of stories from the Bible that he finds morally objectionable, but the one he chooses as the worst is the story of Abraham and Isaac. In his view, this shows a God who is immoral. He argues that the bible encourages "a system of morals which any civilized modern person, whether religious or not would find- I can put it no more gently- obnoxious"
190
How can we respond to the problem with God's omnibenevolence in regards to whether his actions are immoral or not?
Perhaps God's actions cannot be fully understood by humans' logic and reason. Aquinas argued that we need to remember that when we speak of the love of God, we are using analogy; we are talking about a love that is like ours in many respects, but we have to bear in mind that God is infinitely greater than us so we can only understand a tiny proportion of divine love.
191
What is the problem of God's omnibenevolence and the problem of evil?
It is difficult to understand how an all-power and all-loving God can allow evil to exist in the universe without putting a stop to it (The inconsistent triad). Natural evil in particular is a problem, as the Bible depicts God as holding back the sun, throwing hailstones and controlling floods and storms, and yet he does not prevent natural disasters in which bother innocent and guilty people suffer.
192
What are the possible responses to the problem of God's omnibenevolence and the problem of evil?
1. Free Will defence; this could be explained by saying that God has given free will tho choose how to behave and this is the price to be paid
2. Natural disasters are part of the ordered world;The existence of natural disasters in the world is part of the ordered world we live in, and if God intervenes continually to prevent suffering we will not be able to learn and understand our world.
3. God does act, but we don't always see it.
4. Theodicies
193
What is John Hick's soul-making theodicy?
John Hick explains that goodness that has been developed by free choice is infinitely better than the ready-made goodness of robots. If God wanted humans to be genuinely loving, He had to give them the opportunity to develop this quality for themselves.
194
What is the Augustinian Theodicy?
God did not create evil because evil is not a substance but a privation of good. He gave us the gift of free will, but Adam and Eve misused this and lead to the fall. After this first sin, there was a loss of order within nature causing natural evil, and the world became distanced from God so moral evil flourished and spread. Everyone is guilty as we were all present seminally in Adam, therefore everyone deserves to be punished. He argued that through God's grace, some might be saved and go to heaven, even though we all deserve hell.
195
What is the Irenaean Theodicy?
Humans were first made in God's image, yet this lacked completion. We were created imperfect so that we could freely choose to become good and attain God's likeness. At the Fall, humans did choose evil. Evil makes life difficult, but it is beneficial as it enables us to understand what good and it is necessary for human free will. Eventually evil and suffering will be overcome and everyone will develop into God's likeness, living in glory in heaven. This justifies temporary evil.
196
How can it be argued that an omnibenevolent God must reward and punish?
Many would argue that if God is just then surely people would be rewarded and punished for their behaviour appropriately. This is central to our understanding of right and wrong. God's goodness demands two things; the person has real freedom to choose evil, and people are treated fairly (either rewarded or punished)
197
What quote has Richard Swinburne stated on the nature of reward and punishment?
"If there are any lives which nevertheless are on balance bad, God would be under an obligation to provide life after death for the individuals concerned in which they could be compensated for the bad states of this life, so that in this life and the next their lives overall would be good...Thus God treats us as individuals, each with their own vocations"
198
What is Kant's moral argument?
A course of action is only moral if the person is free to carry it out. If pressure is applied to a person then they are not acting out of duty. However, experience tells us that virtuous actions are not always rewarded by happiness. Since perfect virtue ought to result in perfect happiness, it doesn't occur in this life therefore God must provide it in the next. It logically follows that God must be that connecting factor which is implied in the summon bonum.
199
What does Kant's moral argument suggest about reward and punishment?
People everywhere agree that there is right and wrong, implying the existence of the objective moral law of which we have a sense of duty to follow. It is only logical for vituous action to be rewared by happiness eventually, in the summum bonum, and as it is obvious that this does not always happen in life, there must be an afterlife where we achieve it.
200
Why do some argue that an omnibenevolent God is incompatible with the existence of hell?
Some believe that hell is incompatible with the nation of goodness of God. Universalists such as Hick argue that ultimately all human beings will be saved. Universalism is the believe that all people will ultimately achieve salvation.
201
Why does Richard Swinburne argue that hell must exist?
He argued that human freedom must include the freedom to damn ourselves if necessary. Swinburne argues that death is an essential part of a reasonable theodicy. It is only if our choices are limited by time that they acquire significance. If there will always be a second chance, what we do does not matter.
202
What are the issues with the idea of an omnibenevolent God who rewards and punishes?
1. Some thinkers were concerned that the idea of rewards and punishment may lead to religious morality being selfish, people may just 'be good' purely to got to heaven.
2. Does a finite crime ever warrant an infinite punishment?
3. Infinite punishment is pointless as there is no chance to reform
4. Some may argue our actions are not really free, and we do not have moral responsibilitiy.
203
Why does the montheistic tradition view God as omnipotent?
Because it is claimed that God created the world out of nothing - ex nihilo. If God creates all things out of nothing, then it is a contradiction to say that there were things that God cannot do.
204
What is the problem with God's omnipotence if he is timeless and simple?
A wholly simple God cannot do anything. God is complete actuality with no potential and therefore he cannot act as to act means changing from having the potential to act to actually doing so and this requires time.
205
How does Aquinas argue against the problem with God's omnipotence if he is timeless and simple?
He argued that God acts timelessly with a single timeless act. This single timeless act of God produces temporal effect. The mistake many people make is to assume that because there is a temporal effect that God has acted within time, but it was part of the single timeless act that had the effect in time and space. So the wholly simple, timeless God can act and be regarded as omnipotent, but his actions are all accomplished in one single timeless action.
206
What is the difference between almighty and omnipotence?
Almighty is a word that suggests God has power over all things whilst omnipotence is usually understood as an ability to do anything.
207
Why would Descartes argue we cannot use logic to set limits on what God can do?
Human beings simply do not know what is and is not possible for God and that God is certainly not limited by the laws of logic that he created. God is so transcendent, so different fro humans that we simply do not know what is and what is not possible for God. Given the nature of God, human knowledge is not adequate to set any limits to God's power.
208
What does P.T Geach argue about Aquinas defence of God's omnipotence?
He argues that it is clear Aquinas does not understand omnipotent to mean that "God can do anything". Rather omnipotence for Aquinas means that God can do anything that is not excluded by logic or his nature. This means Aquinas is not defending God's absolute omnipotence, but defending God as almighty.
209
How does Catholic tradition suggest that God is not omnipotent?
DUring the incarnation, God felt tired, felt anger and compasion and pain, and did die. He became subject to the poweres of time, space and logic and the poweres of other human beings, the limits of life.
210
Why does Aquinas argue that Catholic tradition does not necessarily suggest that God is not omnipotent?
He would have replied that God did become man, so God can become man and have a man; but Gad as God cannot be man or have a body. We can talk of Christ as man and Christ as God.
211
What quotes does Aquinas use to describe a timeless God?
"The present glance of God extends over all time"
212
Why quote does Brain Davies use to argue that God has to be simple (unchanging)?
"If something changeable account for there being a world in which change occurs, it would be part of such a world and could not, therefore, account for it."
213
What are the three aspects of God as simple?
1. God is God (he cannot be seperated into parts)
2. God is unchanging
3. God is immaterial
214
Why does Nicolas Wolterstorff argue that God is eternal and everlasting?
He argued that the only way to understand some of God's actions as indicated in the Bible is to understand them as free actions in response to human beings' behaviour, suggesting that God's actions involve time passing. Also "It is no because He is outside of time-eternal, immutable, impassive- that we worship and obey God. It is because of what he can and does bring about within time that we morals are to render him praise and obedience."
215
What are the three main ways of viewing omnipotence?
1. God can do anything even the logically impossible
2. God can do anything that is logically possible for a perfect God to do
3. Omnipotence is a statement of the power of God.
216
What quote did J.L Mackie say about logically impossible actions?
That logically impossible actions was "only a form of words which fails to describe any state of affairs"
217
What quote does Aquinas say about God's omnipotence?
"Whatever involves a contradiction is not held by omnipotence, for it just cannot possibly make sense of being possible...for a contradiction in terms cannot be a word, for no mind can conceive it"
218
What quote does Aquinas say about God's omnipotence and changing the past?
"If you think of it as a past event and definitively so, then it is not only in itself but also absolutely impossible that it did not take place, for it implies a contradiction. As such it is more impossible than raising of the dead to life"
219
Why does Anselm argue that God cannot sin?
He suggested that God could not sin as sin involves a lack of control over one's action. Hence sinning would indicate that God lacks power over their actions.
220
Why does Peter Geach criticise the idea that God's omnipotence can be understood as the ability to do everything that is logically possible for a perfect god?
He argues that this definition of omnipotence relies on the acceptance of a particular view of God's nature as perfect. This leads him to suggest the idea that God's omnipotence is better understood as a statement concerning the power of God.
221
How does Anthony Kenny define omnipotence?
As a statement of God's power; "A being is omnipotent if it has every power which it is logically possible to possess"
222
What is meant by the idea that omnipotent is a statement of God's power?
Kenny's idea is that omnipotence is not only a statement of what is logically possible for God, but it is also a statement that God has the power to do whatever is logically possible for God. This is different from human beings who often have the logical capability to do something, but lack the power necessary to achieve the goal.
223
What are the issues with God's omnipotence?
1. Can God change past history?
2. Can God sin
3. It relies on a pre-existing concept of God's nature as perfect
