Concept of God (God)

Question 1

Omnipotence def + Issue of paradox of the stone

Answer 1

All powerful

POTS:
Can God create a stone that is too heavy for him to lift?

Yes:

• If so, then there is something he cannot do (lift the stone). Therefore he’s not omnipotent.

No:

• If he can’t, then there is something he can’t do (create the stone). Therefore he’s not omnipotent.

Therefore, the concept of omnipotence cannot be coherently conscripted to God.

Question 2

Omnibenevolence + Euthyphro dilemma

Answer 2

All loving

Everything God commands us to do is morally good, why?

1. God’s commands are good simply because they come from God

• Whatever he commands is good by definition
• But God commands people to do terrible things such as genocide (in the bible etc
• Therefore these things must be good, as they were commanded by God

Therefore we cannot make sense of saying God is omnibenevolent

2. God’s commands are good because they conform to an external moral code which he always adheres to

• This means Gods benevolence is dependent on something external
• Therefore, this external moral code is supremely good, not God

Therefore we cannot make sense of saying God is omnibenevolent.

Question 3

Omniscience + Free Will Paradox

Answer 3

All knowing

P1. Humans have free will and some of their actions are genuinely free.

P2. God is omniscient and knows beforehand everything that will happen.

P3. Therefore god knows beforehand in all cases what humans will do.

P4. If God knows what their actions will be then they’re not free

C. Therefore human free will (P1) and Gods omniscience (P2) are incompatible

Question 4

Response to the Paradox Of The Stone

Answer 4

States the task is self-contradicting because “a stone that is too heavy for an omnipotent being to lift” cannot exist.

• “Can a being lift a stone that cannot be lifted?”
• It is agreed God cannot do self-contradicting things
• Therefore, the task is incoherent, not God. This means he can still be omnipotent