The nature or attributes of God

Question 1

what is the book of Job quote that is indicative of the gap between God and humankind?

Answer 1

“how then can a mortal be righteous before God”
“but the thunder of his power who can understand”

Question 2

what is the main problem of us attempting to understand God?

Answer 2

we are attempting to understand God with our own limited apparatus

“we have not seen the fullness of God

Question 3

how has modernity altered the way we view God

Answer 3

modern Christians would describe a personal relationship with God
in 1645 John Biddle was imprisoned for treating God so personally

Question 4

what is an attribute

Answer 4

an attribute is a quality or characteristic - Aristotle
- a two-edged sword

Question 5

what are Descartes’ and Aquinas’ varying views on the omnipotence of God

Answer 5

Descartes - God can do absolutely everything as god is a priori to the laws of logic- we struggle to understand this because we have no conception of logical impossibility

Aquinas - God can do anything logically possible e.g. a square circle is a contradiction and God should not be able to go against the principles of nature

Question 6

what are the issues with Descartes logically impossible argument?

Answer 6

can God ride a bicycle (something which is logically possible) since he is not a human

• physical forms of impossibility also exist

Question 7

what is Augustine’s argument on omnipotence?

Answer 7

God can do anything he wills or chooses to do, not anything at all due to his divine power

this divine power allows him to self impose certain limitations that are contrary

god is omnipotent because he does not know the frustration of restriction and impotence

Question 8

criticism of aquinas - paradox of the stone

Answer 8

Should god not be able to create a stone that is to heavy that he cannot lift it
augustine: why would God do any of these things if he does not will for it

Question 9

what is omniscience?

Answer 9

to know everything - but what does that mean

Question 10

What does Sir Michael Dummett highlight in relation to omscience?

Answer 10

there is a difference between God’s knowledge and ours
- God holds no particular perspective, is beyond that
God knows things in a ‘sense of timelessness’

Question 11

omnipotence - a semantic approach

Answer 11

• in a scriptural way to highlight the challenges of understanding a God that surpasses human understanding
• reflection on own finitude and dependance

Question 12

various types of knowledge that God cannot logically possibly know

Answer 12

knowing what it is like to be something - how can God know this experience e.g. what it is like to be ignorant

knowing how to do something e.g. ride a bicycle, involves practice which God cannot do

Question 13

define benevolence and beneficence

Answer 13

benevolence - literally well wishing - the claim that God wants good for everyone and everything

beneficence - doing good and performing good actions

Question 14

what did Aristotle say about a just person?

Answer 14

“a just person is only just if they perform just acts”

Question 15

why can god not be merely well wishing ?

Answer 15

there would be no problem of evil, God cannot merely wish for good things, he must also do them

Question 16

what is the problem with arguing that God is intrinsically good?

Answer 16

-arguing that God is good because he is not subject to decay or rupture
-this kind of goodness differs from moral goodness
-a believer who believes God is morally good believes that God consciously WILLS goodness as an act of divine will

Question 17

what does Davies say about gods goodness

Answer 17

not the case of simply being well behaved as a child may be as Swinburne suggests

Swinburne :God is so constituted that he always does the morally best action

Considers this reductionist

God is good because he is moral, in the bible presented as righteous never breaks his covenant and does not contradict his own nature

Question 18

What does M.B. Wilkinson say about God’s goodness

Answer 18

God’s goodness is part of his creative action

Question 19

why might god not be considered just?

Answer 19

Just - sends people to heaven or hell, giving them what they deserve

Not just- eternal hell as part of the totality of evil (Hick)

Question 20

why is justice also important and what are Aquinas’ two types of justice?

Answer 20

incompatible for a just and good God to not pay attention to the merit of people’s actions

1. commutative justice - mutual giving and receiving, commerce and exchange - not GODS LOVE
2. distrubutive justice- giving to each person what they deserve

Question 21

why is commutative justice different to distrubtive

Answer 21

Gods distribution is not a trade, rather about giving everyone what they need

“what it needs according to divine wisdom” in order to flourish

Question 22

What does Frankena point out about the moral principle of justice?

Answer 22

does not mean that God is treating everyone in the same way, but meeting their needs by making the same relative contribution of good to people’s lives

Question 23

what is meant by extra ecclesiam nulla salus

Answer 23

outside the church there is no salvation

what about those who are not Christian but are good?

Question 24

What are Calvin’s ideas about God’s judgment of human action?

Answer 24

• emphasises the unworthiness of humans compared to god who is greater
• humanity is corrupt and damnable, we do not have free will
• limited election
• outside the church no one is saved

Question 25

critics of calvinism

Answer 25

is it actually merciful to give no hope of redemption to others? CALVIN- there is no reason for the damned to complain because no one deserved to be saved and God's mercy is exercised in the election of a select few

Question 26

what are Aquinas and Calvin's constructs of hell?

Answer 26

Aquinas - separation from God Calvin- more literal and traditional

Question 27

What does Aquinas say about God's standard of justice?

Answer 27

God is perfect therefore his standard of justice is the only possible one God cannot be answerable to some higher abstract standard What about those who are not given what they need?

Question 28

what is Baptism of desire

Answer 28

original belief of the requirement of baptism for salvation accepted the notion of the baptism of desire - that those who have had faith in God and lived their lives according to his values might be saved All deserving people can receive the mercy of God: "those too may receive eternal salvation"

Question 29

ultra-traditionalist catholic views on the mercy of god contrast with the Pope Francis' words:

Answer 29

we are all sinners but we are all forgiven every sin was carried by son to the cross

Question 30

what are Brummer's thoughts on justice and mercy?

Answer 30

can only be made sense of if we consider God as personal forgiveness is not condoning an action, the forgiver has to absorb the pain of the sinner out of love the sinner must also accept the wrongdoing