The nature or attributes of God
- Created by: AroojTahir
- Created on: 20-04-19 22:25
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- The nature or attributes of God
- Omnipotence:God can do anything
- God logically can do impossible- circle square. Logic comes from God.
- Descartes: omnipotence means God can't do anything, how can we do miracles?
- Anselm: omnipotence means God has unlimited power.
- This view makes god an arbitrary figure (random) becomes unpredictable
- Someone questions why God doesn't change laws that we don't make evil.
- Bible says God cannot lie.
- God cannot do the logically possible
- Aquinas: God does only what's possible, no contraction, no circle square.
- Not right to say God can sin- not part of logical nature.
- Aquinas: God cannot change the past.
- Swinburne: God doing things understood in context.
- Circle square not a thing, cannot exist. God doing everything doesn't limit him- logically possible.
- Eternity
- Boethius, Ansel, Aquinas: God is eternal, God created time and outside time.
- Swinburne: God moves along the timeline as we do, God is everlasting.
- God is eternal
- God perfectly see past, present and future- God's knowledge and power not limited.
- God creates the universe- spice and time.
- Boethius: takes the problem that if God's eternal and know future, how can we be morally responsible for our actions.
- Understanding knowledge: Boethuis says we understand nature of knower.
- Eternal God- help understand nature.
- Eternity 'simultaneous possession of boundless life'- God saw times of existence.
- 'made clearer by comparison with temporal things'- understand God's nature with our nature.
- Don't have boundless life. Don't 'embrace the infinitely prelife all at once.'
- Anselm: continued and developed the four dimensional approach
- 1) God separate from time/space.
- 2) Past, present and future: relative to teach other.
- 3) Time: dimension.
- 4) God not limited by space and time. God present everywhere.
- God as everlasting
- Swinburne: God of Bible interacting through New Testament.
- Reject 'simultaneous present' difficult for timeless God to be doing miracle at specific time.
- Swinburne: eternal/unchanging God rejected. Relations with humans and relations centre of human existence.
- Eternal God cannot love creation as much as an everlasting one.
- Analysing the approaches
- How can a seperate God have a relationship with those in it?
- Gods eternal and knows future, are we free to shape our future?
- God knows future, responsible for the problem of evil?
- Can he choose between one course of action and another?
- God limited? Can he be omniscient/omnipotent if he's in time?
- If God doesn't know what choices we make, still worthy of worship?
- Should we trust the Bible's account of God?
- God everlasting, God changes with time. Can a perfect God change?
- Omniscience: All knowing
- Divine Knowledge and its interaction with temporal existence
- Gods knowledge: not confined to a time. Knows event from past and know what's morally right to do.
- It God knows the future, why doesn't he stop future bad things from happening?
- If God doesn't prevent things, are we morally responsible for wrong action?
- God knows everything, idea of middle knowledge might be explored.
- God knows past, present and future and what happened if we chose the wrong path.
- Timeless God- man on mountain looking at all roads at once.
- Omniscience:idea that God knows all that is logically possible God doesn't need to know the future.
- God still in control, choices made to own nature, God plan to still win.
- Schleieimacher: God knowledge like knowledge of close friend.
- Divine knowledge and its interaction with free will
- God exists with time, God's knowledge of past, present and future seen with single vision.
- God knowing the future doesn't mean he changes it. Sees what's present.
- Boethius simple and conditional necessary: simple neccessity- just is. and conditional necessary conditional added/
- Anselm's Four dimentionalist approach: God separate from space and time. God sees our past, present and future. Future of God not matter of time.
- "That which he foreknown in his eternity is immutable, in time its mutable before it happens" Anselm
- Swinburne's model of God, means God doesn't know the future as its alongside time.
- Analysing the approaches
- Anselm overcomes the problem of Boethius.
- Difficult to understand how God can act with time and knowledge and if God can intervene.
- Anselm's approach improves problem as it leaves God separate from the world. Possible to argue that God shouldn't be considered in human terms.
- Some scholars reject Boethuis' idea of God being present and future all beings present.
- Divine Knowledge and its interaction with temporal existence
- Omnibenevolence
- God's benevolence suggests God's attitude of compassion, love= constant active force.
- God's omnibenevolence relation- justice and judgement fair, holy and expected to be found in followers.
- Greek word of agape where its linked to loving and fairness.
- Aquinas argued justice about God is doing the right thing even if punishment is involved.
- "It is impossible for God to will anything but what [that which] his own wisdom understands as good" Aquinas
- Issue: Boethius "God sees us from above and knows all things in his eternal present and judges our future, free actions, justly distributing rewards and punishments."
- Core issues
- Evil and suffering contradicts benevolent God? Some argue it does because God wouldnt allow people to suffer.
- Can our language explain God's benevolence? Hell a sign that God gives on some people?
- Calling God good: euthyphilo dilemma conundrum suggests God defines good or he's subject to an independent standard. Aquinas argues that God commands out of goodness.
- Christians: faith final world. God's journey alongside people, God's relegation assures them that God's attributes work together.
- Discussing the nature of God
- Conflicts between divine attributes
- Conflicts between divine attributes- resolved through theodicy or the model of God that isn't coherent and needs adopting.
- Omnipotence: conflicting with benevolence due to the problem of evil. If God is eternal why does an omnipotent God stop bad things? If Gd is everlasting, can he still be omnipotent?
- Omniscience:If God can't know the future, what does it say about his omnipotence? Omniscience/omnibenevolence question what God does with the knowledge he has.
- Onibenvolence: fundamentl description of God. Understanding it leads to others understanding core attributes of God- resolving conflict.
- Omniscience:Analogy of God like a diamond: many faces with different understandings. Islam 90 names of Allah
- Modern athists reject the belief of God: wishful thinking, projecting fear of death, stamp human authority on earth.
- Links to attributes
- Descartes' approach says God can do anything- impossible and not remain consistent.
- Logical possibility: Aqunas argued that God can't do the illogical or change the law of nature.
- Self limitation: God limited power and conforms to nature and logic. Distance between God overcome through distance.
- "God is himself responsible for there being limits to his knowledge of how we will act" Swinburne.
- Conflicts between divine attributes
- Comparing Boethius, Anselm and Swinburne
- Anselm develops Boethius's view and tries to overcome the issue of a God who intervenes within time and space. God different to time. However, Anselm let with God sitting separate to the universe.
- Swinburne: biblical view is accurate. If Bibles are like the human relationship with God. It limits God to being everlasting due to Swinburne's expectation.
- God might not be able to act if he's eternal, might do a miracle for me now but could change the future of someone elses- defies logic.
- Swinburne's understanding links to the issues of free will and omniscience.If God knows everything and can predict what's happening. It's argued that an everlasting God does not limit him.
- Going further other attributes
- Personal: God wants a relationship with people. Having a relationship with God outside time?
- Transcendent: God separate from time and space. How can he intervene with the world?
- Immanent: God in space and time. How can he be great enough to worship?
- Impassible: God cannot feel anything. How does this comfort people who suffer?
- Simple: God can be divided into parts. How is it useful to consider other attributes.
- Omnipotence:God can do anything
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