Nature/ Attributes of God

omnipotent- all powerful

omniscient- all knowing

omnibenevolent- all loving

eternal- timeless, atemporal, outside the contraints of time

everlasting- sempiternal, lasting forever on the same timeline as humanity

free will- the ability to make independent decisions between real options

existentialism- a way of thinking that emphasises personal freedom of choice

immutable- incapable of changing or being effected

limited omnicscience- god chose to limit what he knows to allow human free will- gods knowledge changes over time- everlasting (swineburne)

FOR:

PLANTINGA- omnipotent being may not have omnipotence as a necessary quality- may limit his own powers to preserve human free will

ANSELM/ DESCARTES- god is greater than which nothing can be conceived

AQUINAS- god is completely omnipotent and in charge of the whole world- he can do everything that is absolutely possible

MIRACLES- demonstrate gods omnipotence- some things he wont do- against his nature

AGAINST

MACKIE- god cant do any unlogical thinking- unlogical does not exist

HEBREWS 6:18- it is impossible for god to lie

PLANTINGA- does not say much other than what god can do

PETER VARDY- gods omnipotence is limited- wrong to suggest that everything happens because of gods will- if god acted differently, everything wont be the same- gods omnipotence is limited

if god can do anything, he must be able to do evil- self- contradictory

FOR

GODS OMNIPOTENCE PREVENTS FREE WILL/ AQUINAS- knowledge is immaterial- only god can know

SCHLIERMACHER- divine foreknowledge cannot endanger free will- analogy of close friends

SWINEBURNE- god knows what we have done/ what we are doing but only aware of logival possibilities

FREE WILL

LOCKE- free will is an illusion

KANT- must be free to make our own moral decisions/ morally responsible- if we arent free then we arent responsible and cannot be punished

BIBLE- god gave us free will

KANT/SATRE- gods omnipotence prevents us from having free will- lives are predetermined

BOETHIUS- god is outside time and space- has full knowledge of everything- distanced himself so we have free will

JOHN STUART MILL- attack design argument- god cannot be loving if he created a world where animals has to kill to survive

KANT- gods omnibenevolence is redeemed in heaven- moral argument for the existence of god

WILLIAM LANE CRAIG- islam cannot understand omnibenevolence

AQUINAS/PETER VARDY- cannot judge the seemingly unjust world- dont know gods masterplan- may cause suffering but have a greater outcome- god understands our suffering- everlasting

BOETHIUS- god has uncasual knowledge- his knowledge makes future necessary- cannot answer prayer- omnibenevolent

GOD IS INTRINSICALLY- how can god be all loving if he immutable? 

SWINEBURNE- there was no time which he did not exist

AQUINAS/ANSELM- god exists outside time- he cannot change so cannot be in time- he exists without end

CHARLES HARTSHORNE- god is affected by interaction with creation- god changes within us- he is involved in creation

AQUINAS- god is outside time and sees all events- thy years neither come nor go; whereas ours both come and go

OUR ENTIRE LIFE IS VISIBLE TO GOD IMMEDIATELY- time is bound up in creation but does not effect god- unchangingand timeless- he has always existed and always will

• For years people have debated the questions of whether God can create a stone too heavy for him to lift
• Omnipotence involves being able to do absolutely anything- there are some actions that seem impossible for an omnipotent being to do (eg fail a task). 
• If omnipotence itself is impossible, then there cannot be any omnipotent beings (omnipotence paradox)

• It would be ilogical for God to be both able to do evil and unable to do evil at the same time
• God's omnipotencce is incompatible with his omniscience
• illogical for God to both be able to add to his unable and unable to add to his knowledge

• A being that is able to do absolutely anything, including the impossible?
• a being that is able to do everthing possible?
• a ebing that has maximum power?

• CREATION STORIES: references to creation in the book of Psalms (words of prophets)
• ending of the book of job
• miracle stories
• resurrection of jesus
• "and God said 'let there be light' and there was light"- Genesis 1:3

Genesis story of abraham and his wife sarah- showed kindess and hospitality to 3 strangers- as a reward, God told Abraham that he and Sarah would have the son they always wanted- sarah was past the child bearing age= nothing too hard for God

Lukes gospel: Mary mother of Jesus hears from the angel that her cousin Elizabeth is pregnant with John the Baptist- Elizabeth was also past child bearing age

DESCARTES VIEW CREATES DIFFICULTIES FOR THEODICY:

• Iranaeus/Augustine/ John Hick- God cannot act in any other way than the way he does without depriving us of our free will- we suffer in order ti make our own choices- autonomous moral agents

Macquarrie- when we speak of the power of god, we are using analogy and should understand that gods power is very different from ours- the word power refers to power in this world, so it cannot be applied to god- god is infinitely greater than we are

there will always be aspects of gods nature that are unknown to us

the kinds of power we know are 'fallible'- our imaginations are limited- we struggle to uderstand gods power 

A.N. Whitehead/ Charles Hartshorne- absolute omipotence in the sense of total power would not in reality be a perfect quality- would be better to think of god as a being whose power cannot be surpassed, rather than as a being with total power 

Hartshorne- total power means that nothing else is able to put up any resistence to all that power- omnipotence= having total influence/effect - a totally omnipotent god would have control over everything- nothing would be able to do anything unless god allowed it/ controlled it

important for an understanding of gods power- we recognise that other beings, through free will, capable of putting up resistence to god- gods power over them is not total- although his power is always greater than any other being- more impressive than a being that nothing can challenge

gods omnipotence= god can overcome all resistence, not that god will meet no resistence 

gods knowldge is infallible- he can never be wrong/ make mistakes- god knows the future- certainty of omniscient knowledge makes it difficult to reconcile with human freedom of choice

kant- without freedom there can be no moral choices- we need genuine options available to choose between- not just an illusion

if gods omniscience determines our choices, he cannot justifiably punish us/ reward us

boethius/anselm- "god is greater than anything that is conceived'- is th4e future already known to god, or does god have to wait and see what happens, just like we do?

humans are morally responsible for at least some of the actions they perform- people have genuinely free choices about what they do- god doesnt compel them- leaves it to each individual to decide- can be held responsible

islam- earhtly life is a testing place- choose between right/wrong- judged by allah- free choice with moral decisioms

it is possible for people to genuinely have free will

schleiermacher- possible solution to the problem of whether gods omniscient restricts our freedom- analogy of close friends- god could be omniscient while still allowing people to act freely

god knows everything- there is nothing he cannot know- god has no false beliefs and cannot be mistaken- if god knows everything, then that thing is true

if god is omniscient, gods knowledge includes things that unavailable to the human mind- god knows details of history that humanity has long forgotten- he knows peoples secret thoughts even when they are never expressed

god is closely linked with wisdom- alwys konws the right thing to do- best choices- which moral rules to give- when to intervene in the world

if god knows everything, does this include future and past events?- question of whether god knows in advance all the moral decisions that people will make in life- raises the issue of whether people have any real free choice

1) god is timeless- outside time- not bound by time- creator of time- atemporal/eternal

2) god is everasting- moves along our timeline but never beings/ends- future is unknown to us and unknown to god as it hasnt happened yet- god is sempiternal

OMNISICINCE- can god know with certainty the details of events that havent happened yet?

PROBLEM OF EVIL- can god see the whole picture from the beginning?- can he be partly blamed because he knew in advance?

OMNIPOTENCE- can god change the past, and make events that have already happened un-happen?

JUSTICE- can god justifiably blame us for actions he knew we would perform even before he made us?

PRAYER- is there any point in praying for something if god already knows what we will do/ futur is fixed?

AUGUSTINR/ BOETHIUS/ ANSELM/ AQUINAS/ SCHLEIERMACHER- god exists outside time- can see the past/present/future with perfect knowledge- god is not bound by space

CHRISTIAN VIEW- he can be/ is everywhere at once- exists in every part of history/ every part of the future/present

GOD IS NOT LIMITED- omnipotence is not threatened if he is not bound by time

GOD IS IMMUTABLE- unchangeable

RICHARD CREEL- divine impassibility 

god can be loving and immutable- he can know what his own will is- he does not have to wait until people exercise their free will, then see how they act, then decide how to respond

god can still know all possibilities- can know in advance what his will is in response to each possibility

love involves emotional response- an unchangeable god outside time would feel the same, all the time

god is different to us- things are not possible for us but are possible for god

aquinas drew a distinction between gods nature combined with gods will- immutable- gods will is unchangeable- gods will is the same- god doesnt change his mind

gods unchanging nature does not prevent from having relationships

does the bible support the idea of a god who is atemporal/ sempiternal?- reached opposite conclusion from swineburne 

god made the world in a particular point in time- what was he doing beforehand?

if god is everlasting, he picked that particular time to create the universe

god is absolutely immutable- 

aquinas- when we speak. of god we recognise that the language we use is analogical and not univocal- words to describe god cannot be applied directly- god isnt like us

if god is timeless and immutable- he cannot be a person or have a life

a person with a life has to be changeable in order to have relationships and respond to people- god would not be able to love- immutable- not affected by anything

love cannot be compatible with immutability- god has to exist within time for god to be able to respond with love- time less god contradicts bibke

why should a perfect being be timeless?- plato-world of forms

in the bible, god does not have fixed purposes for eternity- god interacts with people, and gods decisions about what will happen may change because of his ongoing relationship with individuals

4 dimentionalist view- past/future exists in the same way the present exists

anselm did not think that the limits of human imagination provided any kind of evidence agaisnt gods eternity

god is eternal/unlimited by space/ time

god is not 'in' every time and space- space and time is 'in' god- in control

4 dimentionalist view= free will