It means that God can do anything; anything that doesn't defy logic.
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Analogy for something defying logic-
Making black into white/ square circle.
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What are the problems?
Can God make something more powerful than himself? A wall he cannot climb over? If the answer is no then is he really omnipotent?
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Whats the real issue?
The meaning of 'omnipotent'.
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Why?^^
Because if God has decided to adopt a particular course of action or behave in a particular way he has 'self-limited' himself.
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Example of this-
Free will: If he gives humans free will then he cannot stop them from doing certain things like choosing evil.
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What did Anselm argue?
Omnipotence isn't necessarily a good thing because it means God could (sin) pervert justice, tell lies.
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Why isn't this good?
It would go against his nature. Anselm observed that God's omnipotence should be observed in light of Christian understanding about his nature.
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What did William of Ockham (THINK HAM SANDWICH) argue?
There were 'two powers of God'
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Whats the first power?
Once there was a time when God could do anything. Ockham called this absolute power of God. (Potentia absoluta)
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Whats the second power?
God, through his divine will, chose to establish an order of things and this order remains until the end of time. This is the 'ordering power of God' (Potentia ordinata)
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What did these two powers mean in summary?
In the absolute power god could do whatever he wanted. However, he chose to create the world and his power BY HIS OWN CHOICE was restricted to acting in the order he had made.
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What is 'Divine self-limitation'?
If God is able to do anything, then he must be able to become committed to a course of action and be able to stay committed to it. In a sense God can choose to limit his own options.
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Taking it further box:
Divine self-limitation as emptying- when God chose to become J.C he had to empty himself of his divinity. Bonhoeffer said God had to become powerless to help us and be with us as human Jesus.
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Bonhoeffer quote:
'God lets himself be pushed out of the world on to the cross. He is weak and powerless in the world and that is precisely the way, the only way, in which he is with us and helps us.'
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