The Nature of God

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What does Transcendent mean?
God is separate from the physical world
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What does Immutable mean?
the idea that God cannot change
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What does Immanent mean?
the idea that God is active and closely involved in the world
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What are the 5 Key Concepts of God?
(1) Simplicity (2) Eternity (3) Omnipotence (4) Omniscience (5) Omnibenevolence
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What does God's Simplicity mean?
God is God, God is unchanging (he does not have parts or characteristics), God is immaterial
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What did Augustine say about God being simple?
he said that speaking of God being simple signifies his being and existing - they are the same thing - to talk of God is to talk of his existence
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What does Brain Davies say about God being unchanging?
anything that changes is part of the world - and not distinct from it as God is
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What does God refer to himself as?
'I Am' - personal name of God, God's nature and existence are the same thing - quoted in Exodus (burning bush) Johns Gospel 'I Am the true vine' 'I Am the bread of life'
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What are the characteristics of God as eternal?
he exists outside of time - no beginning and no end. he is timeless; past, present and future all together
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What are the reasons that christians see God as eternal?
The Bible suggests that God always exist, God is not a physical being like us,God is the creator of universe so is outside of time,God is the ultimate cause, is perfect & not subject to time,God exists necessarily(aquinas' 3rd way)
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What are the implications of God being Eternal?
If God is outside of time then he is transcendent and beyond human understanding
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What are the characteristics of an everlasting God?
no beginning and no end, but time DOES pass for God (e.g.time passed for Jesus) creation was over a time period - God can be more direct and answer prayers etc - more Christian friendly belief
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What type of God did Swinburne support?
Everlasting God - believed it fits better with the God that is revealed in the Bible
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What did Wolterstorff say about God?
that to understand God's actions in the Bible we have to see them as free actions. Suggests that time passed for God - suggests that God's omniscience cannot include knowing the future - God's knowledge increases as the future happens
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What did Anthony Kenny say about God?
He criticised an Eternal God - saying that the idea of all time being present is incoherent (SWINBURNE AGREED)
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Regarding God Answering prayers?
Aquinas - prayer is the act that show God's continuing activity in the world. Wiles - The universe is part of God's ongoing creative activity; he is always acting. Many people would dispute ideas about petitionary prayers
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What does God's omnipotence mean?
All powerful - enables all things to be possible
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What does Aquinas say about God's omnipotence?
God has 'Active Power',communicating this sense of the ability of God to exercise power and to bring about events.
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What did Descartes say about God's omnipotence?
He supported the view that God can do ANYTHING including what may seem impossible/changes in the laws of nature. later rejected by philosophers - to say God can do what is logically impossible refers to nothing as God can do everything.
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What does Anthony Kenny say about God's omnipotence?
suggested that God's omnipotence is understood as a statement of God's power - 'a being is omnipotent if it has every power which is logically possible to possess'
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What are the challenges to God's omnipotence?
God can't change past history as it would contradict what we know to be the case. God cannot sin as he wouldn't be perfect, and sin involves change which an eternal God cannot do. Anselm said that sin shows a lack of power - God has all power
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What is the Stone analogy?
can God make a stone that is too heavy for him to lift? if no then he is not all powerful, yet if he did and could not lift it then he wouldn't be all powerful.
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What is the perfection of God?
Christians would describe God as being perfect, he lacks nothing, eternal and unchanging, if God is everlasting then he must change - meaning he is not perfect.
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What does omniscience mean?
all knowing - he is aware of everything, knows how the universe came to exist and why it exists
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What does Psalm 139:1-2 say?
'O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar'
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What is limited omniscience?
God's knowledge is limited to what is logically possible to know or God choses to limit what he knows to allow humans free will. according to this view God's knowledge changes over time - fits in with the belief that God is EVERLASTING
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What is middle knowledge?
the idea that God knows all the possibilities of what could happen in different scenario's
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Omniscience and an Eternal God?
his knowledge is not the same as human knowledge - he is outside of time and non physical. human beings gain knowledge through senses.
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Simple God and omniscience?
God doesn't gain knowledge through experience and learning - God just has knowledge
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What did Aquinas suggest about God's knowledge?
he said that God does have knowledge because it's non physical - God has SELF KNOWLEDGE - this is how he knows about creation, because he was the creator
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An everlasting God and omniscience?
he can acquire new knowledge as time passes, he can know what is logically impossible to know, his knowledge is limited as he does not yet know what does not exist yet, he is omniscient as he has a perfect knowledge of what has/is occurring
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How do we know that God is omniscient?
revealed in the Bible, he is perfect and that includes having unlimited knowledge, his actions are intelligent and involves knowledge
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What are some challenges to God's omniscience?
do humans have free will if God can see out futures? if hard determinism is true then we can be help casually responsible for our actions but not morally.
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What is Calvinism?
theological system named after John Calvin - emphasises grace, faith and predestination
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What is Predestination?
the belief that God choses some to be saved (free will is lost?)
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What is liberty of spontaneity?
freedom is doing what we want. These wants may have a cause we are not aware of
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What is a liberty of indifference?
freedom is the ability to do otherwise. This type of freedom may be incompatible with God
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What does omnibenevolent mean?
God is good - part of his perfection
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What does 2 Chronicles 7:3 say?
'he is good; his love endures for ever'
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What did Swinburne say about God's omnibenevolence?
he drew analogies between God's goodness and the role of a parent
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What is the Euthyphro Dilemma?
Does God set the standards in determining what is good and bad, or do these standards exist regardless of the views of God?
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Criticisms of Gods omnibenevolence?
-some people argue that God is of a lesser value if he HAS to be good instead of choosing to be good. However others would argue that goodness is a part of God's nature.
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What are divine rewards and punishments?
God judges all at the end of time, separates just from unjust, physical rewards & punishments in the afterlife, New testament states that God will judge people & hold them to account for their lives in the afterlife
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What does Matthew 5-12 say?
jesus promises on numerous occasions that his followers will be rewarded if they suffer on account of his name
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What does foreknowledge mean?
knowledge of events that have not yet happened
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what does casual determinism mean?
every event that occurs can be explained by references to the causes that brought it about
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what is libertarianism?
despite what has happened in the past/present we can act different to make the future. We are all morally responsible for our actions and free to make choices
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What is hard determinism?
the idea that humans don't have free will - instead they is a prior cause which means that all actions have no moral responsibility
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What is Soft determinism?
also known as theological determinism - the belief that God already knew before time began who would be 'saved' and who would go to heaven - no choice
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What does Immutable mean?

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the idea that God cannot change

Card 3

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What does Immanent mean?

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Card 4

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What are the 5 Key Concepts of God?

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Card 5

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What does God's Simplicity mean?

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