Attributes of god

the idea that god is all powerful

problems with omnipotence

• Can God sin?
• Can God run, jump
• Can God create a 5 sided triangle?
• Can God change the past?

god can do everything

• Descartes favoured this definition.
• Two problems this definition encounters
• J.L. Mackie- Nothing is logically impossible,-

God can do all that is logically possible

• God doesn't possess a body
• Anthony Kenny- possession of logically possible powers which it is logically possible for a being with the attributes of God to have.

plantinga

• God may not have omnipotence as a necessary quality
• He may limit his power to preserve FREE WILL

geach

• Omnipotence from the Latin Omnipotens BUT the Bible was written in Greek with the word PANTOKRATOR which translates as almighty. This means capacity for power rather than power to do everything.

Omnipotence- The logically possible

• God's power is different from our power
• It is logically possible for you to climb Everest it doesn't mean you have the power to do so. Likewise, omnipotence is about what is logically possible for God to do.
• Aquinas- Omnipotence is about God's power being infinite and not limited.

Aquinas

Can God change past history?

Can God sin?

• Sin would stop God being perfect
• Sin involves change and God is eternal
• Sin= lack of power over actions (Anselm)

cAN god create a stone too heavy to lift?

• Incoherent and meaningless
• If God made it unmovable then by definition it cannot be moved

gEORGE MAVRODES

• Create a stone God cannot lift
• God is unlimited so it is self contradictory
• Logically impossible for an all powerful being.

Can god change the past

• William of Ockham solution
• Absolute power refers to the options available to God before he acts. Prior to creation God could have done anything.
• Ordained power: Options available to God. He cannot uncreate it once he has chosen to create.

OMNISCIENCE

what problems are raised by omniscience?

aNALOGY

• Imagine a scientist who has studied chocolate for 20 years but has never eaten it. Does the scientist know more about the chocolate once he has tasted it?
• God's knowledge is restricted by sensory experiences

middle knowledge

Bible verses- Omniscience

• Snake in the grass (Gen 3
• Boasting about knowledge (job 38: 31-33)
• Story about lust (2 Samuel 11-12)
• Knowing people through and through (Psalm 139)

EXAMPLE

• God knows if you will pass your A levels
• Marry a man called Sid
• Become an accountant
• He would know what would happen if you didnt pass your A levels, or won the lotto. This involves a range of scenarios. Is there such a thing as middle knowledge for God? Are the thousands of what ifs genuine facts or not?

does omniscience include the future?

• Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (PSALM)

FLEW & MACKIE

• God could have foreseen the consequences of creation and he could have made creatures who always chose to do the right thing.