Lesson 1: Introduction
Origins of Christian beliefs about God
God of the Old Testament:
- Anthropomorphised
- Involved in the world
- Unpredictable
- Has thoughts and feelings (angry when disobeyed)
- He waits to see what people will do to him as future is unknown
God of the New Testament:
- Timeless, spaceless, unchanging, first cause
Main qualities of God:
God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, eternal and everlasting
BUT Christians sometimes have different views on what this means
, Lesson 2: Different understandings of omnipotence
Does God’s omnipotence mean that he can do anything even if it is self contradictory?
Descartes
- God can do anything even the logically impossible, he said even make a square
or circle or make 2+2=5
- Because God has no limitations, God can change logic, God created everything
even maths so he can change that
- He also said saying God cannot do this limits God, God is capable of doing evil
and incapable at the same time- we can’t understand this as humans are limited
CRITICISM
- God can do anything, but it doesn't make sense for a square to be circles etc
NOT that it limits God’s power
- Descartes makes God unpredictable and arbitrary – he has to be capable of
keeping promises and breaking them and doing evil etc. So how can humans
rely on a God like this
- It causes problems for theodicies – they say that God couldn't stop evil without
us losing our free will – but if God can do anything then he could defy logic and
allow us to have free will and stop evil so he just doesn't.
- Some say the Bible doesn't support Descartes view e.g. Hebrews “it is
impossible for God to lie”
Does God’s omnipotence mean that God can do everything which is within his own
nature, and which is logically impossible?
This is the idea that God is capable of doing anything but there are some things he
wouldn't do as they are against his nature.
Aquinas
- He said that God is omnipotent because “he can do everything that is absolutely
possible”
- So, if something is not logically possible it cannot be done even by God. God
cannot do anything that is not consistent with his nature this is self-imposed.
Swinburne
- The coherence of theism – God can do anything but not the logical impossible,
because impossible things are not things
- God is omnipotent which means he can do everything. God can do everything,
but self-contradictory definitions don’t apple to things. For example, square
circles are not things.
Origins of Christian beliefs about God
God of the Old Testament:
- Anthropomorphised
- Involved in the world
- Unpredictable
- Has thoughts and feelings (angry when disobeyed)
- He waits to see what people will do to him as future is unknown
God of the New Testament:
- Timeless, spaceless, unchanging, first cause
Main qualities of God:
God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, eternal and everlasting
BUT Christians sometimes have different views on what this means
, Lesson 2: Different understandings of omnipotence
Does God’s omnipotence mean that he can do anything even if it is self contradictory?
Descartes
- God can do anything even the logically impossible, he said even make a square
or circle or make 2+2=5
- Because God has no limitations, God can change logic, God created everything
even maths so he can change that
- He also said saying God cannot do this limits God, God is capable of doing evil
and incapable at the same time- we can’t understand this as humans are limited
CRITICISM
- God can do anything, but it doesn't make sense for a square to be circles etc
NOT that it limits God’s power
- Descartes makes God unpredictable and arbitrary – he has to be capable of
keeping promises and breaking them and doing evil etc. So how can humans
rely on a God like this
- It causes problems for theodicies – they say that God couldn't stop evil without
us losing our free will – but if God can do anything then he could defy logic and
allow us to have free will and stop evil so he just doesn't.
- Some say the Bible doesn't support Descartes view e.g. Hebrews “it is
impossible for God to lie”
Does God’s omnipotence mean that God can do everything which is within his own
nature, and which is logically impossible?
This is the idea that God is capable of doing anything but there are some things he
wouldn't do as they are against his nature.
Aquinas
- He said that God is omnipotent because “he can do everything that is absolutely
possible”
- So, if something is not logically possible it cannot be done even by God. God
cannot do anything that is not consistent with his nature this is self-imposed.
Swinburne
- The coherence of theism – God can do anything but not the logical impossible,
because impossible things are not things
- God is omnipotent which means he can do everything. God can do everything,
but self-contradictory definitions don’t apple to things. For example, square
circles are not things.
