Metaphysics of God

Metaphysics

Concerned with the nature of reality, determining what really exists, where the world comes from. 

Revealed Theology

Knowledge of God based on direct and indirect revelation (e.g known through scripture)

Natural Theology

Knowledge of God based on reason and observation. 

Omnipotence

Perfect power. Having the ability to do anything it is possible to do. 

Omniscience

Perfect knowledge. Knowing everything that it is possible to know.

Omnibenevolence

Perfectly good. Being perfectly or supremely morally good.

'God of the philosophers’

The term which refers to how philosophers focus on a few key technical attributes of God which come from God being unique and perfect.

Everlasting

Existing throughout all time without a beginning or an end. 

Eternal

Timeless (atemporal, existing out of time). What is eternal cannot have a beginning or an end. 

Atheism

Disbelief or lack of belief in a God or Gods.

Agnostic

A person who is unsure about the existence of God or thinks nothing can be known on the matter.

Theism

A belief that God exists.

Polytheism

A belief in many Gods.

Monotheism

A belief in one God.

Theology

The study of the nature of God and religious belief from a religious perspective. 

Divine Command Theory

The ethical view that moral goodness is determined solely by God’s will or commands. Actions are morally right, wrong, obligatory, or prohibited purely because God commands or forbids them.

Independence Problem

If morally good acts are willed by God because they are good, then morality exists independently of God’s will. 

Immutability

The attribute of being incapable of change.

Arbitrariness Problem

If morally good acts are good because God wills them, then morality is based on God’s arbitrary whims. 

Emptiness Problem

Statements like “God is good” become meaningless repetitions because they just say “God’s commands follow his commands”. 

Abhorrent Commands Problem

If God commanded evil acts, they would become morally good under divine command theory. 

Free will

The capacity of rational agents to choose a course of action from among various alternatives.