The Nature of God

Omniscient

All-knowing. God has perfect and complete knowledge of everything. 

Omnipotent

All-powerful. God has perfect and unlimited power to do anything that it is logically possible to do. 

Omnibenevolent

All-loving. God is morally perfect and always acts with complete goodness.

Eternal

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

Everlasting

Existing throughout all time without a beginning or an end.

An eternal God

Engages with every moment in time simultaneously. 

An everlasting God

Engages with moments as they come. 

Paradox of the Stone

Can God create a stone too heavy for him to lift? If he cannot create it, he is not all-powerful. If he cannot lift it, he is not all-powerful.

Mavrodes’ counter to the Paradox of the Stone

It is not logically possible for an omnipotent being to be unable to do something, and therefore a stone which an omnipotent being cannot lift does not exist.

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. If morality is external, God is not the source of all goodness. 

Arbitrariness Problem

If morally good acts are good because God wills them, then morality is based on God’s arbitrary whims. Moral rules could be irrational or meaningless.  

Emptiness Problem

Statements like “God is good” become meaningless repetitions because they just say “God’s commands follow his commands”. This strips statements of moral meaning. 

Abhorrent Commands Problem

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

The Euthyphro Dilemma

If God commands actions because they are morally good, then morality exists independently of God, which undermines his omnipotence and makes him subject to a higher moral standard. Alternatively, if actions are morally good because God commands them, then morality becomes arbitrary, based on God's whims, and God could command abhorrent acts.   

Free will

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

The problem of omniscience and free will

If God is omniscient and knows everything, humans cannot have free will. God knows what we will do before we do it. 

Option 1 for God’s omniscience

God could be uncertain about future. He knows everything about you and the lunch options so is 99% sure what you will have for lunch but you are free to change your mind.

Option 2 for God’s omniscience

God knows all possible outcomes so he knows what you will have for lunch.

Option 3 for God’s omniscience

God knows the future and it is inevitable. All future choices are therefore necessary (God cannot be wrong). 

Option 4 for God’s omniscience

God is outside time. Humans have a linear timeline however God is experiencing all points in time simultaneously. God is atemporal and is present in every single moment and knows everything always so it is not predetermined.