Essay
Critically assess the belief that God is omnipotent.
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This essay was written in my second year of sixth form, achieving an A* and discussing the nature of God and his attributes
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‘Critically assess the belief that God is omnipotent.’Christianity has ascribed a variety of attributes to God, just three being his omniscience, omnipotence,
and omnibenevolence. Whilst these three attributes have great importance for helping people
understand the nature of God, there is no universal agreement as to what these attributes actually
entail. The omnipotence of God alone can have three distinct definitions, thus corroborating the claim
that Christians seem to struggle to agree on precisely what it means. The first of these definitions can
be associated with Descartes, who postulated that God’s omnipotence means that he can do the
logically impossible. In contrast to this, Aquinas put forth the argument that God can only do what is
logically possible. A final definition is that omnipotence is merely a phrase to refer to God’s power.
This essay will argue that no matter what type of approach is taken regarding the omnipotence of God,
all three definitions have flaws, some more larger than others, and in this light, the belief that God is
omnipotent is therefore incoherent. Moreover, this line of argument will also include the scholars
Descartes, Aquinas, Peter Vardy, Peter Geach, John Macquarrie, A.N. Whitehead and Charles
Hartshorne.
The first way in which it will be argued that the belief that God is omnipotent is incoherent, is through
assessing the claims of Rene Descarates, who postulated that God could do anything, including what
might seem impossible. For example, Descartes argued that God could make a square circle, or make
2 + 2 = 5, because God is the supreme perfection, and therefore, he does not have any limitation to his
power. The basis of Descartes’ argument is that because God is the source of logic, he also has the
power to suspend or replace it, and thus is capable of doing the logically impossible. There are,
however, several flaws that are exposed through assessing Descartes’ theory, with the first being that
the philosopher creates a logical contradiction. The God which Descartes is depicting could be
capable of doing evil, because he has the power to do so, and incapable, because of his
omnibenevolence at the same time. This logical contradiction clearly creates problems for the
coherency of Descartes’ definition of God, and furthermore, it does not allow for an omnibenevolent
God, thus bringing in the problem of evil argument. Several other scholars also argue that Descartes’
argument of God being able to do the logically impossible is a meaningless thing to claim. It is not a
lack of power that prevents God from making a square circle or making 2 + 2 = 5, but rather, such
claims are nonsense and meaningless in themselves because it is not real. As aforementioned that
Descartes’ logical contradiction creates issues for an omnibenevolent God, his views also turn God
into an unpredictable and arbitrary tyrant. For example, if God really is omnipotent as Descartes
claims, he has to be capable of doing evil, of being unforgiving and of failing. Is the God that
Descartes portrays thus a God worth believing in? No, it is not, as such an unpredictable God makes it
impossible for people to have a relationship with him, a fundamental aspect of the Christian faith.
Therefore, it is through evaluating Descartes’ claim, that God’s omnipotence means he can do the
logically impossible, which shows his theory is incoherent and there has to be some limitation on
God’s power.
Thomas Aquinas’ argument directly contradicts the work of Descartes, and instead postulates that
God could do anything that is non-contradictory and that is within the nature of God; thus, he can do
the logically possible, but not the impossible. Aquinas argued that God’s power is omnipotent because
it is infinite, and the reason that God’s power is infinite is that God is not limited. This in turn relies
on the idea that God is eternal and therefore not bound by the limitation of physical existence.
Aquinas states that ‘God’s power can do anything’ and ‘Whatever involves a contradiction is not held
by omnipotence, for it just cannot possibly make sense of being possible… For a contradiction in
terms cannot be a word, for no mind can conceive it.’ Through merely highlighting Aquinas’ theory it
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