In depth and detailed summary notes for OCR Religious Studies: Nature and Attributes of God (omniscience, omnibenevolence, eternity, free will). Made by an A* student who is now studying at Oxford. Comprehensive notes perfect for essay plans.
-“Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord” (Psalm 139:4)
Aquinas, Augustine, Boethius: God is atemporal (timeless) and eternal. Suggests that
God is transcendent (outside of time) and not bound by time since he is the creator of it.
God does not see time in a linear fashion.
-Strength: Makes God greater than an everlasting God when we apply the logic of
Anselm’s ontological argument.
-Weakness: Limits our free will and leads to problems around predestination (John
Calvin).
-Weakness: Can God judge us fairly if we can’t choose actions for ourselves?
-Weakness: Problems with His benevolence: God can see the future but often
doesn't intervene.
-Weakness: Ideas of a timeless God arguably come from Plato and Aristotle. Few
would argue that the Prime Mover (unmoved by anything) is the God of the Bible,
who is moved by people’s prayers.
-Weakness: If God is separate, how can he have a relationship with a temporal
world?
-Weakness: If God is eternal, can he choose between one course of action or
another?
-Weakness: Is it a semantic issue?
Swinburne: God is sempiternal (everlasting). God is eternal, but time began to exist
when He created the world. The future is unknown to God. Time moves in a linear
fashion.
-Strength: Has groundings in Biblical examples of God responding to prayers to change
the future (King Hezekiah being granted a longer life).).
-Strength: Makes the concept of prayer relevant. God responds to prayers and is
immanent in our lives. This also upholds His benevolence.
-Strength: Preserves free will as God learns about our actions when we make them.
-Strength: Wolterstorff: According to the God of Abraham in scripture, God is without
beginning or end, existing as an everlasting (sempiternal) being.
-Weakness: Since God is eternal, what was He doing before He created time?
-Weakness: If God is within time, His being has become limited.
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