Clever Grades

🎧 Read Aloud

GOD’S ATTRIBUTES: OMNISCIENCE, OMNIPOTENCE, AND OMNIBENEVOLENCE

The Defining Attributes (Outline)

1

Omniscience

Total awareness of all facts, past, present, and future. God’s knowledge is perfect and complete.
2

Omnipotence

God is all-powerful. God can do anything that is logically possible.
3

Omnibenevolence

God is perfectly good and loving. God acts with the highest moral virtue and benevolence.

Attribute Implications (Glossary)

The meaning of these attributes together frames the classical concept of God, often called a “maximally great being.”

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Omniscience Debate

Raises questions about determinism and free will.
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Omnipotence Scope

Power is supreme over all things and causes, but does not extend to logical impossibilities.
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Omnibenevolence Test

Implies God intends what is morally best and is central to the problem of evil.
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Classical Concept

God is conceived as perfect in knowledge, power, and goodness.

God's Relation to Time (Contrasts)

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Timeless (Eternal)God exists outside of time altogether. God experiences all time (past, present, future) simultaneously in an eternal “now.” Endorsed by Boethius and Augustine.
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Everlasting (Within Time)God exists within time but lives through all moments eternally. God experiences temporal succession and is responsive to human free will. Defended by William Lane Craig.

Arguments for Incoherence (Challenge)

Challenging the Maximally Great Being

Some philosophers challenge the coherence of the classical idea of God by showing apparent contradictions or paradoxes involving God’s attributes. This set of issues forms the foundational metaphysical background for deeper philosophical inquiry.

The Paradox of the Stone (Dialogue)

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Can God create a stone so heavy that even God cannot lift it?
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This paradox seeks to show an inherent contradiction in omnipotence. Responses usually clarify that omnipotence does not include the power to do logically impossible things.

Omniscience & Free Will (Key Debate)

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The Compatibility Issue: The problem is explaining how God’s foreknowledge (omniscience) can be compatible with genuine human free will. Solutions often involve "compatibilism" or adjusting God’s relation to time (e.g., middle knowledge).

The Euthyphro Dilemma (Moral Grounding)

Is something good because God commands it? OR Does God command it because it is good?
This dilemma asks whether goodness is arbitrary, or if goodness exists independently of God, limiting God’s omnibenevolence.

Summary of Key Points (Recap)

Reviewing the foundational concepts and philosophical challenges of divine attributes.

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Core Attributes Defined

God is traditionally conceived as omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), and omnibenevolent (all-good).
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Time Debates

Competing views: timeless (eternal) vs. temporal (everlasting).
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Paradox of the Stone

Challenges omnipotence but is usually resolved by clarifying the nature of logical possibility.
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Euthyphro & Morality

Challenges the grounding of moral goodness in God’s nature.
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Attributes of God Flashcards
Term
Omniscience

What does omniscience mean in the context of God's attributes?

Answer
Definition

God is all-knowing, with perfect and complete knowledge of all facts—past, present, and future.

Term
Omnipotence Limitation

What is the key limitation of God's omnipotence?

Answer
Limitation

God can do anything logically possible but cannot do logical contradictions, like creating a square circle.

Term
Omnibenevolence

Define omnibenevolence.

Answer
Definition

God is perfectly good and loving, acting with the highest moral virtue and benevolence.

Term
God & Time

What are the two main views about God's relation to time?

Answer
Views

God is either timeless (eternal, outside time) or everlasting (temporal, existing within time).

Term
Paradox of the Stone

What is the Paradox of the Stone?

Answer
Explanation

The question of whether God can create a stone so heavy He cannot lift it, which challenges the coherence of omnipotence.

Term
Euthyphro Dilemma

What dilemma questions the basis of moral goodness in relation to God?

Answer
Explanation

Is something good because God commands it, or does God command it because it is good?

Term
Omniscience & Free Will

How does omniscience challenge the concept of free will?

Answer
Challenge

If God perfectly knows future actions, it raises the question of whether humans can genuinely act otherwise.

Term
Maximally Great Being

What does "maximally great being" refer to?

Answer
Definition

A being who is perfect in knowledge (omniscience), power (omnipotence), and goodness (omnibenevolence).

Term
Resolving Paradox of the Stone

How do philosophers typically resolve the Paradox of the Stone?

Answer
Resolution

By clarifying that omnipotence does not include doing logically impossible things.

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Timelessness & Temporal Events

What implication does God's timelessness have for His interaction with temporal events?

Answer
Implication

It raises questions about how God can respond dynamically to events if He exists outside of time.

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🌸 Nature Quiz

1. What does omniscience mean?

Omniscience is traditionally defined as all-encompassing knowledge, including past, present, and future.

2. Which of the following is NOT included in the concept of God’s omnipotence?

Omnipotence does not include the ability to perform logical impossibilities, such as creating square circles.

3. The Euthyphro Dilemma asks:

This dilemma challenges whether moral goodness depends on God’s commands or exists independently.

4. The “timeless” view of God suggests that God:

The timeless or eternal God experiences all times in an eternal present and is immutable.

5. How do philosophers often resolve the Paradox of the Stone?

The paradox is resolved by recognizing omnipotence applies only to logically possible actions.

📊 Results

  • Notes and Quiz
  • PHILOSOPHY
  • A Level
  • Philosophy of Religion
  • AQA