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omniscience and omnibenevolent (the nature of God) - Coggle Diagram
omniscience and omnibenevolent (the nature of God)
omniscience
a being unfailingly wise as well as knowing everything
ideas about this raise issues about God's relationship with time and with human free will
if God knows with absolute certainty and is never mistaken, then God's knowledge of people's future actions could be seen to 'fix' those actions and remove freedom of choice
people can't do anything except the action God already knows they will do, so perhaps their free will is compromised
Schleiermacher - argued that God can know us as close friends know us so he can know what we will do without forcing our choices
but his critics argue that God's knowledge is not like the knowledge friends have; God never guesses or makes mistakes
omnibenevolent
Bible is clear that the nature of God is love
consistent theme throughout the Old and New Testements
God is described as 'good' and 'perfect' in the Bible
God creates the universe in Genesis, everything is 'very good' suggesting God only does good
unlike Plato's Form of Good, the God of the Bible is interested in moral behaviour
when God chooses Israel was his people, he sets them a standard to follow (e.g. the Ten Commandments)
when God is angry with people, it is not because of their failure to perform religious rituals but because of the way they treat each other especially the poor and the weak
Christians - god's goodness is exemplified in the person of Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross
love is seen as an attribute of God and also as the creation if God
God is found wherever love is found
criticisms of God as omnibenevolent
argue that the God of the bible especially in the Old Testament is not particularly good
e.g. he asks Abraham to sacrifice his son as a test, he can be jealous and angry, and in the story of Noah he regretted the flood, suggesting God makes mistakes
problem of evil raises questions of whether a God of omnipotence can also be all-loving when there is evidence of evil in the world
inconsistent triad
might be considered incompatible with other attributes of God
for example if God is it then he cannot do evil but if he is omnipotent then he can do anything