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The Doctrine of God. What/Who is God?. How should we define God? Maximally perfect being, greatest conceivable being God is a disembodied mind. Trinitarianism. Three persons in one being Not tritheism Not modalism Logically coherent. Aseity. Where did God come from? Self-existent being
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What/Who is God? • How should we define God? • Maximally perfect being, greatest conceivable being • God is a disembodied mind
Trinitarianism • Three persons in one being • Not tritheism • Not modalism • Logically coherent
Aseity • Where did God come from? • Self-existent being • What about abstract objects (Platonism)? • Does the number 7 exist?
Simplicity • The doctrine that claims God has no distinct attributes—pure existence. • Is there a difference between omnipotence and goodness? • Should simplicity be rejected? • Simplicity is different from a simple being. • God’s knowledge is simple—no divine deliberation.
Holiness • God is morally perfect • All goodness is grounded in God • Divine command theory
Omnipotence • Subject to modality • God can create or cause X in so long as X can be logically actualized. • Can God create a rock too big for Him to move? • Can God create a four sided triangle?
Omniscience • An omnicient person knows any proposition P, God knows that P, and does not believe not-P. • God knows that Peter exists and does not believe Peter’s non-existence. • To be cognitively perfect, the being must be more than omniscient. The being must know all propositional knowledge and the appropriate non-propositional knowledge. • God knows that He is God. • God does not know that He is Ronald Reagan.
Omnipresence • Is God really everywhere? What does that even mean? • God is not a spatial being but does exist everywhere in space. • God is causally present and cognitively present at every point in space. • Pantheism and panentheism
Immutability • Can God change? • Can God change His mind? (i.e. Jonah) • Divine repentance (i.e. Gen. 6.6) • If God is a MPB then if God changes, wouldn’t that change be imperfection? • Developed by the abuse of Greek philosophy (the Unmoved Mover) • Change doesn’t necessitate imperfection (change can be morally neutral)
Application • Know who you worship • Knowing what/who God is gives reason for why you should trust Him • Always with us (Ps. 23) • Sovereign and providential • Holy, morally perfect being (always for our good) • Personal being
Reduplicated Predication • The predicate property of the person is with respect to one nature. • I.e. ignorance with humantiy and omniscience with divinity. • During the Incarnation, the Logos allowed only certain aspects of Christ’s Person conscious which were compatible of typical human existence.
Divine Command Theory A is required of S iff a just and loving God commands S to do A. A is permitted for S iff a just and loving God does not command S not to do A. A is forbidden to S iff a just and loving god commands S not to do A.
The Moments of God’s Knowledge 1 Natural Possible Worlds 2 Middle Feasible Worlds 3 Free Actual World