Gods Attributes

God’s Attributes

Divine Omnipotence

The term ‘omnipotence’ refers to all-powerful or infinite power. In relation to God, this term suggests God’s ability to carry out any action, logically possible or not.
There is an ongoing debate among philosophers regarding the issue of logical paradox in the concept of omnipotence. The classic example is this: ‘Can God create a stone so heavy that even He cannot lift it?’
Some philosophers, like Descartes, take an unrestricted view of omnipotence, suggesting that God can do anything, including the logically impossible.
In contrast, others argue for a restricted view of omnipotence. In this view, God can do everything that is logically possible.

Divine Omniscience

‘Omniscience’ refers to all-knowing or having unlimited knowledge. God is traditionally considered to possess complete, unlimited, and perfect knowledge.
Further, many believe that God’s knowledge is non-discursive; that is, God knows everything immediately, without needing to reason or learn.
However, the attribute of omniscience has raised questions for many philosophers. The Boethian solution is a prominent view that reconciles God’s omniscience with human freedom.

Divine Omni-benevolence

‘Omni-benevolent’ means to be all-good or infinitely good. This attribute of God refers to God being the greatest possible good, a perfectly good being.
Yet the issue of evil undermines the belief in a perfectly good God. This is known as the problem of evil. If God is all-powerful and all-good, how can there be evil in the world?

Divine Omnipresence

‘Omnipresence’ means to be present everywhere at the same time. This concept suggests that God is entirely present at every point in space, with His full power.
The philosophical problem around this attribute concerns how an incorporeal God can interact with the physical world.

Necessary Existence

This attribute posits that God must exist, in every possible world. Its opposite is contingent existence, which is typical of all other beings.
This concept is core to the ontological argument for the existence of God, where God’s existence is derived logically from the concept of a perfect being.

Eternality and Timelessness

God is believed to be eternal, that is, He exists forever, without a beginning or end.
Some scholars posit that God is not eternal but timeless, existing outside the realms of space and time.
This concept raises philosophical challenges related to God’s interaction with a time-bound universe.