1.8.2

Omniscience

Test yourself

The Nature of God: Omniscience

Omniscience means that God knows everything. Nothing is hidden from Him. Anything He knows must be true.

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Biblical evidence of omniscience

  • “Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord” (Psalm 139:4).
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Key problems with omniscience

  • The theory of omniscience means that God knows the future.
    • If God knows the future, this brings up some problematic questions:
    • If God knows the future, why does He not intervene to stop bad things from happening?
    • If God knows the future, does this mean humans don't have free will?
    • Can God judge us fairly if we don't have free will?
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God is everlasting

  • God is everlasting (sempiternal).
    • This is the modern view (Swinburne).
  • God created the world.
  • Time only began to exist when God created the world.
    • This means that the past is the past for God as well.
    • This means that God does not know the future either.
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God is timeless

  • God is timeless (atemporal).
    • This is the classical view (Aquinas, Augustine & Boethius).
    • This suggests that God is 'outside' of time (transcendent).
  • God does not see time in the linear fashion we do.
  • God is not bound by time since He created time.
  • God can be and is everywhere at once.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Omniscience

There are different ideas about God's omniscience and relationship with time.

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Timeless - strengths

  • The view that God is timeless gives Him strength.
  • The view that God is timeless arguably makes God greater than an everlasting God.
  • The view that God is timeless maintains God as a being with unchanging nature.
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Timeless - weaknesses

  • The view of a timeless God limits our free will and leads to problems around predestination.
    • Can God judge us fairly if we can’t choose actions for ourselves?
  • The view of a timeless God leads to problems with God’s benevolence.
  • God can see the ‘future’ but doesn’t intervene in cases like the Holocaust.
    • Does this make God malevolent?
  • In the Bible, God is shown to act in time – e.g. curing a leper.
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Weakness - God as Prime Mover

  • The idea of a timeless God comes from the ancient Greeks.
    • The idea of a timeless God can be found in Plato’s Theory of Forms and Aristotle’s Prime Mover.
  • The idea of the Christian God being timeless was promoted by Aquinas.
  • Aristotle's Prime Mover is not moved by anything, whereas the God from the Bible is moved by people's prayers.
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Everlasting - strengths

  • The idea of an everlasting God is based on the Bible.
  • There are examples of God responding to prayers.
    • One example is the curing of a leper after the leper prayed for God to help.
  • The idea of an everlasting God makes the concept of prayer relevant.
    • 'Ask and you shall receive' (Matthew's Gospel).
  • God responds to prayers.
  • God is benevolent.
  • The idea of an everlasting God preserves the idea of the free will of humans.
    • God learns about our actions as we do them, not in advance.
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Everlasting - weaknesses

  • The idea that God is eternal means that He has always existed.
    • If God has always existed, what was He doing before He created time?
  • The idea that God is all knowing doesn't necessarily preclude the idea of free will for humans.
    • If God has knowledge from the beginning of time, He may just be able to correctly predict the future.
    • The idea that God is able to correctly predict the future doesn't mean that humans don't have free will.

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1Philosophy of Religion

1.1Ancient Philosophical Influences: Plato

1.1.1Plato's Understanding of Reality

1.1.2Plato's Theory of Forms

1.1.3Plato's Analogy of the Cave

1.1.4The Purpose of Plato's Analogy of the Cave

1.1.5Evaluation of Plato's Theories

1.2Ancient Philosophical Influences: Aristotle

1.2.1Aristotle's Understanding of Reality

1.2.2Aristotle's Four Causes

1.2.3Aristotle's Prime Mover

1.3Ancient Philosophical Influences: Soul, Mind, Body

1.3.1Plato & Aristotle's Views of the Soul

1.3.2Metaphysics of Consciousness

1.3.3Materialism - Ryle’s Philosophical Behaviourism

1.3.4Materialism - Identity Theory

1.4The Existence of God - Arguments from Observation

1.4.1The Teleological Argument - Aquinas' Fifth Way

1.4.2The Teleological Argument - Paley & Evolution

1.4.3The Cosmological Argument

1.4.4Hume's Criticisms: Teleological & Cosmological

1.5The Existence of God - Arguments from Reason

1.5.1The Ontological Argument

1.5.2Criticisms of the Ontological Argument

1.6Religious Experience

1.6.1Introduction to Religious Experience

1.6.2Mystical Experience

1.6.3Conversion Experience

1.6.4Understanding Religious Experience

1.6.5Issues Relating to Religious Experience - Validity

1.6.6Issues Relating to Religious Experiences - People

1.7The Problem of Evil

1.7.1Presentations of the Problems of Evil

1.7.2Discussion Points -

1.8The Nature & Attributes of God

1.8.1Omnipotence

1.8.2Omniscience

1.8.3Boethius - Divine Knowledge, Free Will & Eternity

1.8.4(Omni)benevolence

1.8.5Eternity & Free Will

1.9Religious Language: Negative, Analogical, Symbolic

1.9.1Apophatic & Cataphatic Way

1.9.2Symbol

1.9.3Discussion Points: Religious Language

1.10Religious Language: 20th Century Perspective

1.10.1Logical Positivism & Verification Principle

1.10.2Wittgenstein

1.10.3Falsification Symposium: Flew & Hare

1.10.4Falsification Symposium: Mitchell

1.10.5Discussion Points: Verification & Falsification

1.10.6Discussion Points: Aquinas vs Wittgenstein

2Religion & Ethics

2.1Natural Law

2.1.1St Thomas Aquinas - Telos & Four Tiers of Law

2.1.2St Thomas Aquinas - Precepts

2.1.3St Thomas Aquinas - Real & Apparent Goods

2.1.4Discussion Points - Natural Law & Doing Good

2.1.5Discussion Points - Telos & Double Effect Doctrine

2.2Situation Ethics

2.2.1Fletcher's Situation Ethics

2.2.2Fletcher's Concept of Conscience

2.2.3Discussion Points: Moral Decision-Making

2.2.4Discussion Points - Agape

2.3Kantian Ethics

2.3.1Introduction to Kantian Ethics & Duty

2.3.2Hypothetical & Categorical Imperative

2.3.3Summum Bonum & Three Postulates

2.3.4Discussion Points: Kantian Ethics

2.4Utilitarianism

2.4.1The Utility Principle

2.4.2Act & Rule Utilitarianism

2.4.3Discussion Points: Utilitarianism

2.5Euthanasia

2.5.1Key Concepts for Euthanasia Debates

2.5.2Discussion Points: Natural Law & Situation Ethics

2.5.3Discussion Points: Sanctity of Life

2.5.4Discussion Points: Autonomy & Medical Intervention

2.6Business Ethics

2.6.1Corporate Social Responsibility & Whistle-Blowing

2.6.2Good Ethics & Globalisation

2.6.3Discussion Points: Utilitarianism & Kantian Ethics

2.6.4Discussion Points: CSR, Globalisation & Capitalism

3Developments in Christian Thought

3.1Saint Augustine's Teachings

3.1.1Human Nature

3.1.2Original Sin & God's Grace

3.2Death & the Afterlife

3.2.1Heaven, Hell, & Purgatory

3.2.2Different Interpretations of the Afterlife

3.2.3Election

3.2.4The Final Judgement

3.2.5Discussion Points: Heaven, Hell & Purgatory

3.3Knowledge of God's Existence

3.3.1Natural Knowledge

3.3.2Revealed Knowledge in Faith, Grace, & Jesus Christ

3.3.3Revealed Knowledge in the Bible & Church

3.3.4Discussion Points: Reason & Belief in God

3.3.5Discussion Points: The Fall & Trust in God

3.4The Person of Jesus Christ

3.4.1Jesus Christ’s Authority as the Son of God

3.4.2Jesus Christ’s Authority as a Teacher of Wisdom

3.4.3Jesus Christ’s Authority as a Liberator

3.5Christian Moral Principles

3.5.1The Bible & Love

3.5.2Bible, Church & Reason

3.5.3Discussion Points: Christian Ethics

3.5.4Discussion Points: Love & the Bible

3.6Christian Moral Action

3.6.1Dietrich Bonhoeffer & the Confessing Church

3.6.2Bonhoeffer & Civil Disobedience

3.6.3Bonhoeffer's Teaching on Ethics as Action

3.6.4Discussion Points: Civil Disobedience & Bonhoeffer

3.7Development - Pluralism & Theology

3.7.1Pluralism & Theology: Exclusivism & Inclusivism

3.7.2Pluralism & Theology: Pluralism

3.7.3Discussion Points: Salvation

3.7.4Discussion Points: Pluralism Undermining Beliefs

3.8Development - Pluralism & Society

3.8.1Development of Multi-Faith Societies

3.8.2Responses to Inter-Faith Dialogue

3.8.3The Scriptural Reasoning Movement

3.8.4Discussion Points: Social Cohesion & Scripture

3.8.5Discussion Points: Conversion

3.9Gender & Society

3.9.1Waves of Feminism

3.9.2Traditional Christian Views on Gender Roles

3.9.3Christian Views on Gender Roles & Family

3.9.4Discussion Points: Secular Views of Gender

3.9.5Discussion Points: Motherhood & Family

3.10Gender & Theology

3.10.1Rosemary Radford Ruether

3.10.2Mary Daly

3.10.3Discussion Points: Ruether & Daly

3.10.4Discussion Points: Male Saviour & Female God

3.11Challenges

3.11.1Secularism - Sigmund Freud

3.11.2Secularism - Richard Dawkins

3.11.3Christianity & Public Life

3.11.4Discussion Points: Spiritual Values

3.11.5Discussion Points: Social Values & Opportunities

3.11.6Karl Marx

3.11.7Liberation Theology

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Omnipotence

Boethius - Divine Knowledge, Free Will & Eternity