Questions tagged [theology]
Theology is the field of study and analysis that treats of God and of God's attributes and relations to the universe; the study of divine things or religious truth; divinity.
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Does the free will interpretation of evil contradict God's omnipotence? [duplicate]
Evil is often explained as a result (a byproduct, in a sense) of the free will God has given to us. Doesn't this notion contradict the idea of the omnipotent God (especially the God above laws of ...
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Does Gaunilo's objection to the ontological argument itself presuppose God's existence?
The classical ontological argument for gods existence proposed by
Anselm of Canterbury can be summed up as
God is the greatest possible being that can be imagined
If that being existed in reality it ...
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Name of fallacy that argues against the tools necessary for the argument
Let's say that someone believes that philosophy in itself is a bad thing. If I'm correct, the only way to combat this premise is to use philosophy (which is off limits since it's on trial)!
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Is the belief in God different to gambling with the truth? [closed]
As far as I can tell, belief in God is gambling with the truth due to the following thought process.
Axiom (1): Existence is defined by interaction.
Axiom (2): A statement of truth can be modulated ...
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Is philosophy the foundation for theology or is theology the foundation for philosophy? [duplicate]
Possibly also known as the question of which comes first, epistemology or metaphysics?
My worldview is conservative Protestant.
Any resources are welcome that delve into this.
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Regarding Descartes' proof of God?
One of Descartes' proofs of God's existence is that we can think of a perfect being, while being imperfect, so the perfect being has to have implanted the idea of Him in us and thus is real. But I can ...
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If Christianity is true, why are we not created perfectly?
I formalize my argument as follows:
God is perfect, omnipotent, and omniscient
God made humans for the purpose of ruling over His creation.
If God is perfect, omnipotent, and omniscient, then ...
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How can Christian heaven be interpreted as a part of materialist ontology?
Assume that heaven exists and we experience it in a physical way. In other words, we experience heaven as we do this Earth. Also assume we have bodies in heaven. Now, where is a possible place this ...
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What is the utility of non-falsifiable beliefs about God?
Note: This question is derived from comments by the original poster of an earlier question (on my answer to that question, How can theists respond to the argument that God is "unfalsifiable"...
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Could a B-theory God know what time it is now?
Could God on the B-theory account where God exists outside of time know what time it is for us now?
Even if you say time doesn't exist for us, and it's just an illusion, still God would presumably ...
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Is it possible for God to exist outside of time?
A common idea of God is that he exists outside of time. Does this make sense? Here are some objects. Do any of them work?
Impossibility of immutability: If God exists outside of time, then by ...
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Is a materialist afterlife possible?
Given a materialist view on things (the mind cannot exist separate from the body), it seems on the surface that an afterlife is possible. However, the SEP entry on afterlife seems to provide some ...
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If Time Doesn't Exist, Does God?
If time doesn't exist (this Wikipedia page and this SEP article provide some arguments for the non-existence of time), does that mean God doesn't? Given that it is impossible for God to exist ...
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Are there logical reasons why we will never be able to judge fairly and objectively if God is good?
At the heart of the problem of evil is the idea that God lets evil things happen, such as wars, and does nothing to stop them. So we are at odds with God as to what is good and what is evil.
It can ...
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Is belief that everything that happens is God's will inconsistent with Theism?
I believe that Theists are reluctant to agree that everything that happens is God's will, with the knowledge and consent of God, even planned in advance. This reluctance seems to stem from the reason ...
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Causal Closure and God
It seems many philosophers and scientists alike accept the idea of causal closure. This page states,
Belief in this kind of causality is deeply held by many philosophers and scientists. Many say it ...
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What is the Skeptical Theist's Response to the Problem of Animal Suffering?
The problem of animal suffering states that God wouldn't allow animal suffering because animal suffering is evil. Skeptical theism is the idea that God knows infinitely more than humans, and hence we ...
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Question about SEP Entry on Moral Perfection
The SEP entry on perfect moral goodness states this argument against the possibility of a perfect moral goodness.
Necessarily, God actualizes some world
Necessarily, for each actualizable world w1, ...
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Gettier Problems and God
What to the Gettier Problems mean for God? Given my (limited) research, the Gettier Problems say if something is true (the T in JTB), one cannot always have knowledge that it is true. If God knows ...
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Buridan's Ass Applied to God
Buridan's ass states a problem where a hypothetical donkey has to decide between two equal choices (food and water, an equal distance apart from the donkey). Since they are completely equal, neither ...
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Is the idea of intuitive intellect, generally attributed to God, accepted as possible?
The idea of non-discursive, or intuitive intellect, is the form of intellect where knowledge is not broken up into finite pieces (like humans), but rather a single act of understanding. This is ...
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If God existed, would he know that he knows everything?
If we define God's knowledge as a proper class (not a set, because that would create contradictions), that would mean he does not know he knows everything. Since a class cannot contain itself, he ...
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How would a theist answer this argument against omniscience?
On this webpage, the author argues:
The first problem, ”the paradox of omniscience”, is derived from Cantor’s proof that there is no set of all sets. Omniscience, it is said, entails knowledge of ...
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Opinions in face of an unsolvable problem (case-study on the existence of God)
Context
For the purpose of this post, I will assume the following quote from @jobermark (here) to be true and will ask a question on the consequences of such truth
[W]e really can only talk about ...
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Are these logical arguments against the existence of a god? [closed]
Consider the two following observations...
Observation 1
Randomly assigned individuals to watching a movie about death or a random movie about a very neutral subject. At the end of the movie, ask ...
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Universal will to exist? Why something instead of nothing? [duplicate]
My question is why is there something instead of nothing, and is this indicative of a universal will, not god as such...possibly not even sentient, just a Will to be/exist/create?
Because I may be ...
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Logical analysis of "Free will and god(s)" argument
Please evaluate the following argument strictly for formal logical validity. I am NOT interested in debating the content or in philosophical perspectives on the content. However, I AM interested in ...
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Does cosmological argument prove that anything that exists has a cause of its existence?
Does the cosmological argument "prove that anything that exists has a cause of its existence", or is that just a premise of the argument?
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How would Nietzsche argue against classical theism?
Completely out of curiosity, how would someone like Nietzsche, let's use him as an example, argue against Aquinas's metaphysical argument for classical theism. I can't seem to find any references in ...
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Argument for Classical Theism
I am an atheist. I would be interested in seeing what a metaphysical argument for theism would look like. I would also like a counter argument as well, so I can understand both the strengths and ...
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What makes Leibniz's definition of perfection unintelligible?
Leibniz defined a perfection as a simple, positive quality in the highest degree.
Norman Malcolm says
I do not find his definition of a perfection intelligible. For one thing, it assumes that ...
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What is the oldest known ethical list?
Preface
This is not an attempt to appeal to tradition. Rather, general curiosity.
Brass Tacks
What list like ethical code of ancient religions is similar to the Ten Commandments or the five/ eight ...
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What is onto-theology (Heideggerian)?
From what I understand, it is a term that combines ontology and theology, at least in the case of Heidegger, to describe modern metaphysics. To understand what onto-theology is, I first tried to ...
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Why isn't "I am Bill" a proposition?
In fleshing out the traditional definition of omniscience, William Lane Craig distinguishes between propositional knowledge and non-propositional knowledge, claiming that to be omniscient is to know ...
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"Does god exist?" Is this question correct? [duplicate]
Before going into the topic first let me clarify what I will refer to as "god" in this passage. God, I think should be referred to as something that is analogous to the axioms of a formal system. ...
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What is the point of prayer for theological rationalists?
Of course, there are psychological aspects, you can unify a community or concentrate on your life goals. I feel like Christians try to do something like that when they say that prayer should be a ...
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Can God make a rock so heavy he cannot lift it? [duplicate]
Is this really a paradox? God, at the point in time when the question is posed, is Omnipotent - so he must be able to. But in creating something that He cannot later move, does this power simply come ...
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Why is aidios, aionios, and aion translated eternal in Plato's Timaeus?
Plato's Timaeus....
When the father creator saw the creature which he had made moving and living, the created image of the eternal (aidos: imperceptible) gods, he rejoiced, and in his joy ...
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What are the main definitions of god in philosophy?
I recently learned about ignosticism, which is the idea that the notion of god is ambiguous, and then the question of the existence of god(s) is meaningless. That is quite surprising to me since the ...
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What if the Accompanying Voice is internal and non-mystical, yet mistakenly is the basis for Religion? [closed]
Some small proportion of people (you know who you are) have an Accompanying Voice: an equal who converses with your "normal thought voice" whenever you have questions or problems that you cannot solve,...
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Does the notion of absoluteness exist?
Google defines absolute as:
"a value or principle which is regarded as universally valid or which may be viewed without relation to other things."
My work interests lie in the fields of computer ...
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In Pandeism, was God capable of knowing the outcome of his annihilation?
Although Pandeism deals with an omnipotent and omniscient God, it still troubles me to think God would annihilate himself for no purpose. My latest conclusion was, God did have a purpose for his ...
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Could we take the fully rational and fully informed idealized agent that Peter Railton talks about as God, to give a theistic metaethics?
Recently, I finished Alexander Miller's book "An Introduction to Contemporary Metaethics." After reading about Peter Railton's reductionism, I wondered if it would be possible to take the agent which ...
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Where can one find the most fully developed version of EAAN with the four-part defense of premise 1?
Having just completed Alvin Plantinga's book Where the Conflict Really Lies, I was a bit surprised to learn that he now takes a different approach to defending premise 1 of the Evolutionary Argument ...
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How would a Knight of Faith respond to a disproof of God?
In Kierkegaard's work the concept of "Faith" appears to be what we might describe as a belief somehow "beyond", or more fundamental than, evidence-based belief.
In the case that belief in God (...
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Can a theist accept any brute facts about the natural world?
I am reading Adrian Bardon’s recent text, A History of the Philosophy of Time, and in it he makes the following passing comment :
The theist doesn’t accept brute facts about the natural world; she ...
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A Critcism of the Ontological Argument for God
Allow me to present the argument:
(1) By definition God is that being which possesses every perfection.
(2) Existence is a perfection.
(3) Therefore, God exists.
Whether you agree is not important,...
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Is the logic of this argument valid?
If God exists, it is rational for people to believe he exists without relying on facts:
If God exists and he wanted to be known by people he would provide a
means of knowing him.
If God wanted as ...
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Problems with the Omnipotence paradox
From Wikipedia:
The omnipotence paradox is a family of semantic paradoxes that explores what is meant by 'omnipotence'. If an omnipotent being is able to perform any action, then it should be able ...
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Omnipotence Paradox Defense and Meinongianism/Neo-Meinongianism
I was considering a solution to the omnipotence paradox in which excluding logical impossibilities from the definition of omnipotence is justified as follows. Consider the proposition, "God could ...
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