Kayly Miranda

PHIL 2350-001
Midterm 1 Question 1

Characteristics of God from the Classic Perspective

Attempting to define God has long been a tremendous topic of debate
not only for philosophers, but possibly all other people throughout their
lifetime, and through history itself. To theists, the simple answer would be
that God is defined as the Creator. Several religions ranging from
Christianity, to Hinduism, to Zoroastrianism, or even Greek mythology have
one idea in common when it comes to God(s) which is creation. However, a
deeper, more complex question will go further to ask to define God's other
characteristics aside from the idea of him as the creator.
Perfect Being Theologians in Classic Theism, for example, would define
God as being eternal: existing outside of time and Space; impassable:
unaffected by nature; immutable: unchanging; and Omni-competent: allknowing, all-powerful, and all-loving. Without all of these traits, they would
argue that a being is lacking and imperfect, and therefore could not be
God. From the Classic perspective, we will further define these traits,
elaborate on the importance of their importance, and provide strengths and
weaknesses for the Classic argument.
The first of these traits which Classic Theists argue as being necessary
for the perfect God is timelessness, or being eternal. God resembles
abstract objects like numbers or propositions in having no temporal location
or extension (Wainwright, 2013). In other words, the Classic argument is

Kayly Miranda
PHIL 2350-001
Midterm 1 Question 1

that God is the creator of time and space. Therefore, if He created time, God
must exist outside of time and is timeless (Wainwright, 2013). He must
have existed before time began, and will continue to exists after time ends.
for God, there is no before and after, but all things and events are
experienced by God as in a single present moment (Peterson, et Al., pg.
232). While we are experiencing time as past, present, and future; or
beginning, middle, and end, God experiences all of time as a changeless
eternal now (Peterson, et al., pg. 256).
Additionally, another example of a necessary characteristic of God is
his immutability. To be immutable is to be without change. Something is
immutable if its real properties can't change.An object undergoes real
change when it loses one real property and/or acquires another
(Wainwright, 2013). Similarly, God is defined as having impassibility. To be
impassible is to be unaffected by anything. God creates, sustains, and
governs the world (Wainwright, 2013). God is the cause for all that exists
and as such, he is the cause for all of the change in everything. However,
because he is impassible, he is not neither affected nor changed by the
things He created such as Nature, Space, or time. He does not rely on
anything to create, sustain or govern Him.
Finally, Classic Theists argue that perfect being must be
Omnicompetent. That is, in order for the perfect being to be God, he must be
all-knowing (omniscient), all-loving (omnibenevolent), and all-powerful

Kayly Miranda
PHIL 2350-001
Midterm 1 Question 1

(omnipotent). Missing or lacking even one of these traits would be

considered to be proof of imperfection which is not in Gods nature.
God is omnipotent because He created all things which are possible.
He can create the universe, time, life, and death. Classic theists believe that
since God created all things which are possible, there must be nothing which
is impossible for Him. Some have tried to refute this claim with the example
that God cannot create a square-shaped triangle, therefore he cannot do
anything or everything as Classic Theists claim. St. Thomas pointed out
that anything should be referred to only in the case of objects, actions, or
states of affairs whose descriptions are not self-contradictory. For it is only
such things whose nonexistence might plausibly be attributed to a lack of
power in some agent (Peterson, et al., pg. 247). The great philosopher
Thomas Aquinas countered the argument of the square-shaped triangle
theory by stating that there is no correlation between a thing which is
contradictory in nature and God's omnipotence. Claiming that God is less
than all-powerful on the basis that he cannot do that which is impossible
absolutely is a weak argument because trying to connect power with the
ability to create something despite contradiction is basically nonsensical and
irrelevant (Peterson, et al., pg. 244).
A more sound argument against God's omnipotence would be one that
question his ability to do things without contradiction. For example: can God
create a stone which is too heavy for him to lift? This argument brings to

Kayly Miranda
PHIL 2350-001
Midterm 1 Question 1

question God's power because humans can easily do it. We can build boats,
buildings, and machines that are too heavy for us to lift. We do it every day.
So why shouldn't an all-powerful God be able to do something which is so
simple? God's inability to do something which is logical and without
contradiction is a sound argument against his omnipotence.
Another critique of Gods all-powerful nature comes from quotes within
the Bible which state that God cannot sin. It is believed that God is the
epitome of Good and that Evil comes from the lack of God that the creature
is freely choosing (Kreeft, 1988). Still, Sin is an act of some kind. But God
cannot sin as it is in 2 Tim. ii. 13 (Peterson, et al, 2014, pg. 244). If there
is even one act such as Sin that God cannot do, he is not omnipotent.
In response to the argument that God's omnipotence is put into
question by his inability to sin, Aquinas gives a counter argument, to sin is
to fall short of a perfect action; hence to be able to sin is to be able to fall
short in action, which is repugnant to omnipotence (Peterson, et al., pg.
245). Additionally, Aquinas states that God could choose to do something evil
if He willed it, but he freely chooses not to. This could be understood to mean
that if he chose to do something which at that time appear to be evil, it
would then become good. This is based on the idea that since God
everything that is good, so is everything that he does.
The second characteristic associated with being omnicompetent is
being omniscient; all-knowing. Perfect Being Theologians claim that the

Kayly Miranda
PHIL 2350-001
Midterm 1 Question 1

perfect god must have the knowledge of everything that is, was, and will be.
As the creator of all things who exists outside of time, it only makes sense
that He could see and know about it all. However, this then brings up the
argument regarding free will. If God is all-knowing, he must already know
what choices we will make in our lifetimes. Additionally, He already knows if
we will be sent to Heaven or Hell. If everything that happens does so
because it is Gods will, then everything is predetermined. Therefore, there is
no free will because it has already been decided for us. If this is the case,
one must question what the point is for God to send us here, if he already
knows everything that will ever happen to us, and why he has already
chosen those who will be sent to Heaven and Hell.
The theologian's response to this question falls into the final trait that
the perfect God has: omnibenevolence. They state that God is an all-loving
being. Furthermore, He allows for us to live and die because of His love. Even
if in the end of our lifetime we are sent to an eternity of damnation in Hell,
God allowed us live for a brief time and experience everything because He
loved us despite our coming choices. Similarly, God allows for tragedies such
as natural disasters, deaths, pain, and suffering to occur for the benefit of us
having an experience. This can be seen as tough love, if you will. Although
it may seem unfair, in the end we were able to experience things, and by
extension gain knowledge because God loved us. Suffering can work for the

Kayly Miranda
PHIL 2350-001
Midterm 1 Question 1

greater good of wisdom. It is not true that all things are good, but it is true
that "all things work together for good to those who love God (Kreeft, 1988).
Though the meaning and necessity of these characteristics vary both
individually and for separate religious groups, they are a good place to start.
In the case of Perfect Being Theologians and Classic theists, God is defined
as being the perfect metaphysical being. They define perfect as having all
of the qualities including an eternal nature, impassibility, immutability,
omnibenevolence, omnipotence, and omniscience. They contend that if a
being is not able to exist outside of time, is emotional, or is not all-loving, allpowerful, or all-knowing, then they are imperfect, which is not God. Although
many philosophers have debated over things such as inconsistencies or
contradictions of these traits, one might agree that these traits could
describe a truly awesome and powerful being worthy of praise if proven to
exist.

Works Cited
Philosophy of Religion. Peterson, Michael; Hasker, William; Reichenback,
Bruce; Basinger, David. Oxford University Press, New York, 2014. Print. 2015
The Problem of Evil. Fundamentals of Faith. Kreeft, Peter. 1988. Web. Nov 3,
2015.

Kayly Miranda
PHIL 2350-001
Midterm 1 Question 1
Wainwright, William, "Concepts of God", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring

2013 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Web. Nov 3, 2015.