In the last post on this subject (Part 5), I claimed that one can generate over 5,000,000 definitions of ‘divine person’ from a set of five divine attributes.In reflecting over my previous analysis of how many definitions one can generate from a set of just four divine attributes (power, knowledge, freedom, goodness), I noticed that … How Many Ways to Analyze the Word ‘God’ – Part 6

I have previously shown that using just four divine attributes (power, knowledge, freedom, goodness) that can occur in four different degrees (human, superhuman, perfect, eternally perfect), one can create more than 200,000 definitions of ‘divine person’. That is not quite as impressive as the estimate of three million definitions that I made initially, based on … How Many Ways to Analyze the Word ‘God’? – Part 5

I’m going to cut to the chase now, for those who have no interest in following the details of my reasoning (“Dear God, please make him stop! I will barf on my keyboard if he mentions ‘criterial conditions’ or ‘range of degrees’ one more time.”): 205, 240 definitions of ‘divine person’ can be generated from … How Many Ways to Analyze the Word ‘God’? – Part 4

II. Only Three Attributes are Relevant In this second case there will be far fewer possible definitions of ‘divine person’ because the assumption that one of the four attributes is irrelevant means that we only have three attributes to use in constructing sets of conditions that will in turn be used to generate definitions. Fewer … How Many Ways to Analyze the Word ‘God’? – Part 3

I will now try to determine how many different definitions of ‘divine person’ can be generated from the four previously specified attributes, in the case that all four attributes are relevant to a definition of the phrase ‘divine person’. I. All Four Attributes are Relevant A. Four Conditions are Criterial and None are Necessary ConditionsIf … How Many Ways to Analyze the Word ‘God’? – Part 2

My estimate that there are more than three millon ways to analyze the word ‘God’ (using just four attributes in the analysis) was inflated by some incorrect assumptions. I will now make a second attempt to determine an accurate count of the various combinations and permutations of conditions that form different definitions, taking into consideration … How Many Ways to Analyze the Word ‘God’?

Assume there are only four possible divine attributes: powerknowledgefreedomgoodness Each of the above attributes can occur in four degrees: humansuperhumanperfecteternally perfectThere can be 14 different combinations of acceptable degrees for each attribute: Four combinations with just one acceptable degree (e.g. only ‘perfect’ knowledge is acceptable).Six combinations with just two acceptable degrees (e.g. either ‘superhuman’ or … Three Million Ways to Analyze the Word ‘God’

Could God be a hero? I don’t think so. Based on recent discussion of this question, I can formulate an argument for the claim that God is not capable of being a hero: 1. Only a being who can suffer or be harmed can be a hero.2. A person who is eternally omnipotent, eternally omniscient, … What God Cannot Do – Part 5

Swinburne takes the word ‘God’ to be loosely tied to a list of criteria or descriptions, similar to how he takes the words ‘person’ and ‘bodiless’ to be criterially defined concepts. Among the criteria or descriptions used to denote or identify an individual as ‘God’, if there is such an individual, is the criterion that … What God Cannot Do – Part 4

In Chapter 6 of Our Idea of God (1991), Thomas Morris provides a brief but helpful explanation of different types of necessity in relation to divine attributes.Morris explains three different types or levels of necessity. Let’s use claims about the divine attribute of omnipotence as examples of the three types of necessity. I think this … What God Cannot Do – Part 3