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Summary

This script delves into the theological concept of divine omnipotence, exploring God's all-powerful nature and addressing common challenges raised about His power. It explains that God's omnipotence does not extend to logical contradictions, such as creating a square circle, and highlights God's inability to sin due to His perfection. The discussion also touches on the problem of evil, the distinction between moral and natural evil, and various theodicies, including free will and Christ's role in addressing evil through the cross. The speaker emphasizes systematic theology and understanding divine attributes in relation to God's nature.

Takeaways

• 💪 Divine omnipotence means God is all-powerful but does not extend to logical contradictions, such as creating a square circle.
• 🪨 Questions like 'Can God create a rock too heavy for Him to lift?' misunderstand the nature of God's power and the limits of finite objects, not His omnipotence.
• 🚫 God's power doesn't include the ability to sin because sin is a deficiency, and God's nature is perfect and cannot act in a deficient manner.
• ⚖️ The distinction between God's absolute power (what God could do before creation) and God's ordained power (what God does within the established order of creation) clarifies how God acts within self-imposed constraints.
• 🤔 The theological debate on divine self-limitation, especially in relation to the Incarnation of Jesus, explores whether God voluntarily limits His power in certain contexts, without ceasing to be fully God.
• 😈 The problem of evil raises the question of how an all-powerful, good God allows evil and suffering, challenging traditional views of divine omnipotence and goodness.
• 📉 In Christian thought, evil is seen as a privation or perversion of good, not something God created, protecting God's goodness and avoiding dualism between good and evil.
• 🌪️ The distinction between moral evil (caused by human actions) and natural evil (caused by natural events) highlights different challenges in explaining suffering and evil in the world.
• 🧠 Theodicies, or defenses of God's justice, include the idea that evil serves a greater purpose, like human growth, or that it results from human misuse of free will.
• ✝️ Christ-centered approaches, like Barth's, suggest that God’s response to evil is seen in the cross, where God enters into suffering to defeat it, rather than providing a purely philosophical explanation.

Q & A

What is divine omnipotence?

Divine omnipotence refers to God's attribute of being all-powerful, meaning God has the ability to do anything that is logically possible.

Can God create a square circle or a rock too heavy for God to lift?

No, God cannot create logical contradictions such as a square circle or a rock too heavy for God to lift. This is not a limitation of God's power but a reflection of the nature of logical consistency and the properties of objects like squares and rocks.

Why can't God sin if God is all-powerful?

God cannot sin because sin is a defect or limitation, and God's perfection means He cannot act in a deficient way. This is not a limitation on God's power, but a reflection of God's perfect nature.

What is the difference between God's absolute power and God's ordained power?

God's absolute power refers to His ability to do anything that is logically possible, including all the options available before He committed to a specific course of action. God's ordained power is the power to act within the order and structure He established when He created the world.

Does God limit Himself in any way?

Yes, God chooses to limit Himself in some ways, such as through the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. However, these limitations are self-imposed and do not diminish God's nature or divinity.

What is the 'problem of evil' in relation to divine omnipotence?

The 'problem of evil' arises from the question of how an all-powerful and all-good God can allow evil and suffering to exist in the world. If God is both good and omnipotent, why does He allow evil to persist?

How does Christianity define evil?

In Christian tradition, evil is defined as a privation or perversion of the good. It is not a creation of God but rather a defect in God's good creation, a parasitic reality that distorts what should be good.

What is the distinction between moral evil and natural evil?

Moral evil refers to evil and suffering resulting from human choices, such as murder. Natural evil refers to suffering caused by natural processes, such as natural disasters or diseases.

What is a theodicy, and what are some examples?

A theodicy is an argument that seeks to defend God's goodness and justice in the face of evil. Examples include the idea that evil is necessary for human growth and development or that evil results from humans abusing their free will.

How does the cross of Christ relate to the problem of evil?

The cross is seen as God's answer to evil, where God takes the consequences of evil upon Himself to defeat it. This perspective, as proposed by theologians like Karl Barth, emphasizes a Christ-centered understanding of God's response to evil.