Omnipotence in the
Bible
Question: What is the meaning of God’s
omnipotence in the Bible?
Look at the following Biblical passages and
deduce the meaning of God's omnipotence
in the Bible.
1.
Genesis 1: 1-2
2.
Job 38:12: ‘Have you commanded
the morning since your days began, and
caused the dawn to know its place‟
The Problem of omnipotence
Question: What is the meaning of God’s omniscience in the Bible?
For centuries philosophers have argued
about the meaning of omnipotence and
whether it is possible to make sense of the
word ‘omnipotence’.
Read passage 2 and either passage 1 or 3 (or both):
1.
Define the meaning of God's omniscience in the Bible
2.
Identify two or three examples of God being omniscient
Answer the following problems and then
see if you can suggest the two solutions
which Christian philosophers have often
suggested.
Omnipotence problems
3.
Job 40:9 „Have you an arm like
God, and can you thunder with a voice like
his?‟
1. Can God climb a tree?
2. Can God make a rock too heavy to
lift?
4.
Joshua 10:11a, 13 „The LORD threw
down huge stones from heaven on them as
far as Azekah, and they died;… And the sun
stood still, and the moon stopped, until the
nation [Joshua‟s followers] took vengeance
on their enemies [the Amorites].
3. Can God make square circles?
4. Can God sin?
5. Can God swim?
What do you think the answers are? And,
more importantly, what point do you think
the questions are getting at?
5.
Job 36:22 „See, God is exalted in his
power; who is a teacher like him?‟
Your answer:
Omniscience in the
Bible
Philosophers’ two solutions
Solution 1:
Solution 2:
Which solution is more persuasive? Why?
The passages
1.
Genesis 3 (The story of the snake tempting Eve who tempts Adam)
2.
Job 38: 31-33 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the cords of
Orion? Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with
its children? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on
the earth?”
3.
2 Samuel 11-12 (A story about lust)
In the second passage God’s knowledge includes that of the stars and understanding the
celestial laws - what we today would call the laws of physics governing the movement of
the planets.
A philosopher’s problem:
1.
What does omniscience mean in your opinion?
2.
Do you have free will?
3.
Can God know the future if it has not already happened?
4.
If God knows the future do we really have a choice about decisions
we make?
Explain your answers.
Philosophers’ solutions:
Can you think of two ways in which philosophers solve the problem of
omnipotence?
1.
2.
Omnipresence in the
Bible
Write down what you think the Omnipresence of God means:
Look up the following passages in the Bible. What can be deduced
about God’s omnipresence from them?
1.
Genesis 1
2.
Genesis 3
3.
Job 38
Nietzsche referred to the indecency of a God who knows our every action
and who is always present. What actions might Nietzsche have been thinking of and do you agree with him?
What does Aquinas have to say about omnipresence?
But how He is in other things created by Him, may be considered
from human affairs. A king, for example, is said to be in the whole
kingdom by his power, although he is not everywhere present. Again
a thing is said to be by its presence in other things which are subject
to its inspection; as things in a house are said to be present to anyone,
who nevertheless may not be in substance in every part of the house.
Lastly, a thing is said to be by way of substance or essence in that
place in which its substance may be. Now there were some (the
Manichees) who said that spiritual and incorporeal things were subject to the divine power; but that visible and corporeal things were
subject to the power of a contrary principle. Therefore against these it
is necessary to say that God is in all things by His power. (Summa
Theologica 1, q8, a3)