1.1 Nature of God

• Spinoza

  God is impersonal
• Spinoza's view

  • Humans can love God but God cannot return this love
  • Personal two way relationship is not possible
• Buber

  God is personal
• Buber's view

  • The relationship between God and humans is not i-it but rather i-thou
  • i-it is subject-object and i-thou is subject-subject
  • In a relationship with God we dont just know about God, we KNOW God
  • Therefore, we can have a personal relationship with God
• Why does Spinoza argue that we can't have a personal relationship with God?

  It would require God to change his being, which he cannot as he is perfect and perfection cannot be altered
• Arguments that say God suffers

  • In the Old Testament - God shares the suffering with Israel
• Arguments that say God DOESNT suffer

  • Philo said that God is perfect and unchanging, therefore he cannot be affected by human suffering
• What is immutability?

  Gods unchanging nature
• What is Ex Nihilo?

  The argument that everything had to come from God, there was no pre-existing matter
• What did Augustine argue about ex nihilo?

  He argued that creation was ex nihilo, God is changeless and timeless who can create out of nothing
• What is a strength of ex nihilo?

  It is not dependant on any scientific model to prove its validity
• What does ex nihilo prove about God?

  It proves that God acts freely and he exists apart from matter therefore cannot change
• What are the criticisms of ex nihilo?

  It has empirical problems; we have no evidence that the universe came into being from absolutley nothing
• What is emanation?

  the idea that the creation of the world was an overflowing of Gods creative energy
• what is emanation opposed to?

  creationism
• what is creationism?

  when the universe is created by God who is seperate from the universe
• what is a criticism of emanation

  it goes against the idea that god is personal and he expressed his love within his creation
• what is construction?

  the idea that God is a builder who constructs the world
• What does the image of God as a builder suggest?

  that God made the world from pre-existing material - goes against ex nihilo
• what is artistic expression?

  the work of art and beauty that expresses the love and personality of God
• what is a strength of artistic expression?

  it overcomes the criticisms of construction and emanation (that God is impersonal)
• what is a criticism of artistic expression?

  if the universe is a work of art, why is there evil and suffering in the world?
• what is stewardship?

  humans should look after the world for future generations
• what is a quote for stewardship?

  "Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground" - Genesis