Supreme Goodness 

Explain- God is fully involved in the good of the universe because he is a good God. If he is a perfect being he must therefore be perfectly good, his kindness makes him benign.

However, God is not good in the way we as humans believe or perceive him to be, which means suffering is actually an example of his goodness and justice, even if we personally do not understand it.

Illustrate- Augustine said “he is absolutely good, but we can also say that he is not good, for he is not good in the way we are”.

Hume’s ‘dialogues concerning natural religion’ - by looking at nature we see God’s love (Cleanthes), ‘we feel God’s benevolent presence through the wretchedness of our own existence‘.

Coherence- God’s supreme goodness does not coincide with both natural and man-made evil in the world. Doesn't this show that God doesn't care, meaning he cannot be supremely good? If he however is unable to stop this even then supreme goodness is mutually incompatible with Omnipotence as he cannot be all powerful. If he doesn't know of this evil then he is not omniscient, all knowing.

 Doesn't make sense for God to be supremely good as he doesn't make anybody happy through such a ‘terrible world’, even his moral attributes cannot be accounted for by the evidence of volcanoes etc.

Omnipotence 

Explain- God possesses infinite power. “He expends no energy that needs to be replenished”, his power is not diminished by creating those with power, such as his creation, he has no need to rest. God claimed in the old testament to the Israelites that he was only one God among many and could use his power/omnipotence to erase evidence of his past work, seen in the lack of archaeological evidence in the cities mentioned in the Bible.

Illustrate- He has been depicted with an omnipotent power throughout art and many cultures, William Blake gave him an all seeing eye. 6th Century BC- “he shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble”, he has the power to shake the very foundations of existence. His powers are knowable.

Coherence- God’s omnipotent power allows him infinite power, however he is still unable to stop suffering in the world, how can he be so powerful? The discovery of science and a clockwork universe means that the world runs for ever, God is meant to be all powerful but this shows that God’s power is not needed or there anymore.

Omniscience 

Explain- God knows everything. He has infinite knowledge, even of the future (as if he is eternal he must have knowledge of past, presence and future). He knows what we are doing and what we have yet to do. One of the central divine attributes, it only makes sense for a perfect God to therefore have perfect knowledge.

 Illustrate- Job 12:13 “With God are wisdom and strength, he has counsel and understanding”. Job knew God’s wisdom and knowledge, even when he appeared to have none after treating him so badly. 

Coherence- If God knows everything, even the future, then how is it possible for us to have free will like Adam and Eve were meant to have, he already knows what we are going to do. Mutually Incoherent- If God knows everything then he must know of suffering. However, if he knows of suffering yet chooses to do nothing about it, how can he be supremely good? Although, Theists may argue against this by saying how suffering is merely God’s plan and evidence of his justice, we are simply ignorant and do not understand. God cannot know everything as certain knowledge and facts can only be learnt via experience. Knowledge of what it is like to sin can only be learnt through sinning. God cannot sin as he is supremely good so how can he have knowledge of this?

 Transcendence 

 Explain- God rises above his creation. He is the only independent being, allowing him to be unknowable and the unknown despite creating the world, the heavens and all of mankind. He is not capable of sin and we cannot possibly understand him because he is untouchable, metaphysical and far above us.

 Illustrate- Philosopher Kiekergaard rejected Immanence, he believed that God and his creation are “two qualities separated by an infinite qualitative difference”. Isaiah 53: 8-9 “for my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, said the Lord”. God is telling Isaiah that God and his creation are entirely separate. We are not perfect enough to ever meet, see or be like him.

Coherance- Mutually incoherent with immanence. How can he be metaphysical yet involved in the world? Isn’t he also meant to intervene the world via miracles and prayers? If he’s transcendent then this seems impossible. It is a restriction on what God can do and therefore cashes with omnipotence.

Immanent 

Explain- God is involved in all creation and we depend on him. There is no place where God is not, he is present in all of space and time. The written word of the bible testifies God’s divine interest, he is therefore an abstract deity. God exists within us, within the universe and we interact/learn with him via miracles, prayers etc. God provides for his creation.

Illustrate- God is involved with all creation, Genesis explains how Adam and Eve “heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day”. Here God is a physical being, able for interaction and communication. God’s immanence is supported by the Bible as a whole, for instance Jesus’ incarnation is an example of God’s role in the world. God is “sustaining all things by his powerful word” Hebrews 1:3. 

Coherence- Immanence directly conflicts with transcendence. How can God be directly involved with all of creation on a personal level (such as fighting alongside the Israelites against the Philistines) if he is a metaphysical being, above and beyond all knowing and interaction? If God is supposed to have created space and time then he must therefore exist outside of it, however Immanence speaks of a God who is very much everlasting, this doesn’t make sense.

Eternal/Everlasting 

 Explain- If God is eternal he is outside time which means he is unable to modify the present, yet he is still able to observe past, present and future. He cannot be involved directly in the world/his creation. If God is everlasting he is inside time, dwelling in eternity. He can interact with the world and knows of both past and present.

 Illustrate- Thomas Aquinas’s analogy “he who goes along the road does not see those who come after him; whereas he who sees the whole road from a height sees at once all those travelling along it”. He was saying how a timeless God is thought to observe the entire course of history at once, just as a person may observe the entire road all at once. Job “he moves on, but I do not perceive him”. This sounds as if Job was aware of God everlastingly, feeling his movement, yet this may mean an eternal God if he is unable to see him. 

Coherence- An everlasting God is able to interact and intervene with the world, including our present. If God can affect this, then do we still have free will? Both eternal and everlasting attributes do not coincide, how can God be both inside, and outside time at the same time? If God is inside time he must therefore be changing, just like everything does. However, if God is perfect and he changes, surely he will become imperfect? That doesn’t make sense.

Omnipotence 

Explain- God possesses infinite power. “He expends no energy that needs to be replenished”, his power is not diminished by creating those with power, such as his creation, he has no need to rest. God claimed in the old testament to the Israelites that he was only one God among many and could use his power/omnipotence to erase evidence of his past work, seen in the lack of archaeological evidence in the cities mentioned in the Bible.

Illustrate- He has been depicted with an omnipotent power throughout art and many cultures, William Blake gave him an all seeing eye. 6th Century BC- “he shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble”, he has the power to shake the very foundations of existence. His powers are knowable.

Coherence- God’s omnipotent power allows him infinite power, however he is still unable to stop suffering in the world, how can he be so powerful? The discovery of science and a clockwork universe means that the world runs for ever, God is meant to be all powerful but this shows that God’s power is not needed or there anymore.

Name	Explain	Illustrate	Coherence
Supreme goodness	God is good and just in everything he does, as his standards of morality are not necessarily the same as ours.	St Augustine: “He is absolutely good; but we can also say that he is not good, for he is not good in the way that we are.”	God’s goodness is not reflected in the horrors of the world seen every day, and the consignment of millions to the flames. Later theologians found it “impossible to reconcile justice and goodness” because of this.
Omnipotent	God is all-powerful; he is the founder, creator and sole owner of the universe.	Job wrote: “He shakes the world out of its place, and its pillars tremble; [he] commands the sun and it does not rise”	God’s power is not always obvious: originally God was less elusive and Genesis tells they “heard the sound” of Him walking in the Garden of Eden, but now Job says “he passes by me, and I see him not”. If God is all-powerful consistently, why does he seem to become more powerful as his followers get weaker? He commands “thou shalt have no other gods before him” suggests other omniscient beings exist.
Omniscient	God is all knowing, thus always does the right thing	The book of Joshua: “when Israel had finished slaughtering all the inhabitants of Ai” which included God’s ‘ very active partisanship’	An omniscient God becomes very hard to know as if he knows the bloodshed of eg. war, why does he allow it to happen? “Both sides in the First World War claimed His support but after all the carnage neither winners not losers found it easy to forgive him”
Transcendent	God exists outside of time and is independent of the universe – he cannot be approached or seen	Job claims: “Lo, he passes by me, and I see him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him.”	Previously, in Genesis, God is described as being very present in time: “they heard the sound of Lord God walking in the garden”. Also, God is involved in the genocide in Israel. It seems to contradict the idea of imminence.
Imminent	An imminent God is one which exists within us, within the universe and is actively a part of our existence	Genesis: “and they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden”	Imminence directly contradicts the idea of a transcendent God: either he exists outside of time, or in it, both qualities cannot exist simultaneously
Eternal/everlasting	If God is eternal, he is above and separated from time. As everlasting, he has no beginning or end but exists throughout time.	God appears separate from time when he is described by Job; “he passes by me, and I see him not”. He appears present in time when described by Genesis: “and they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden”.	This attribute lacks coherence within itself because eternal and everlasting contradict each other.