On Privileging God's Moral Goodness

Faith and Philosophy 23 (4):409-422 (2006)
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Abstract

Prima facie, there is an incompatibility between God’s alleged omnipotence and impeccability. I argue that this incompat- ibility is more than prima facie. Attempts to avoid this appearance of incompatibility by allowing that there are commonplace states of affairs that an omnipotent being cannot bring about are unsuc- cessful. Instead, we should accept that God is not omnipotent. This is acceptable since it is a mistake to hold that omnipotence is a perfection. God’s moral perfection should be privileged over God’s potency properties—and the same is true of human beings as well.

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Eric Funkhouser
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

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References found in this work

Omnipotence.Peter Geach - 1973 - Philosophy 48 (183):7-20.
Maximal Power.Thomas P. Flint & Alfred J. Freddoso - 1983 - In Alfred J. Freddoso (ed.), The Existence and Nature of God. University of Notre Dame Press. pp. 81--114.
Omnipotence Again.Erik J. Wielenberg - 2000 - Faith and Philosophy 17 (1):26-47.

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