ICoG

Question 1

The Paradox of the stone

Answer 1

P1: Either God can make a stone that God cannot move or God cannot do this - there are no other options.
P2: If God can make such a stone then there is a task that God cannot perform
P3: If God cannot make such a stone then there is a task that God cannot perform
IC: Therefore, either way there will always be a task that God cannot perform.
C: Therefore, God is cannot be omnipotent.

Question 2

Omniscience vs free will argument

Answer 2

P1: If God is omniscient then God knows all true propositions.
P2: If God knows all true propositions then God knows what I will do.
P3: If God knows what I will do then I am unable to do anything else
P4: If I am unable to do anything else, then I am not free.
C: Therefore, if God is omniscient then I am not free.
[P5: If I am not free then God is not omnibenevolent
C2: Therefore, if God is omniscient then God is not omnibenevolent and so the concept is incoherent.]

Question 3

The Euthythro dilemma

Answer 3

P1: There are only two ways of understanding God’s relationship to moral goodness:
Actions are morally right independently of God’s commands
or
Actions are morally right only because God commands them
P2: Option (A) causes a problem for God’s omnibenevolence since God is not the source of morality
NB: This also causes problems for God’s omnipotence since if morality is independent of God, God didn’t create morality and can’t control/change it.
P3: Option (B) causes a problem for God’s omnibenevolence because God cannot give a moral justification for particular actions being morally right/wrong
NB: This also has the implication that actions that seem obviously/intuitively morally wrong could have been morally right
C1: Therefore, there is no acceptable way to understand an omnibenevolent God’s relationship to moral goodness.
C2: Therefore, God cannot be omnibenevolent.