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Divine Unity

Divine Unity. A further discussion. Impossibility. If we say that something is impossible, our opponent can prove us wrong just by showing us a single counter-example E.g. Plantinga vs Mackie – Argument from Evil

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Divine Unity

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  1. Divine Unity A further discussion

  2. Impossibility If we say that something is impossible, our opponent can prove us wrong just by showing us a single counter-example E.g. Plantinga vs Mackie – Argument from Evil Mackie said it was impossible for evil and God to both exist, if God is omnipotent and all-good. Plantinga disproved him by reference to free-will What about our claim that it’s impossible for two deities to exist? Can we prove it just by saying the universe manifest order, balance, beauty, favour etc?

  3. 1. Need vs Reason There is no need for partners, when the Creator of the universe, has absolute power, knowledge and so on… But, says the polytheist: Need ≠ Reason Two or more beings may have no ‘need’ of assistance, but may nonetheless collaborate so that both can manifest their beauty/perfection

  4. The universe points to one Creator, but… The polytheist continues: The following two statements are not equivalent: 1. There is only one God in existence 2. The universe cannot have been created by more than One Being. Other deities may exist that have not participated in the creation of this universe. There may be other universes that other deities have created – even ‘immaterial realms’ that occupy no space/place

  5. Parsimony We have a universe that points to the existence of God It suffices to posit just one God But this argument does not render the non-existence of other deities impossible The existence of other deities may be a ‘bare logical possibility’ (like a unicorn), but that possibility is very significant to the person who wants to disprove our original claim If we want to rule out that possibility, we need something more…

  6. Impossibility of two absolutes I mentioned a few weeks ago one of Bediuzzaman’s arguments for the impossibility of two beings both with absolute power Dr Besnek last week presented numerous other arguments of the same sort for the impossibility of two beings with absolute freedom, sovereignty and others I believe that these are the right sort of arguments to show that only one God can exist. We can’t stop at just the order etc in the universe

  7. Absolute Power It’s clear that there can’t be two beings with absolute power But an opponent is now going to ask us to prove that the Creator of the universe must have absolute power We can’t use the argument that a being must have absolute power to be a God in the first place – an opponent will just say no such being exists. He will say a creator of the universe that has finite power exists How can we disprove this?

  8. Discussion/homework Let’s all consider some different ways of proving that a being with absolute power, or absolute knowledge, or absolute freedom, etc, must exist…

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