Wainwright, William J. Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Print publication date: 2005 (this edition)
Published to Oxford Scholarship Online:
Print ISBN-13: 978-0-19-513809-2
doi:10.1093/0195138090.003.0002
 

William L. Rowe
In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam God is generally understood to be an eternal being, possessing maximal power (omnipotence), maximal knowledge (omniscience), and maximal goodness. This understanding of the divine nature emerged over time as religious thinkers reflected on the qualities contributing to perfection and greatness in a conscious being. To comprehend the idea of God it is therefore necessary to understand the fundamental great-making qualities—goodness, power, and knowledge—that are aspects of the divine nature, to understand what is required from each of these qualities to have a maximal degree, and to consider whether any being can possess each of these qualities in a maximal degree.
Keywords: divine nature, eternal being, maximal goodness, maximal knowledge (omniscience), maximal power (omnipotence), perfection (divine)
doi:10.1093/0195138090.003.0002
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Part I Problems
Part II Approaches