Divine Sovereignty and Aseity
To say that God is sovereign over all things is to say that everything depends on God. To say that God exists a se is to say that Gods depends on nothing. This chapter examines and defends strong versions of five theses pertaining to God’s sovereignty and aseity: (1) Everything that exists depends on God for its existence. (2)Every situation that is the case depends on God for its being the case.(3)God depends on nothing for his existence. (4) God depends on nothing for his being what he is.(5)God is perfectly free. The implications of these theses for the doctrines of creation ex nihilo, continuous creation, and God’s eternality, freedom, and simplicity are discussed. I argue that although the theses portray a deity who is quite different from humans, they nevertheless are consistent with God’s being personal, that is, a being to whom beliefs, desires, intentions, and emotions are correctly ascribed.
Keywords: aseity, continuous creation, creation ex nihilo, eternality (divine), freedom (divine), simplicity (divine), sovereignty (divine)
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