God being omniscient also creates the problem of taking away someone’s liberty; therefore with God being ‘all knowing’ some may feel that we lose our free will this way. This also means that God knows everything that has happened, and everything that will happen in the future; although God is known to be ‘all powerful’ it is still impossible to know everything that will happen in the future, as events in the future do not meet the criteria for ‘knowing something’ according to the Plata/Ayre definition of knowledge.
Two more of God’s attributes are ‘Infinite’ and being an ‘Uncreated Creator’ which raises the question ‘what was God doing before our universe was created?’ Infinity is somewhat impossible for humans to comprehend, as we can’t imagine there being ‘nothingness’ which would have to also mean no time or no space.
God is a ‘Sustainer’ meaning that God is the sustaining force keeping the universe together, and without this sustaining force the universe would not be here. However; this is contradicted by another attribute of God – ‘Perfectly free’. This contradiction raises the question ‘How is God bound to sustain the universe and also be perfectly free?’ Being ‘perfectly free’ can also question many of the other attributes of the God of classical theism, for example God has to be omnipotent and omni benevolent, but how can he be if he is perfectly free to do what he wants whenever he wants? In my opinion, this is unarguable.
Obviously, God cannot be seen, however the effects of God can be felt, this makes God ‘tangible’ as many people have faith in God saying that they have felt his presence during their lives. However; God is described as being ‘transcendent’ which literally means ‘the realm of thought which lies beyond the boundary of possible knowledge and experience’ which contradicts God being ‘tangible’ and ‘personal’. This is because the effects of God cannot be felt on Earth if God is beyond our realm of knowledge and experience. God is also known to be ‘Omnipresent’ meaning everywhere at once; however his transcendence does not allow God to do this.
One of the largest contradictions within the attributes of God is ‘God is one’ which simply cannot be the case if God has twelve other attributes. God is also ‘Immutable’ meaning that he is unchangeable, also making it impossible for him to fulfil his other duties as ‘God’.
There are many other paradoxes associated with The God of Classical Theism that aren’t directly related to the thirteen attributes that God holds. One infamous example is ‘Is God is known for being good, why is it that evil exists in the world?’ Many questions like this can jeopardise people’s faith in God, even more so knowing that there is no way of justifying the existence of God.
In my opinion, these paradoxes lead more towards proving that the God of Classical Theism does not exist, however, it is of course possible for someone to have faith in God, without believing that each one of these attributes are true. I personally feel that the most important attribute is ‘personal’ as God should be personal to every single person, and each different person should have their own perception of God.
Recourses used:
http:// www.wordiq.com
