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Omnipotence

Omnipotence is the quality of having unlimited power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence only to the deity of their faith. In the monotheistic religious philosophy of Abrahamic religions, omnipotence is often listed as one of God's characteristics, along with omniscience, omnipresence, and omnibenevolence. The presence of all these properties in a single entity has given rise to considerable theological debate, prominently including the problem of evil, the question of why such a deity would permit the existence of evil. It is accepted in philosophy and science that omnipotence can never be effectively understood.

Etymology

The word omnipotence derives from the Latin prefix omni-, meaning "all", and the word potens, meaning "potent" or "powerful". Thus the term means "all-powerful".[1]

Meanings

Scholasticism

The term omnipotent has been used to connote a number of different positions. These positions include, but are not limited to, the following:

Uncertainty

Trying to develop a theory to explain, assign or reject omnipotence on grounds of logic has little merit, since being omnipotent, in a Cartesian sense, would mean the omnipotent being is above logic, a view supported by René Descartes.[23] He issues this idea in his Meditations on First Philosophy. This view is called universal possibilism.[24]


According to Hindu philosophy the essence of Brahman can never be understood or known since Brahman is beyond both existence and non-existence, transcending and including time, causation and space, and thus can never be known in the same material sense as one traditionally "understands" a given concept or object.[25]

Counterdependency

Criminals from a sense of guilt

Omnipotence paradox

Theodicy

Augustine,

City of God and Christian Doctrine

C.S. Lewis,

The Problem of Pain

Charles Hartshorne,

Man's Vision of God

Plato,

Sophist

Tertullian,

Against Praxeas

Thomas Aquinas,

Summa Theologica

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry

Logical Truth and Omnipotence

Omnipotence and Free Will in Judaism