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    Carmelics

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
    See Original
    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Aquinas and the classical theist tradition hold that divine attributes are not accidents inhering in God but are identical to the divine essence, dissolving the asymmetry.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Identity claims that justice = power = mercy = essence seem incoherent: identical things share all properties, yet these attributes differ.
      ?

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    • 2.The doctrine dissolves rather than solves the problem: saying attributes are 'identical to essence' merely relabels the asymmetry without explaining it.
      ?

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    • 3.Human intuition and language treat divine attributes as distinct properties; identity theory requires counterintuitive metaphysical machinery to overcome this.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.If divine attributes were accidents, God would depend on them for existence, contradicting divine aseity and absolute independence.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Identity theory preserves God's absolute simplicity: no composition of substance and properties, thus no potential multiplicity in God's being.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Classical theism requires that God's justice, mercy, and power are not contingent features but constitute what God necessarily is.
      ?

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