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    Classical theism, from Aquinas through Leibniz, holds tha... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→The universe is already implicitly God in an actual sense, even though deity as a fully realized quality does not yet exist.

    Classical theism, from Aquinas through Leibniz, holds that divine predicates require pure actuality (actus purus) with no admixture of unrealized potentiality.

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    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.If God has unrealized potential, God could become different, implying present incompleteness incompatible with absolute perfection.
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    • 2.Potentiality implies dependence on external conditions to actualize; divine independence requires pure actuality without such dependence.
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    • 3.Temporal change requires transition between states; pure actuality avoids this, securing God's eternity and immutability as classical theism requires.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Divine knowledge of future contingents seems to require God to not-yet-know them, suggesting unrealized epistemic potential in God's nature.
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    • 2.If creation was a free divine choice, God possessed the potential to create or not; pure actuality cannot account for this unconstrained agency.
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    • 3.Pure actuality without potentiality makes God's will appear determined rather than free, contradicting traditional divine freedom doctrines.
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    Natural Theology1 linkedDivine Attributes1 linked

    Related

    Divine knowledge of future contingents seems to require God to not-yet-know them...If God has unrealized potential, God could become different, implying present in...If creation was a free divine choice, God possessed the potential to create or n...Potentiality implies dependence on external conditions to actualize; divine inde...
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    Pure actuality without potentiality makes God's will appear determined rather th...Temporal change requires transition between states; pure actuality avoids this, ...The universe is already implicitly God in an actual sense, even though deity as ...

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    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
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