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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
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    God must be immutable (harboring no unrealized potentiali... — Carmelics
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Divine Attributes
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    God must be immutable (harboring no unrealized potentialities).

    Divine Attributes
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.God is simple.
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    • 2.A simple being cannot harbor any unrealized potentialities.
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.A being can be ontologically perfect and complete while still standing in real relations to a changing creation (Aquinas's own distinction between real and logical relations).
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    • 2.If God's relational properties change as creation changes, this entails Cambridge-change in God, not intrinsic change or unrealized potentiality.
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    • 3.Cambridge-change is compatible with full actuality, so immutability in the strong sense does not follow from the absence of unrealized potentialities.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Process theologians (Whitehead, Hartshorne) argue that a God capable of genuine responsiveness to the world is greater than one who is not, invoking a revised perfect-being theology.
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    • 2.If omniperfection requires maximal responsiveness, then some form of potentiality for relational states is a divine perfection, not a deficiency.
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    • 3.Therefore, the inference from simplicity to strict immutability presupposes a Platonic, not a theistically neutral, conception of perfection.
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    Divine Attributes

    Related

    A being can be ontologically perfect and complete while still standing in real r...A simple being cannot harbor any unrealized potentialities.Cambridge-change is compatible with full actuality, so immutability in the stron...If God's relational properties change as creation changes, this entails Cambridg...
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    If omniperfection requires maximal responsiveness, then some form of potentialit...Process theologians (Whitehead, Hartshorne) argue that a God capable of genuine ...Therefore, the inference from simplicity to strict immutability presupposes a Pl...

    Similar

    God is immutable with respect to existence.88%If something is immutable, it cannot be different from what it is86%God is physically immutable.86%Omniscience is incompatible with immutability.85%

    Source

    AI-extracted2/3 agreementValid
    SEP: divine-simplicity
    View source passageHide passage
    Besides perfection and necessity, immateriality, eternity, and immutability also seem to point to simplicity as their ground. Because God is simple, he cannot have parts and so cannot have material or temporal parts. And because God is simple, he cannot harbor any unrealized potentialities, and so must be immutable. The centrality of DDS to medieval philosophical theology is shown by its position in the order of topics in Aquinas’ Summa Theologica. It occurs as Question 3 right after Question 2 on the existence of God.
    Extraction notes

    Validity: The passage explicitly states "because God is simple, he cannot harbor any unrealized potentialities, and so must be immutable," which directly matches the extracted argument's premises and conclusion.

    Confidence: Clearly stated argument in the text.

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit