user X
2003-08-09, 19:00
Omnipotence is a difficult concept to grasp. Most people can't refrain from anthropomorphizing, and some can't venture beyond the perspective of an intrinsically limited existence, or one of an organized religion. Although my query here, is an adjunct to a Christianity-centric discussion, I would like this topic to focus on the nature of being, rather than be driven by Old Testament dictum.
Some maxims regarding Omnipotence:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
*The omnipotent being is inherently omniscient, and omnipresent, as these qualities are subordinant to power.
*Omnipresence implies that this being exists outside of the constraints of time, and is therefore neither created nor destroyed (regardless of the implication of a force higher than itself.)
*Omniscience implies that this being has total knowledge of the future.
</UL>
Given these fundamental characteristics, this being cannot have free will in the human sense. All of his future actions are fixed--by virtue of the fact that he has complete knowledge of the future. He cannot change his mind, or alter his course of action. He must be a slave to predeterminability from the human perspective--which is trapped in the web of time, therefore the entire body of his actions must have been (been/are/will be) executed in an instant of time.
This nature of singularis absolutus also lends credence to such ancillary theories of fixed morality, absolute will and virtue, etc. The elements of good and evil, as they relate to these theories--must be subordinate to this beings will. Good and evil must be given equal shares of power, and this being cannot be the essence of either. It is, rather a single force that has dominion over both, thereby elevating the virtues of conflict to something that transcends the mortal perspective.
Some maxims regarding Omnipotence:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
*The omnipotent being is inherently omniscient, and omnipresent, as these qualities are subordinant to power.
*Omnipresence implies that this being exists outside of the constraints of time, and is therefore neither created nor destroyed (regardless of the implication of a force higher than itself.)
*Omniscience implies that this being has total knowledge of the future.
</UL>
Given these fundamental characteristics, this being cannot have free will in the human sense. All of his future actions are fixed--by virtue of the fact that he has complete knowledge of the future. He cannot change his mind, or alter his course of action. He must be a slave to predeterminability from the human perspective--which is trapped in the web of time, therefore the entire body of his actions must have been (been/are/will be) executed in an instant of time.
This nature of singularis absolutus also lends credence to such ancillary theories of fixed morality, absolute will and virtue, etc. The elements of good and evil, as they relate to these theories--must be subordinate to this beings will. Good and evil must be given equal shares of power, and this being cannot be the essence of either. It is, rather a single force that has dominion over both, thereby elevating the virtues of conflict to something that transcends the mortal perspective.