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Omnipotence and necessary moral perfection: are they compatible?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2001

WES MORRISTON
WES MORRISTON
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Colorado at Boulder, 169 Hellems, Campus Box 232, Boulder, CO 80309–0232
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Abstract

This paper elaborates and defends an argument for saying that if God is necessarily good (morally perfect in all possible worlds), then He does not have the maximum conceivable amount of power and so is not all-powerful. It considers and rejects several of the best-known attempts to show that necessary moral perfection is consistent with the requirements of omnipotence, and concludes by suggesting that a less than all-powerful person might still be the greatest possible being.

Great is your power, and your wisdom is immeasurable. Psalm 147.5

Type
Research Article
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , June 2001 , pp. 143 - 160
Copyright
© 2001 Cambridge University Press

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