Plato defined an atheist as anyone who denied the existence of God; according to him, this personified complete wisdom and perfection.
He held that nothing purely beneficial can ever do harm.
Plato was in contrast with Descartes because he believed that nothing omnipotent can ever be morally just.
Table of Contents
The Concept of God
What philosophers believe about God depends on which philosophical tradition they adhere to, as more advanced areas of philosophy replaced anthropomorphic depictions with scientific conceptions of its creator – this trend reflecting both church decline and increasing scientific influence on society.
From Plato and Aristotle onward, God has been depicted as an incorporeal, immaterial being. This conception can be found throughout classical theism as manifest in Judaism’s Philo and Maimonides writings; Christian orthodoxy represented by Augustine of Hippo; and early Muslim philosophy represented by Al-Ghazali.
Plato believed God to be an intelligent, transcendent being who utilizes eternal forms to fashion the universe with persuasive rather than coercive power. These eternal forms serve as archetypes reflecting ultimate reality of existence; he created them so as to provide optimal environments for his creatures and allow flaws in material things; however, these imperfections don’t reflect higher divine intentions which human beings misinterpret as imperfection in divine plans.
Plato was unlike Greek polytheists in his belief that gods resemble humans – indeed he thought this impossible! Instead he believed that Greek mythology represented just myths which did not represent their true nature. Plato had difficulty reconciling how this pantheon of gods appeared as guides for mortals in Greek mythology but believed instead they were something different altogether.
Descartes was more inclined towards scientific thinking about life. He believed that natural law governed everything, and that these laws governed it in an immutable fashion – this led him to conclude there could only ever be one god who was both powerful and kind, not being affected by humans’ worship of it. As a result, Descartes did not believe gods could do bad things or were affected by human actions influencing them in any way.
The Concept of Goodness
Goodness can be defined as the trait that motivates someone to want to help others, whether this means giving, visiting the sick, volunteering or giving money. It’s an all-encompassing idea and can apply in many aspects of life; people with this characteristic will act according to what loving wisdom dictates in any given situation – this might involve reprimand, teaching, counseling or even rebuke as appropriate – though goodness should never equate with meanness; indeed Christian faith calls for this kind of behavior!
Another facet of goodness is its relationship to divine holiness. God is good, and will not tolerate any form of evil in His universe; therefore when He punishes a wicked person it can only be seen as good in that it prevents further spread. The New Testament frequently uses the term agathosune for goodness – often translated as usefulness, benevolence or honesty – although this word also stands for integrity and morality.
In fact, the New Testament makes it abundantly clear that someone with agathosune does the right thing. Furthermore, God teaches that He wants us to do good as well and so evil may pose the biggest challenge to belief that He is good; but accepting He cannot be corrupted by such temptation becomes much less severe.
As goodness increases in believers, helping others becomes second nature to them and an expression of God’s love in action. The Holy Spirit guides their actions for others based on love and the desire to please Him; whether this means confronting someone about their sinful ways or helping those in need – goodness brings blessing from God; this is what makes the Bible such an encouraging source – it shows that believing in God enables people to overcome virtually anything, including impossible challenges!
The Concept of Justice
Plato’s works, particularly the Theory of Forms and Allegory of the Cave have laid the groundwork for Western philosophical thought. While it remains hard to ascertain exactly what he believed, his message that there are intangible forces which influence physical reality persists today; leading to various theories on how things work in our world and of justice.
Plato’s beliefs about the soul have long been integrated into modern Christian beliefs. One such idea is an innate moral code based on an immortal soul separate from its body that does not face punishment for its actions as the physical world does. This concept has been heavily influenced by Plato, though some critics consider it too abstract and impractical for everyday use.
Plato’s philosophy has had a lasting impact in another area – God. Plato posited an all-powerful being who provided all goodness, truth and nobility – similar to Abrahamic God of Genesis or Jewish Yahweh but with one key distinction; Plato did not believe his Deity had such power over all reality as Abraham’s God did.
Descartes believed his God could do anything, unlike Laplace who held that his God could only perform good works and would never commit any bad ones.
Plato believed his Deity existed outside space and time, in contrast to biblical depictions where He lived on Mount Olympus as having physical form.
Philosophers have identified numerous forms of justice, from epistemological justice (treating all people equally) to recognitional justice – which requires providing access to concepts and information necessary for equal participation in society and equality.
The Concept of Omniscience
In Plato’s debate over his belief in god, the concept of omniscience plays an integral part. Omniscience refers to God knowing all that could possibly be known – including true propositions as well as all possible worlds – including propositions that might not yet have been found true and possible ones yet undiscovered. There are different interpretations of this notion; scholars have seen omniscience either as perfectability or absolute power – both analyses having their own set of merits and drawbacks but all revolving around this idea that God knows everything.
Another controversial theory of God’s omniscience states that He only knows things that can be known in certain ways, including evidence-based inference or deduction, logical deduction, causally undetermined events such as free creaturely actions; though most theists would reject this argument.
Other scholars have advanced an argument that God does not necessarily know all propositions, regardless of whether he is all-knowing. These would include those established through logic or natural law. While this view is less popular, its supporters remain numerous.
Be mindful that there are those who argue that even an all-knowing god cannot comprehend everything; these could include concepts about possible future worlds like a new universe or Jesus Christ’s resurrection.
Beyond theories related to omniscience, other concepts linked to it play an essential role in evaluating whether belief in god can be justified. These include an individual’s understanding of knowledge’s nature; understanding truth-morality relationships and time/eternity/visibility distinctions.
Scholars have also used the doctrine of divine simplicity as another line of defense against atheism, asserting that all of God’s attributes are identical with each other and with him himself. While not widely accepted, this theory remains intriguing given it can’t seem to fit with any of the three theories mentioned earlier.
