On Omnipotence

The doctrine that God is unlimited in power has been challenged recently by figures such as Thomas Oord and Philip Goff. This article responds to these challenges from the perspective of classical theism. It is argued that omnipotence follows from God’s being the reason why there is something rather than nothing, and that understanding God in this way is the only coherent way of fleshing out the claim that God is the creator. The relationship of creator and creature is discussed, and the point is made that God and creatures are not in metaphysical competition, defusing Oord’s worry that an omnipotent God would be controlling. The issue of evil in the world, and its claimed incompatibility with omnipotence is broached. In response to concerns about evil and omnipotence appeal is made to Brian Davies’ work on classical theism and evil, before concluding that the Christian classical theist can acknowledge there being a mystery about the presence of evil in the world whilst, without prejudice to her intellectual integrity, resting trustfully in the mysterious love of God.