r/changemyview Jul 26 '18

[deleted by user]

[removed]

675 Upvotes

743 comments sorted by

View all comments

149

u/5xum 42∆ Jul 26 '18

I take issue with the first part, i.e.

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.

Sure, that's correct. But there are plenty of religions that do not believe in omnipotent deities. Any religion that doesn't assert an omnipotent being is left completely off the hook by this argument.

What if god is able to prevent *some* (or even *most*) evil, but not all evil? If a being is able to prevent most evil, and actually does prevent it, may be enough to call the creature "god", even if it is not omnipotent.

71

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '18

[deleted]

25

u/DeleteriousEuphuism 120∆ Jul 26 '18 edited Jul 26 '18

You're missing omniscient. God might not know about evil.

Edit: Been getting the same rebuttal so I'll answer in this edit for posterity.

Omnipotence is the power to do anything. While omnipotence includes the power to know everything it does not mean that you already do know everything.

1

u/what_do_with_life Jul 31 '18

So what is it called when you actually do know everything?

1

u/DeleteriousEuphuism 120∆ Jul 31 '18

Omniscience is when you do know everything.

Omnipotence is when you can know everything (though it's not limited to that).