nonpersonal power of being (Tillich 1957). Nevertheless, if one considers the long
history of theological thought in the West, it is clear that the dominant view of God is that
he is a person who is eternal, all-powerful (omnipotent), all-knowing (omniscient), and
perfectly good. Moreover, it is understandable why this should be so. For central to the
idea of God is that God is worthy of unreserved praise, admiration, and worship. And
when we seriously reflect on the qualities in a being that are most deserving of
unreserved praise, admiration, and worship, we naturally think of qualities such as
knowledge, wisdom, power, goodness, and justice. Hence, it is no accident that over time
there emerged the idea of God as a being that is perfectly good, all-knowing, and all-
powerful. And it is fitting that we should seek an understanding of what is meant when
one thinks of God in this way.
Power
When we consider the idea of a being possessing power, we generally think of that being
as able to bring about certain things or certain states of affairs. We might ask, for
example, “Does God have sufficient power to bring it about that the earth should cease to
revolve around the sun?” In asking this question we assume that there is a certain state of
affairs (a way things could be): the earth's not revolving around the sun. We know that
this state of affairs isn't actual, that in fact the earth's revolving around the sun is the way
things actually are. But we
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wonder whether God has sufficient power to bring it about that from now on the earth's
not revolving around the sun is the way things are. In short, we wonder whether God can
make actual (actualize) the state of affairs: the earth's not revolving around the sun. And
one useful way of approaching the question of whether God is omnipotent, whether God
possesses unlimited power, is to ask whether God can actualize states of affairs that
involve massive changes from the way things are, states of affairs like the earth's not
revolving around the sun. If God lacks the power to actualize that state of affairs, then,
clearly, God is not omnipotent. For there would be a state of affairs, the earth's not
revolving around the sun, that God is unable to make actual. One way, then, of
considering the extent of God's power is to focus on various states of affairs that are not
actual and ask ourselves whether God has sufficient power to make them actual, to
actualize them. And if we find that there are states of affairs God cannot actualize, we
then must consider whether his being unable to actualize those states of affairs shows that
he is deficient in power and, therefore, not omnipotent. Before proceeding with that task,
however, it will be helpful to distinguish three different types of states of affairs.
Some states of affairs are necessary; they are such that they simply cannot fail to be
actual. Other states of affairs are contingent; they are such that they can be actual and
they can fail to be actual. And still other states of affairs are impossible; they are such that
they simply cannot be actual. Consider 2 + 2's being 4, George W. Bush's being the 54th
president of the United States, and Smith's being exactly 20 years old and 35 years old at