Outline of Plantinga's Propositions in Does God Have a Nature?

[RamistThomist]

These are the analytical theses in his monograph. It should make following along easier if you read his book Does God Have a Nature?. It should be obvious that these 71 theses are not "71 propositions about God." Some are trivial and others are clearly false. But throughout Plantinga's narrative he will generate a proposition to show that a particular view has a contradiction, or to set up a future argument.

I laid out these theses because it is getting fashionable in some Reformed social media circles to set forth Aquinas's view on divine simplicity as the only possible view and that Plantinga rejected classical theism. Of course, I believe both claims to be false.

1. God transcends human experience. We cannot observe or in any other way experience him (this is Kant's view)
2. Our concepts do not apply to God.
3. For any properties P and Q in God, God's having P is identical with God's having Q, and both are identical with God.
4. States of affairs x's having P and y's having Q are identical iff x's having P is equivalent (obtains in the same possible worlds as) y's having Q and x = y.
5. God is sovereign and exists a se.
6. God is alive, knowledgeable, capable of action, and good.
7. If (5), then (a) God has created everything distinct from himself, (b) everything distinct from God is dependent upon him, (c) he is not dependent on anything distinct from himself, and (d) everything is within his control.
8. If (6), then there are such properties as life, knowledgeability, capability of action, power and goodness' and God has these properties.
9. If God has these properties distinct from him, then he is dependent on them.
10. God is a necessary being.
11. God is essentially alive, knowledgeable, capable of action, powerful and good
12. If (11), then there are such properties as life, knowledge, capability of action, power and goodness, and God could not have failed to have them.
13. If (10) and God could not have failed to have these properties, then they could not have failed to exist, arenecessary beings.
14. If God has some properties that exist necessarily and are distnct from him, then God is dependent on these properties and they are independent of him, uncreated by him and outside his control.
15. If there is a property with which God is identical, then God is a property.
16. No property is alive, knowledgeabl, capable of action, powerful or good.
17. X depends on y iff y's existence is a necessary condition of x's existence.
18. x depends upon y for P iff if x has P and some proposition or state of affairs relevantly involving y is a necessary condition of x's having P.
19. Either Jim Whittaker or the Pope can climb Mt Everest.
20. Either god or Bertrand Russell created the world is a necessary condition of God's creating the world relevantly involves Betrand Russell.
21. I exist.
22. I have been created.
23. X depends on y for P iff there is an action A such that y's performing A is a logically necessary condition of x's having P.
24. It's false that the Taj Mahal is red but not colored.
25. Any omniscient being knows something.
26. If God is sovereign and exists a se, then every truth is within his control.
27. Red is a color.
28. The proposition all dogs are animals' is distinct from the proposition 'all animals are dogs.'
29. No numbers are persons.
30. 2 x 4 = 8
31. It's not the case that all men are mortal and some men are not mortal.
32. It's not the case that God has created creatures that he has not created.
33. God has created Descartes, but Descartes has not been created.
34. It is impossible that God has created Descartes and Descartes has not been created.
35. Possibly p.
36. Possibly possibly p.
37. Necessarily, 2 x 4 = 8.
38. Since God has infinite power, there are no necessary truths.
39. No particle has both an instantaneous position and an instantaneous velocity.
40. 2 x 4 = 7.
41. God has infinite power.
42. That God has infinite power entails that no propositions are necessarily true.
43. No propositions are necessarily true.
44. The proposition 'if God is infinitely powerful, then there are no necessary truths' is a necessary truth.
45. If God has infinite power, there are no necessary truths.
46. If God has infinite power and if God has infinite power there are no necessary truths, then there are no necessary truths.
47. God has made p true and has created in us a powerful tendency to believe p; we do believe p; and if we believe p we know p.
48. We don't know p and p is in fact false.
49. 2 + 1 = 3.
50. If, if p then q, and p, then q.
51. God knows that he does not exist.
52. God is omnipotent.
53. If God is omnipotent, then his power is absolutely unlimited.
54. If his power is absolutely unlimited, then he could make (51) true.
55. If he could make (51) true, then (51) could be true and is possible.
56. (51) is possible.
57. God is sovereign.
58. If God is sovereign, then everything is dependent on him.
59. If everything is dependent upon him, then every truth is within his control.
60. If every truth is within his control, then (51) could be true and is possible.
61. (51) is not possible.
62. There is a property that both exemplifies itself and does not exemplify itself.
63. Whatever the Bible teaches is true.
64. The Bible teaches that (61) is false.
65. God has a nature.
66. There are some necessary propositions.
67. God has some property P.
68. 7+5=12.
69. God believes (68).
70. Necessarily 7+5=12.
71. It is part of God's nature to believe that 7+5 = 12.