“God is responsible for everything that happens in the universe” Discuss. (10) In the Judea-Christian tradition God is both omniscient and omnipotent this means that God is all knowing and all powerful. So God must know that every action made has a consequence including his own actions. He must then also know what this consequence is. It also means that God has the power to alter any action in any way that he pleases therefore making him responsible for everything that happens in the universe.
Another reason that God is responsible comes from John 1:1-5 “In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 From the very beginning the Word was with God. 3 Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him. 4 The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out. ” This verse shows the omnipotence of God and his responsibility for the creation of all things including the universe.
This point is mainly evidenced by verse 3 “through him God made all things; not one thing in creation was made without him”. This shows that God is responsible in his capacity as creator and in starting all things. But people can’t explain God as the word we use to describe him are made and defined by humans. As God is more than human no human word could ever hope to describe God. So we could not apply our definition of responsibility, a human finite definition to a better than human infinite being.
Similarly we couldn’t possibly use our definitions of omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, and omnipresent. Another argument against the statement is evidenced in Genesis 3:22-24 “22 Then the Lord God said, “Now these human beings have become like one of us and have knowledge of what is good and what is bad. [f] They must not be allowed to take fruit from the tree that gives life, eat it, and live forever. ” 23 So the Lord God sent them out of the Garden of Eden and made them cultivate the soil from which they had been formed.
24 Then at the east side of the garden he put living creatures[g] and a flaming sword which turned in all directions. This was to keep anyone from coming near the tree that gives life. ” This is the idea that in that moment when Eve disobeyed god and took fruit from the tree of life/knowledge humanity wanted to be like god and have free will over what they say and do. It also suggests that we want to be free of god and to be left to deal with earth, our little bit of the universe to ourselves. This almost frees god from responsibility toward at least some of the universe.
This also explains the problem of existence of evil. In God giving us free will we effectively allowed evil into the world and into us without god to stop it. But I don’t think that an all loving god would wish to separate himself from his chosen people in this way so weakens this argument greatly. Overall I think I agree with the statement as I don’t see how an all-powerful, all knowing, and all loving god could not claim responsibility for everything that happens in the universe that he created.