Can God Change a Chicken into an Alligator? Some Thoughts on Essence and Omnipotence
Can God Change a Chicken into an Alligator? Some Thoughts on Essence and Omnipotence
By Paul M. Gould
In this month’s roundtable, we’ve been asked to discuss some objections or pressing questions others have asked about some views we hold. This summer I took my annual trip to Summit Ministries and fielded the same set of questions that I do every year, related to the nature of creaturely essences, divine omnipotence, and more. Let’s set up the discussion.
I’m teaching about disenchantment. I describe three shifting ideas over the course of the last thousand or so years that have led to this cultural moment (I’m basically summarizing a discussion I provide in my book Cultural Apologetics). The first is the shift from realism to nominalism (in the medieval and modern eras). Note to fellow academics: I’m painting with a broad brush here. The second is the shift from a more organic view of the cosmos (Aristotelian) to a mechanical view of the cosmos (Humean). Finally, I describe the shift from a more expansive view of our epistemic resources to the rise of empiricism and a more limited view of how we come to (appropriately) know things. I usually don’t get past the first movement, the shift from realism to nominalism.
The idea is this. For much of church history, some version of realism, rooted in Platonic thought, was the dominant idea. God creates according to divine ideas and the finite creatures that result are (or have) natures: I’m essentially human because I am or have a human nature. The same goes for other finite substances: angels have angelic natures, horses have horse natures, trees have tree natures, and so on, all the way down the Great Chain of Being. Enter a theological debate over divine omnipotence. Occam wanted to preserve the absolute sovereignty and power of God. But if there are essences, they limit the kinds of things God can do. As I say, thinking of Plantinga: “God can’t change Rosie the chicken (one of our favorite pet chickens when we had them) into an alligator.” The reason: Rosie is essentially a chicken. She isn’t an alligator. And even God, given these essentialist facts, can’t do anything to change those facts. Of course, God could cause Rosie to cease to exist and in her place, even using some of the same matter, God could produce an alligator. But what God can’t do is cause Rosie the chicken—that chicken over there—to become an alligator. This is all standard stuff in metaphysics. But the kids are usually suspicious of these claims. The hands go up.
First, there is a worry about limiting God. “Wait, God can’t do anything whatsoever? Isn’t that just to deny omnipotence?” Well, no. Usually—but not always—a few familiar examples about how not even God could create square circles, married bachelors, or break his promises will help to show that omnipotence can’t mean God can do anything whatsoever. Were God to do the logically impossible, then he wouldn’t be perfectly rational, and thus worthy of our worship. Were God to do evil, then he wouldn’t be perfectly good, and thus worthy of worship.
Change of tactics. “But why can’t God change Rosie into an alligator, exactly? Couldn’t God just make that chicken—that one right there—into an alligator via a divine miracle?” I try possible world talk in reply: “Let’s switch to language about essential properties. Rosie has the property being a chicken essentially. What this means is that in any possible world where Rosie exists, Rosie has the property being a chicken. But notice, if there is some possible world where Rosie—that chicken over there—does not have the property of being a chicken (since in that world she is an alligator), then it is not the case that being a chicken is essential to Rosie. Then, the property being a chicken would only be an accidental property of hers, not an essential property. But, I’ve just said she has it essentially. So, even God can’t change Rosie into an alligator since alligators have the property being an alligator essentially and not the property being a chicken essentially.” End attempt.
But, in reply (for the student still with me, and there usually are some): “Could Rosie the chicken have two natures—and thus two sets of essential properties that pick out what she is?” Me: “That is a great question. I don’t think so. There is only one instance that we are aware of where a being has two natures: the incarnate Christ. But even there, things are not so clean and easy. At least as I try and make sense of things, it seems that we have the Eternal Son who has a divine nature necessarily and then takes on an additional human nature contingently. So, Jesus now has two natures, but things are a bit different (obviously) in this case. I don’t think that warrants us in thinking that finite substances—creatures—have or can take on additional natures (even if contingently).” Now this is becoming fun. From there, the questions usually go to “What about that talking donkey in the Bible, doesn’t that change the donkey’s nature if it goes from non-talking to talking?”, to “Does all this make God limited by logic?”, “What is logic, anyhow?”, and many more. I love it. These students press me. They press me to think through my own views. They press me to strive for clarity in my speaking and teaching. And they give me hope: students care. They do want to know the truth. And they want to make sure that what I’m teaching is consistent with Scripture and in good order. This is partly why I love teaching. The thrill of honest questions and deep exploration of the things of God and all things in relation to God. May all of us be like these Summit students and learn to ask probing questions for the sake of truth. Even if I can’t handle all their questions, Christianity can.
— Paul M. Gould is an Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion and Director of the M.A. Philosophy of Religion program at Palm Beach Atlantic University. He is the author or editor of ten scholarly and popular-level books including Cultural Apologetics, Philosophy: A Christian Introduction, and The Story of the Cosmos. He has been a visiting scholar at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School’s Henry Center, working on the intersection of science and faith, and is the founder and president of the Two Tasks Institute. You can find out more about Dr. Gould and his work at Paul Gould.com and the Two Tasks Institute. He is married to Ethel and has four children.
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