Item Detail
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27559
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0
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0
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English
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Assessing the Arguments in The Mormon Concept of God : A Philosophical Analysis
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Provo, UT
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Brigham Young University
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36
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Honors Thesis
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In a work entitled, The Mormon Concept of God: A Philosophical Analysis, evangelic Christians Francis J. Beckwith and Stephen E. Parrish criticize the LDS understanding of God. Their purpose is to show "(1) that the Mormon concept of God differs radically from the classical concept of God, (2) that the Mormon concept of God contains many philosophical flaws, and (3) that the classical concept of God is more consistent with the Christian Scriptures than the Mormon view." Their philosophical arguments against the LDS concept of God are directed mainly against Mormon eternalism—the idea that individuals, matter, space, and time have always existed. Their central criticism stems from an argument by William Lane Craig that it is impossible for an actual infinite number of things to exist in the real world. In this paper I show that the argument from the impossibility of an actual infinite is fallacious, that the LDS and classical concepts of God aren't as radically different as the authors suggest (although they are definitely different), and that the LDS view is as consistent with the Bible as the classical view is.